Albums that have anime openings in them: 16/50

Anime it opened/ended for: Noragami

You know, I had high hopes for this one. Oral Cigarettes was a band i hadn't heard much of, and since i enjoyed the stuff of theirs I had heard, I thought that they'd wow me with this album, but they really didn't. That isn't to say they sound bad, but they sound kinda bland, their tracklist mostly falling into either tracks that funk like frederic, or catchy riffy indie that sounds like KANA-BOON. Now, I love ... read more

Albums that have anime openings in them: 15/50

Anime it opened/ended for: Naruto

Well, this one's a bit late but whatever, that's inevitable. Oddly enough, asian kung-fu generation is a j-band I didn't find through anime, Instead, kimi to iu hana just popped into my recommendations (which is a song i still really enjoy, one of the best j rock tracks imo), and I discovered their discog (and this anime opening) through there. Now, i'm not really the biggest fan of akg, their sound is a bit ... read more

Albums that have anime openings in them, 14/50

Anime it opened/ended for: Kaguya-Sama Love is War

First off, I feel like i have to give praise to Masayuki Suzuki's voice. I usually don't really care for a particular set of pipes, but man does this dude's voice radiate smooth and cool. It helps that the backing band's playing is also really solid, covering a fair amount of genre from standard funk, the more dance track, and there's even a latin one thrown in there for good measure. Its not ... read more

10 minutes of pure breakbeats, screeching electronics, scant hip hop beat, and loud ass metal. Its quite a brief record, and the songs are pretty short, but I really did enjoy what little was on this EP. The songs are boppier than grist, and punchier, and I appreciate the relative simplicity of the record, as although stuff like igorr and clown core may be multi genre experiences that are hard to shelve, those records can come off as directionless, which is something this record doesn't seem ... read more

I've kind of always wanted to give more korean music a fair shake, and I guess this record showed why that was the case. The band has a pretty enjoyable sound, they're pretty heavy, for korean stuff (which doesn't really tend to be heavy, due to like prohibitions and stuff), and meshing that with a more westernish poppy electronic sound (as compared to the more eccentric sound of j pop). I also do enjoy the pairing of the male uncleans and female cleans, and although the combo isn't exactly ... read more

Albums that have anime openings in them, 13/50

Anime it opened/ended for: Keep your hands off eikouzen

This record is...Pretty unusual, Easy Breezy did not prepare for me for how diverse the backgrounds to these rap tracks were, ranging from indian folk music, an accordion I think, to dance track. Rap isn't really my thing again, but chelmico has an interesting enough flow, and back it up with enjoyable enough accompaniment. The scant acoustics bog down the experience for me a bit. but its ... read more

Not really huge on power metal, but I do enjoy the decently heavy technicality, and fair amount of guitar technicality. This doesn’t win me over as much as their past discography, which had more of a bite, in my opinion, but this record is pretty okay power metal nonetheless.

Manacle, aka the group that I will know only as the post-graduation project of necronomidol idols (and one aibeck idol, but whatever), is a group that's pretty darn hard to pin down. Their stuff is mostly kinda spooky, industrial at times j pop, with some anime opening ish tracks lumped in there for good measure. Mahoroba, however, is warranted a special mention, given its black metallish instrumentation really reminding me of necronomidol, and kind of what I was expecting the group to sound ... read more

the proggy, glamish, and bluesy blend of sounds on this record may be hard to pin down a specific name for, but one thing it certainly is, is self indulgent. And while that term is usually used to describe artists that play complex arrangements of notes with no substance, Gilbert does not indulge himself in this sense, but more in a "doing loads of unpredictable things on the guitar" sense. This release isn't really the neoclassical stuff of his I enjoy, (racer x), but Gilbert is a ... read more

Albums that have anime openings in them, 12/50

Anime it opened/ended for: Koi To Uso/Love and Lies

Frederic is one of those bands that stand apart when it comes to j-rock in my opinion, and this album shows that pretty well. Their groovy basslines, very funk guitars, and more poppy dance beats, pair well with the quirky electronics, displaying their distinct sound, a sound that diverges from typical j rock, which tends to lean more into just pairing rock and j pop, overall leading to some ... read more

