Schaft returns after a 16 year hiatus and 22 years since their last album. While lacking all the different collaborators that Switchblade had, Ultra is a much more coherent effort.

Before going into this (for the first time in quite a bit) I thought that maybe self-titled is better but after listening through I was proven wrong. Self-titled was amazing, Toxicity is even better!
Going into a more melodic direction and throwing a little more elements from other genres into the mix, the album is still a pretty crazy ride. SOAD manages to keep it fun even while speaking sad, political truth.

Tatsuya Yoshida (drums) of Ruins fame teams up with polish multi-instrumentalist Piotr Zabrodzki (piano and bass). Karakany is a fun and crazy free jazz album, deserving more attention.

朽木の灯 [Kuchiki no Tou] is MUCC at their darkest and possibly their best album.
Ending off their nu metal era amazingly, this is filled with bangers (like 遺書 [Isho] and 濁空 [Dakkū]) and some moving songs (like the last track).
Some tracks on here are some more usual visual kei outings, mostly in the second half, giving a little more variety to the release.

PS: The title track on here is the first one, the last one uses a different kanji. For some reason the second one is used for ... read more

極彩 [Gokusai] is a much brighter album than MUCC's pre-2005 output and also just as good as those. Going between alt metal, pop rock and alt rock, it's maybe not a risky drive, but a fun ride.

Is Hodosan an essential Merzbow release? No, but it is a good one. It's nice to hear Masami drumming on this and it's what makes this album.
The noise on the first two tracks without the drums wouldn't be anything amazing, but track three, The Joy of Noise is Black Flesh Pt.4 from Turmeric with the addition of drums; the noise on it is more interesting.

Cell-Scape goes so CRAZY it might as well be addictive. Everything from Shield for Your Eyes, a Beast in the Well on Your Hand to If It Is the Deap Sea, I Can See You There is a banger.
Phantasmagoria is a nice intro and Outro for Cell-Scape isn't bad by any means, but maybe it could've been shorter.

This album kinda sticks out in their discography especially pre-Fetch. It's their longest album, no song goes under 2 minutes (if you ignore the intro) and it's hella ... read more

To be honest I prefer this over † [Cross].
Justice instead of recording a live show recorded Woman Worldwide in the studio instead, mixing 10 years of their music. Just like on Access All Arenas, the tracks from † [Cross] are great and the material from the next albums is better and hits harder than their originals.

Before releasing their first and only album, The Mortal released an EP containing 2 songs from the then upcoming I AM MORTAL and 3 covers, those being: Spirit by Bauhaus, Shadow of Love by The Damned and Cities in Dust by Siouxsie & the Banshees.
Cool release!

I found out that Cayce, the person behind This is NOT Greatest Site which had translations of BUCK-TICK's lyrics passed away in February this year, RIP.
The site is defunct but can be accessed with the Wayback Machine, and a friend of Cayce has made a new one at: https://thisisnotgreatestsite.wordpress.com

Now onto the review:
狂った太陽 [Kurutta Taiyo] takes the gothic sounds of 惡の華 [Aku no Hana] into a more alternative direction and I think it's safe to call it the ... read more

After Jim Martin's departure, Faith No More needed a new guitarist. The person which got that duty was Mr Bungle's Trey Spruance, who only recorded guitar for this album and didn't stay for it's tour.

This change in the band definitely switched something in the band's sound as King for a Day... Fool for a Lifetime is even heavier, even calmer?? and more diverse than their previous Angel Dust.

It switches the sound quite a few times before it even hits the half of the ... read more

Faith No More decided to go into a different direction on Angel Dust instead of playing it safe and they made a great album and influenced quite a few nu metal bands (together with Mr Bungle). You decide if that's a good thing or a bad thing.

The title is a joke, who would've guessed! It's Faith No More after all and looking at how this album came to fruition and their disbandment it makes perfect sense. Not as strong as Angel Dust and King for a Day but it still has a few cool songs.

Introduction (extended to 9 minutes on this release) might make you think that Akuma no Uta is another drone release from Boris, but Ibitsu shows up and tells you that this is actually a stoner/sludge metal album, with a slight detour that is Naki Kyoku, where they opt for Heavy Psych instead! (and it's just as good as the tracks that came before it)
The title track returns with a familiar riff to kick your ass again, ending this great album.
Really solid, really fun and even beautiful at ... read more

Boredoms take on Jungle Taitei's (Kimba the White Lion) theme, tracks 2 and 3 being remixes of the first one.
The first remix was made by EYE as the title says mostly focuses on a drum machine and it's kinda whatever.
The second was done by Yann Tomita mostly known for Doopees and it's really nice. It's 7 minutes instead of the originals 3 and it has this more relaxed sound.

Overall a good release, minus the second track. Show this to a kid to get them into Boredoms or ... read more

A compilation of songs taken from Björk's singles up to this point at time based on a survey. To spice things up some tracks are alternate versions like Big Time Sensuality (The Fluke Mini-Mix), which was used in the music video, and It's in Our Hands is a brand new song.
I don't have really something to say about this, the material on here is solid I mean it's basically stuff from Debut to Vespertine.

This is a pretty cool EP, you have really interesting stuff like Bucephalus Bouncing Ball, Richard taking the piss on Funny Little Man, the beautiful Flim and more! Is EVERYthing on here his best? No, but even the tracks in the middle are worth a listen.

BUCK-TICK wanted to make a double album but the label said no, so they made 極東 I LOVE YOU and Mona Lisa OVERDRIVE as two separate entities instead. Both albums flow into each other and have their own distinctive sounds, with Mona Lisa being the more energetic, industrial of the two. And thank god it came second because it's a great end for their cyberpunk era!

Coming after 十三階は月光 [Juusankai wa gekkou], this is a dissapointment and not in the "it's not as good as it" way as I don't expect someone to make two 10/10 albums in a row but more of a "damn, a dip in quality like this?" way.
Although this album let to memento mori so all is forgiven.

DANCE DANCE HA! HA! REMEMBER TO DIE

On memento mori BUCK-TICK delve fully into the garage rock sound, which they were transitioning into on 天使のリボルバー [Tenshi no Revolver] from the goth of 十三階は月光 [Juusankai wa gekkou].

"Even if you do [say] nothing, tomorrow will happen regardless so why not just live life looking forward."
Hisashi Imai said this when asked about the title's meaning and yeah, I see it as this album is pretty fun and the lyrics ... read more