A frenzied
vocal cover of a frenzied song! Tomato-san revs up the clean parts while
Datsuraku-san handles screaming (his job is obviously easier :). I must mention
Utsu-P pitched the chorus quite high for an average human to sing :)
Unfortunately,
Kasane Teto isn’t a frequent guest here on VMW. So the fact she majestically
grants us a second good song in a row is kinda special event :) Surprisingly, a combination of Teto and alternative metal
is not as cute as with heavy metal, but too much cuteness is ill for the mental
health of a metalhead ;) Besides, ‘doppel’ has solid blues vibes which is not a
common feature of the scene. It also boasts such an awesome bass drum punch I
still refuse to believe it can exist! Really, guys, just how many oddities are
there in one tune? :)
Your
steaming hot portion of Friday fun has arrived! This is a special from our
chief, Utsu-P. The serving includes: brutal guitar sound, mid-tempo for extra
chunkiness, gut-wrenching breakdown, Rin-chan trying to dance in the middle of the dish and a pair of
chopsticks. Enjoy yourself!
A long time
ago in a galaxy… :) I mean, some of you may even remember an old song
with the same title, sung by Kamui Gakupo and released in summer 2009 when
Vocaloids still were a thing. On Youtube it even scored 185,000 views which is
not that bad. Despite its kinda rock-ish character, VMW doesn’t recommend it
because it’s not br00tal enough it doesn’t pass our rigorous selecting
criteria. Well, it seems after seven years an absolutely unrelated track by Kyokutan-P
will finally eclipse its unworthy namesake!
'stainless
moon' begins as a promising progressive metal, sadly, Kyokutan-P drops the idea too early. Anyway,
even without prog it is a fast, energetic breed showing fair diversity. Oh, and
the track features one of the sexiest ride cymbals I’ve heard for a while :) Enjoy!
The much anticipated, long-awaited new album from Utsu-P is out, and if that’s not gross enough event to kick VMW out of termless hibernation then I don’t know what is! :)
Unlike the previous release, “Warufuzake”, which was recorded under the ‘traditional industry’ ‘big label’, this album falls back into the category of indie titles. Doujinshi, if you somehow prefer Nippon over English. So, basically, all that means just there has been less hype over it this time. Honestly, hype hardly can make good music sound better, and hype around bad music isn’t a proper thing at all...
”Algorithm” was presented at 86th Comiket, the venue being the very essence of doujinshi subculture. Moreover, Utsu-P explicitly refers to “Algo” as the fourth his album, with the third being “Moksha”. So “Warufuzake”, despite being a ‘commercial breakthrough’ etc., is disregarded as a mere spin-off from the circle MY SONG IS SHIT. And this circle should still be considered the main form for producer’s creative work. At least for the music from the heavier side of spectrum.
Fantastic stuff from yairi-san. The man is gross, but this time it’s just something extraordinary! Wild, absolutely mind-blowing cocktail of djent, alternative metal, j-rock and unleashed electronics. And also picoreamo? Yeah, if you explain me what the fuck ‘picoreamo’ means :) The brew is perfectly dense and goes as smooth as vodka with Coca Cola ;) Add yairi’s top-notch sound with wicked and shrewd guitars and hard hits of bass drums. And finish this with two charming vocalists doing their best to match all this splendor! Oh, and I don’t know why, but IA’s and Miku’s voices sound suspiciously similar here :)
A perfect silence-breaker. The fresh piece from yuu* (Ishikifumei-P) shows its stature right from the first chord, long and brutal and implacable… And Lily sounding the most affecting on this background… The song is made in low-tempo, with the awesome bassu breathing rhythmically, with lingering vocal notes, with abrupt changes in intensity… The song is made with a mastery, basically, and maybe that’s the only point that matters!
Psycho Assemble Laboratory (猟奇アッセンブル研究所) project was formed in the middle of 2012. The main creative force behind it is two Japanese (bet you are not surprised :) ) musicians: shikka (失華) and 88IO. The guys claim there is a persistent enmity between them but I believe you shouldn’t take it seriously :) Although this may help to understand the album deeper :)
The album was released on 3rd VOCALOID Paradise event in Kyoto on March, 2nd. “Metsu Zai Shou Xen” (滅罪生善) could be translated as “Atonement for good life”. It is the first full-size album of the project. About a year ago a demo was released, “Gozou Mashimaro”. The current album contains all songs from the demo, some of them remastered.
There are 14 tracks total (if we'd count 3 ‘instrumental’ intros), and 48 minutes of music. But that would be kinda inaccurate statement, because the music on the album is _different_ , and it could be divided into three parts. Two larger ones – let’s say 18 minutes and 24 minutes :) – and a smaller chunk. First, let’s talk about the two main parts. As you may have puzzled out already, the division is the result of the difference in two producers’ music style.
So far “Baka wa anomaly…” is keeping parity with other vocal covers I post. The song has claimed a half of the section and it’s unwilling to move over :) So here is fresh reinforcement – an excellent high-powered version from nu-san!