This record is pretty enjoyable. I personally find it quite mellow, at least compared to other skacore acts i've heard , like Sekta Core, 23 Skunks, and 8Kalacas, and while I don't really find that bad in itself, it's just a shame because the band was pretty heavy, at least if we're talking about Firme. And speaking of Firme, I didn't like the new vocalist as much as Frank Casillas (my not knowing of the new guy's name making this more obvious), and I don't really think it comes down to just ... read more

I'm not really a huge fan of math rock, I'm fine with the music, just not really a fan of midwemo, nor can I really get into polyphia esque noodling (despite my propensity for the wank filled genres of neoclassical and prog, lol), so I guess that I'm glad that this comes in the strain of indie-ish math rock that one would lump bands like paranoid void and elephant gym. This album tends to slow down more than those acts, and while that leads to the band standing out more (due to, for example, ... read more

Albums that have anime openings in them, 11/50

Anime it opened/ended for: Jojo's Bizarre Adventure Part 4; Diamond is unbreakable

Hm, I don't really know what to do with this one. There are elements I definitely enjoy, like the folk instrumentation, and the bop that is Modern Crusaders, but other than that, I didn't really enjoy the album. And that isn't because I think that the instrumentation or the writing of the record is good, I just personally don't enjoy the genre. I personally don't ... read more

Its not like red fang is the most creative stuff ever, they're pretty good catchy stoner-thats-also-sludge-sometimes. And you can still hear that in their one minute tracks, which are fairly fun. What I do have a problem however, are the long tracks. Now, their length isn't an issue for me, its just that these tracks just have a generic, bordering on being sleep clone sound that I don't really find impressive. There are some good moments, moments that show the band's ability to present ... read more

Albums that have anime openings in them 10/50

Anime it opened for: Sousei no Onmyoji/ Twin Star Exorcist

I love Wagakki band. Their latest album was one of my favorites during 2020, and while i've heard bits and pieces from other records, I haven't really dove deep into their other records. And to be frank, I kind of regret not diving into the band super hard, because this album is pretty good. It does the whole "jpoppy folk metal well", set apart, in my opinion, by yuko suzuhana's ... read more

To be frank, I don't really know how I feel about the album. Its definitely enjoyable, I especially like the heaviness of a good chunk of the record, and find the poppier metal tracks fairly interesting. What holds me back from really vibing with the record though, would be those really poppy tracks that just seem to crop up for some reason. Like the band follows up playing some fun kickass metal with like a dumb ballad, and honestly, it just kind of sticks out.

Albums that have anime openings in them 9/50

Anime it opened/ended for: Gintama

Okay, wow, I did not expect this album to sound so... inconsistent. I don't really like the cheesy ballad tracks, and there are a fair amount of them, for a band that gave off a more high octane vibe. The more fun, electronicy (and even hiphopesque) tracks are definitely more enjoyable, but there's just so much fluff between those tracks that its hard to vibe to. Heck even writing about it is making me so bored, ... read more

Wow, I really did not expect to enjoy Simpsons themed stoner this much. The band's sound tends remind me of a variety of acts in the stoner/sludge umbrella, ranging from the overall, cleaner fuzzy vibe reminiscent of Red Fang, some hints of blues stoner along the lines of Fireball Ministry, and some high on fire-like creative decisions like Sex Cauldron being "sludge meets motorhead" in the vein of Rumors of War, and Get Mendoza's middle eastern vibes reminiscent of Khanrad's Wall. ... read more

RIP Kentaro Miura

I kinda felt like reviewing a metal record inspired by Berserk, to recognize the stretch of the man's influence.

I'm not really a fan of Kentaro Miura's work or artstyle, to be frank, But I do recognize that he is a very influential mangaka in his own right, and more importantly, a mangaka that's inspired and invigorated loads of people with his work. So as a roundabout form of tribute, I guess I could give an album inspired by his work a spin. (and wow is there a fair ... read more

Albums that have anime openings in them 8/50

Anime it opened/ended for: Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, Stardust Crusaders. (The first of many jojo endings in my list, lmao)

So this is the first Jojo music album I'm doing, huh? Honestly, jojo endings are always interesting to think about as, since the music used is always old (as to fit the vibe, Araki's compulsion to share his Soundcloud, and the whole stands named after old songs thing, even if the only stand that does that in part 3 is Cream), ... read more