the-incomplete-sky

[the-incomplete-sky]

【雅-miyavizm-主義】

Artist: Miyavi

Subgenre(s): J-rock

Rating: 4/5

Standouts: 阿呆祭-アホまつり- (Aho Matsuri) ,

雨に唄えば～ピチピチチャプチャプランランブルース～ (Ame ni Utaeba ~Pichi Pichi Chapu Chapu Ran Ran Blues~) ,

ROCK’N’ROLL IS “NOT” DEAD [邦題:ロックンロールは眠らない]

yeah okay let me just apologize for those LONG ASS NAMES holy shit anyways

i absolutely loved this album. the songs are so fun and upbeat, while still being rock. this was miyavi’s album sorta veering away from visual kei, but i’m still reviewing it as such because you can clearly see elements and influences of it—and miyavi was a bandman okay? so it’s fine.

he created songs that resonate, that you can dance to, and some with an aspect of his traditional japanese culture, like in Aho Matsuri, to name one.

yeah i had so much fun listening to this album and i absolutely love miyavi. hes one of the few bandmen to not come out to be a total creep so it’s nice yk?

[the-incomplete-sky]

Withering to death.

Artist: Dir en Grey

Subgenre(s): Loud Kei

Rating: 3.5/5

Standouts: Machiavellism, Jesus Christ R’n R, KODOU

honestly i was a tad let down by this album. maybe it’s because i had already been listening to my favourite track, Machiavellism for quite some time, but… i wasn’t as ecstatic about this one. of course i still really liked it and maybe i hold Diru to a really high standard because i still liked it but yk.

i also noticed a huge pattern—repeating lyrics. it’s a musical choice used a whole bunch in this album, and i don’t know how they landed on using it for almost all the tracks. i don’t mind it enough to complain about it further, but i did notice it a lot.

i still enjoyed it and added a bunch of the songs to my main playlist but i don’t think it was as astounding as Gauze or Macabre or whatever. overall nice album but i wouldn’t sing high praise for it.

[the-incomplete-sky]

僕は死んでじゃないです、みんなさんふふふふふ

[the-incomplete-sky]

MACABRE

Artist: Dir en Grey

Subgenre(s): Kote Kei, Loud Kei

Rating: 5/5

Standouts: egnirys cimredopyh +) an injection, Berry, MACABRE

Dir en Grey quite literally never fucking misses and i’m left speechless every time. especially their earliest albums like WOW these are no-skip albums. they were putting out these masterpieces REGULARLY.

the first song sets the stage for the album quite well… weird and,, macabre is the best word i could find. i’m forever going to associate that word with this album, it’s synonymous for me now. even though you can make out some similarities between this and GAUZE, or VULGAR, it’s distinctly its own album and the similarities shared are just the Dir signature.

you can just tell it’s a Dir song every time huh? anyways, i loved the intricate care that clearly went into this album. it paid off amazingly for one of Dir’s first albums as Dir en Grey. it’s strange, it’s off putting, emotional, and unfiltered. i loved their experiments, like always, especially the voices on ‘Berry’ spoke to me.

you know what they’re trying to get across. Dir en Grey is not afraid to get into details, oftentimes looked down upon or taboo topics. even if just for shock value, Kyo’s lyrical genius is truly unmatched in any regard. love it love it love it.

[the-incomplete-sky]

gogatsubyo

Artist: XAAXAA

Subgenre(s): Neo Visual Kei, Loud Kei, Menhera Kei

Rating: 1.5/5

Standouts: satsukiyami

i didn’t like this album that much. aside from my standout, satsukiyami, the whole album was pretty boring and sounded the same. i’m really not a huge fan of neo vkei for this reason exactly. maybe i have to listen to more XAAXAA to get a good taste for their discography, but i’m not sure.

anyway, it was weird how unlike the rest satsukiyami was. it was somber, emotional and raw (for neo vkei standards), and didn’t overstay its welcome with the instrumentals. the rest of the tracks just sounded like stock standard jrock. which i’m not a big fan of, but to each their own.

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°C

Artist: deadman

Subgenre(s): Art Kei, Nagoya Kei

Rating: 3/5

Standouts: degrees centigrade, taion

technically a maxi-single, i just listened to this, and i quite like deadman so i thought i’d rate it. it’s super rainy over here, and this is a perfect grouping of songs for a rainy day. odd and offputting, but still somehow calming with mako’s signature tone and style of singing.

a unique single, yet not too out of place considering deadman’s discography. a little different, but you can still tell that it’s still deadman, and they’re just experimenting a bit with sounds and effects and things.