An excellent piece from tahi_bassist. It’s industrial/alternative metal, beautiful in its straightforwardness, fresh and quite energetic. The mix quality is awesome, with juicy distorted guitars and some accents on original bassu character. The guitar solo is far above the level of the broader industrial scene, to say the least.
The title translates as “I quit smoking”, and the song draws from the recent experience of tahi_bassist himself. Be strong, man! :) At least your decision’s yielded a nice song, which is a gross achievement! :) Teto, despite lacking any capabilities, sounds robust enough. She is being helped by Hakaine Maiko, who’s splendid (as always), and Ritsu (though I haven’t managed to find any traces of him ;) ).
Utsu-P’s collaboration with Pinocchio-P. I hope you know who is Utsu-P :) As for his colleague, he is in fact more popular than Utsu. Being on a Vocaloid scene since 2009, he makes songs mostly in j-rock genre, with a focus on amusing lyrics which we, western bastards, would never understand in any case. In case if you wonder, ‘taidan’ in the title translates as ‘interview’, but you’d figure out it by yourself from the video :)
The crossbreed, quite unexpected for me, is a clear post-punk. Except for post-punk genre in general is as clear as mud ;) Two producer’s styles fuse perfectly, and the song goes as a dialogue of two kinds of Miku. Only I haven’t managed to rule out which Miku represents each author :) I believe there’s no need to say anything particular about music, because masters are always masters! And the lyrics are awaiting translation, hope we won’t be waiting too long.
The song’s (excellent) lyrics are written by Ishikikazuto, and the music is by Kaito-san (hope we’ll avoid confusion with KAITO, who is known a little better). I have to say Kaito-san’s made an impressive progress from his earlier works, now there really is the material to speak of! “Rakka gata heroine” is a pretty decent metalcore, of the brighter side (if we could say so about metalcore). It’s intense and engaging, and I wish I could say the same about Rin. Damn, we have so little Rin in heavier songs (I wonder why? ;) ) that every moment is precious. You know, I’m not picky when it comes to matching music and vocals, but in “Rakka gata heroine” I just cannot help but wonder if this the worst case in my (lousy) memory. I hope strongly that’s the personal glitch of my perception, screwed by lack of sleep and abundance of alcohol, and you’ll spot nothing. Or maybe you’ll even love it! Why, Rin is lovely enough, even I cannot deny this… ;)
Yet “Baka wa anomaly…” again. Well, the worthy song for covering, so I’m not complaining. Arukoa-san seems to agree with me, for it is his second version of “Baka…”. And I find the latest one more solid and neat than the first. Arukoa pleasures us with top-grade screaming as well as some synthetic-tweaked ‘natural’ vocals. Given Kagamine Rin is fully synthetic herself, I don’t see the latter as something inappropriate :)
Utsu-P seems to be a lucky guy, since he’s got two awesome covers in a single day. This one is made by Dan, and it is head and shoulders above the other “Warufuzake” covers ever posted before (hope I don’t offend anyone, I have a pushover for female vocals :) ). Well, can’t say Dan outperformed even original material, but it isn’t an easy task to outsing Miku, Rin and Gumi combined :) Especially when you deal with Utsu-P. So, by any means, this cover is outstanding.
Another neat vocal cover. It seems like the “Baka wa…” attracts people… somehow… no-no-no, I’m not hinting at the title of the song, no, completely… ;) Screaming parts are done by Michizane and ‘classic’ ones by Houshi. I think both made a great work!
‘D-d-daib…’ *cups her mouth in an utter embarrassment*
‘Don’t worry, it’s like ‘Cat Food’. Only it’s not about cats. And it is a little louder. Otherwise, it’s a piece of cake for you’.
Well, hisokeee put horns on her neko-cap and added a devil’s tail, so we could presume all the formalities are observed. Or maybe we couldn’t ;) Nevertheless, for good or for ill, Miku looks rather cute here. She hops around with a guitar on a flaming stage. And dance in flashes of red lights like it’s some fucking psychedelic glam rock. A piece of cake, indeed…
The first screamo work on VMW. Screaming parts are done by Kourimanjuu-P (the producer) himself, which might be for the good. Because – alas – Vocaloids are still uncapable of the screaming on a par with the one presented here by Kourimanjuu-P.
“Deception” is a quite intense piece of post-hardcore with a bit of untraditional, prog-like sound. Wild guitars, even wilder bassu, mad screaming vocalist – only Miku seems to be in a perfect serenity in the eye of the storm. Nice contrast…
A neat song by Pocharo, sung by Sasara Satou. Sasara is technically an analogue of Vocaloid software, distributed in CeVIO Creative Studio package. Currently it’s not much popular in Japan and little known in the West. But, as you guys could clearly hear from the track, Sasara is by no means inferior to any of her more famous Vocaloid rivals. Well, if a producer knows his business.
And Pocharo knows his business well enough. “Ga” (which means ‘Moth’) is a softer approach to nu/alternative metal, with gentle verses parts and heightened choruses, driven by high-pitched, affecting Sasara’s singing. Mixing quality is robust, especially the yummy sound of distorted guitars and the bassu.
Video’s art by DOKU.
