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Photo report : DIR EN GREY at Electric Ballroom London 2018

4 November 2018

Written by Ziggy and Edoh. Photo credits to Narine (JROCK NEWS). When you witnessed the number of fans DIR EN GREY summoned to the city on a Tuesday night, you couldn't help but feel the pulse of the Japanese ...

MORRIE successfully brings back third installment of Solitude live at Kraine Theatre

Zephyr

17 October 2018

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It has been a little under a year since MORRIE’s very first Solitude live show in New York City, and with this now being his third show in New York for his Solitude series, we know that the man behind legendary...

Review: Velvet Ants’ buzzworthy album “Entomological Souvenirs I”

David Bolan

29 September 2018

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The other day, without warning, a dragonfly landed on my shoulder and scared the hell out of me. In the half second before I jumped out of my chair and frightened it off I had a glimpse of bulbous alien eyes an...

Review: DIR EN GREY guides us into “The Insulated World”

Mazohyst_Kyo

27 September 2018

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Between intense sessions of BanG Dream! and blasting Ningen wo Kaburu through my car's sound system I had lost track of how soon The Insulated World had arrived. After all, Ningen wo Kaburu still feels new to m...

Aimer and Sayuri’s heart fluttering shows at Anisong World Matsuri

NBT

9 August 2018

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The magical night of July 6 at Microsoft Theater, in Los Angeles, was filled with joyful moments as four exceptional artists brought out their best on the second night of Anisong World Matsuri. This was the day...

Review: BRATS issues powerful and punky debut album

David Bolan

1 August 2018

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Albums used to come with a sticker admonishment to "play it loud," and this might be good advice for BRATS, the impressive eponymous debut released July 25 by a trio composed of sisters Rei and Aya Kuromiya and...

“XIII” might be lynch.’s most solid album to date

Sizergyia

25 July 2018

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lynch. has come back with a bang this year as the band not only celebrated their 13th anniversary at Makuhari Messe in March, they also welcomed back bassist Akinori. Since then, the band went on to release SIN...

Live report: Super CHON Bros. 2 tour with Tricot, TTNG, Polyphia and CHON on June 8

Zephyr

23 July 2018

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By now, the return of CHON's successful Super CHON Bros tour from last year is likely over. Spanning over 25 dates, the tour was a flying success in giving fans of Tricot a chance to mingle with larger scale in...

Review: SEA LEVEL make waves with album “Dictionary (Handwritten)”

David Bolan

17 July 2018

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Dictionary (Handwritten), the ten song album released by indie band SEA LEVEL on July 11, is an eclectic yet satisfying mix of ambient drones, found sound collages, and piano ballads that alternate off-kilter r...

Review: Unboxing J-RockVault subscription box

Zephyr

28 June 2018

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A few weeks ago, the kind folks over at J-RockVault mailed me a trial package version of one of their bimonthly J-RockVault boxes. I was asked to review the product, and having no prior knowledge about the comp...

Live report: tricot at House of Blues, Houston left audience wanting more

Zansouki

4 June 2018

Report and review, Tour and event

It was a hot Wednesday afternoon of May 30, people were already in a queue that, with the venue being in the third floor of a building, already extended all the way to the second floor 45 minutes before the sho...

Review: DEVILOOF’s “Kaika” is a trip back into Grindcore

Mazohyst_Kyo

8 May 2018

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I waited patiently, I saved up all my good boy points and forwent so many tendies for this release. Finally, it arrived at the door ready to be torn out of the box and listened to over and over again until the ...

Retrospective on X Japan at Coachella 2018

edoh+

8 May 2018

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It's been just over two weeks since Coachella 2018 wrapped up its star-studded event on April 21, with our godfathers of Japanese rock, X Japan, at its forefront to represent our genre at one of America's most ...

Interview: MIYAVI on his role in Bleach, values, and inspirations from hide

Narine

30 April 2018

Featured, Interview, Report and review

The sun was unusually brilliant for the UK on April 21, marking the second European tour date for MIYAVI's Day2 World Tour as if the heavens knew the Japanese guitar samurai would be visiting. In a room adjacen...