[the-incomplete-sky]

MARS

Artist: Gackt

Subgenre(s): J-rock, J-pop

Rating: 2/5

Standouts: U+K, Vanilla, AsrunDream

not quite visual kei, but i recently listened to this whole album and it’s Gackt’s solo debut album, so i wanted to rate it. Gackt is a musical genius, don’t get me wrong, but i just rated it so low on account of it not being for me. it’s not really my style, and this is my account, no?

my favourite by far was U+K. it’s one i listen to often, even before listening to the whole album. Gackt’s emotion in that song (being about Kami) is really raw, and i like it a lot. it’s satisfying to me, also i like the little weird/odd bits in there. it helps break the song up a bit, and lets you know he’s not taking himself way too serious, and can still be silly and lighthearted, like Kami was.

great album if you like more poppy music, but it just was not really for me…

[the-incomplete-sky]

Cracker

Artist: BY-SEXUAL

Subgenre(s): Okeshou Kei, Kote Kei, Oldschool

Rating: 4/5

Standouts: No Text, Rich Boy, Psychic Dance

this is such a fun and experimental album, as it almost always is with BY-SEXUAL. i think, personally, that this is their best album. it’s probably a no-skip album, and the songs that i’m not really fond of i could easily listen to no problem.

each song has that signature 80s feel to it, and fast, upbeat pacing. they’re all similar in a sense, but so uniquely and satisfying their own song. BY-SEXUAL clearly did some experimenting with sound effects, timing, and technique and it sure as hell paid off. i added nearly the whole album to my daily playlist.

a very very good album to get introduced to BY-SEXUAL with, because i was and i absolutely love them now.

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GAUZE

Artist: Dir En Grey

Subgenre(s): Kote Kei, Oldschool

Rating: 5/5

Standouts: YURAMEKI, raison detre, MASK

wowww where do i even start with this album. if i’m being totally honest i think it’s the best visual kei album, out of the many i have listened to.

i love a cohesive beginning and ending, where both tracks feel as if they had been cut from the same cloth. the meat of this album, the many tracks on it, i think they’re all perfection. kyo’s voice is heart wrenchingly full of emotion on every track, and despite being different, all of the songs fit together somehow. i think it’s the emotions in each track.

the instrumentals are outstanding like always, my favourite for this was probably raison detre OR Cage. just so satisfying and perfect to me. though all of the tracks are great, and i don’t doubt why this is one of diru’s most popular albums.

not to mention the lyrical genius, DUDE!! not that i can understand japanese fluently, but looking up the lyrics, goddamn.

[the-incomplete-sky]

VULGAR

Artist: Dir En Grey

Subgenre(s): Kote Kei, Loud Kei, Eroguro

Rating: 4/5

Standouts: audience KILLER LOOP, OBSCURE, CHILD PREY, AMBER

dir en grey! i love these guys. such a good album! each song has the same energy and vibe i suppose? but they are each unique enough that you don’t get bored of listening, or feel like it’s repetitive.

this album had very strong opening and ending tracks, both very appropriate for the end and beginning of an album of this nature. kyo has AMAZING screams and groans and can transition perfectly to his beautiful singing voice and still make it work.

the instrumentals are all i’ll ever need in this life, i love how different dir en grey is with their music and how they’re not afraid to experiment with shit. they don’t care about anything (to an extent, lol) and i love it. heavy and angry in many parts, just how i like it. amazing album!

also CHILD PREY is constantly getting stuck in my head.

[the-incomplete-sky]

Providence of Decadence

Artist: Blam Honey

Subgenre(s): Kote kei

Rating: 4/5

Standouts: Love-Infect, Serenade, Mind Fractation

alright, starting off strong with some Blam Honey! I really liked this album (i got the name for this blog from one of the songs off it). it was strange, offputting, and experimental. in a good way of course.

even with little vocals, i think the instrumentals are plenty enough. they’re. a lot, and i think having no vocals, or vocals heavily distorted and muffled really works in this album’s favour.

it was a great listen, i listened while hanging out with my budgie. a very intriguing experience and i will definitely be listening to more Blam Honey!

[the-incomplete-sky]

hey. this is my first post on this account, if you read my bio i’m basically just doing that.

🩸rating visual kei albums!🩸

i’ll rate anything from old-school to neo and from soft visual to kote!

give me a bit of time to post and rate all the visual kei albums i’ve listened to, and i’ll eventually open my askbox for listening requests!

my main is @memory-and-sky if you want more regular posting about vkei (and other things i like).

that’s all, thank you!