Gazette - Guren/Siva - Wrong of Justice

PSC has been on the fail bus for the most part lately. There's no denying it. Alice Nine is terrible. Miyavi is formulaic. Kra is dull. Gazette has been disappointing. Now, Screw, Sug, and Kagrra may be a glimmer of hope, it's not big enough to make the other bands take a look (Except in Gazette's case), and not small enough to make them look like Undercode. But that middle ground makes it hard to be interested in PSC releases.

Like this one. Gazette has been lookin' gooood. That's a bad sign. When a no-longer-VK-sounding major band starts VKing it up, they're obviously compensating. They released Guren recently. And I don't think anyone heard it on time. Except die-hard fans. And I consider myself a moderate fan of this band. I can forgive them no matter how crappy they get. 'Cause I admire Ruki. Musically and visually. But.. Guren, which sounds like a very weak Kagrra song fails to make me go "Wow that's a new step" even though it is. It's a weak slowie that belongs on track 6 of an album. So I only watch the PV to stare at them. The sound is just a background thing. So onto Kugutsue. This song has so much potential. It has some catchy screamy bits that could be awesome live, but then the guitars are weak, and stay in a comfort zone, as with Ruki's constant comfort zone vocals. But I actually really like this song. I think Ruki's inability to scream in a smooth manner helps songs like this, and their guest singers' inability to sing in a manner that isn't unusual and kinda jarring, too. It works! It puts spice on this otherwise bland and dull song. It's also nice being able to hear Reita's voice clearly. So next is our vonus truck. I guess they knew that people are going to want to see the Guren PV with Ruki's mic-fellatio really bad, so they didn't have to try to do anything with the vonus truck but one thing. Make money. Sap fangirls by luring them in with a vonus truck that they can't hear until buying or downloading. And in this case, buying BOTH VERSIONS to get a poster. How does this stuff possibly get so many people? In short... YOUR SEXY CAN'T SAVE YOU FOREVER!!!

So on the Undercode side is Siva. With Wrong of Justice. I won't go on about it, but basically, this single should be called "We Don't Care, But You Should Still Buy Our Stuff" It's uninspired, generic, and dull. It's hard to keep up with a band that only comes up with one good riff for every five songs. Their demotype song was awesome, and the first two singles were tolerable. But this is not. It just goes in one ear, irritates me a bit, and falls out the other. In (relatively) short... VK BANDS ARE GETTING LAZY AND IT'S HARD TO DEFEND THE NEW ONES NOW THX ALOT.

Gazette - STACKED RUBBISH

Stacked rubbish is JUST what this album is! All the songs fit together with uninspired riffs, uninspired vocals, and monotonous choruses. I am not impressed a bit. I expected to bob my head and maybe even thrash around a little bit how the singles showed me. There' s a couple great moments, but other than that, it sounds like Gazette except not the awesome street punk style and more of a pop-punk sound and that grinds me gears to no end.

However, the intro is awesome. And so is AGONY. I thought I was in for some awesome when I heard it. The singles are awesome as usual, even Hyena sounds fresher after being attacked by staleness. BURIAL APPLICANT is alright. It has cool parts but it's not very exciting.

I had high hopes for this band, and I was excited to hear their new album. I mean, I was EXCITED. But this failed to really make me move. At all. I just.. sat there. Plus, Gazette has committed the act which they have been wrongfully accused of for YEARS but never actually did. ...Sounding like Dir en grey in the song MOB 136 BARS. I love it, but it's kinda funny. It's actually a good song, but I was reminded of Dir en grey here and there.

I think this album is gonna be another DISORDER for me. A bunch of snoozers and a couple gems. I don't mind though, since this happens alot with this band. I only like a handful of songs per album anyway. But.. I was expecting more, since the singles, all except one delivered the awesome in bulk.

Keepers (other than the singles): AGONY, BURIAL APPLICANT, MOB 136 BARS
On the fence: CIRCLE OF SWINDLER

Well, Gazette, there's always next time. Don't worry, I still love ya! I'll just be skipping alot more of your next DVD!

Gazette - Filth in the Beauty

I'm too lazy to make it look fancy and whatnot.. so yeah. What you see is what you get. XD

The main track is excellent. The beginning sounds like you're listening to the wrong song, but a thick riff reassures the listener. The song itself is pretty catchy, it's missing a screw here, a bolt there, but overall is a nice song. I feel they should have elaborated on a few parts, but that's okay. The song is still great. It's nothing to really go crazy over, but it's something nice to listen to here and there. Rich Excrement is kind of mish-mashy with its blurry riffs (see Saku), incoherent rambling (see Piass), and.. enjoyability! (see BOTH). The shouty parts sound fist-raise-worthy. The only thing is.. the song ends in a really botchy kinda way. Where.. you're like "Huh? That's.. it?" Crucify Sorrow can just.. I don't know. Go party over there with.. Bath Room and BARETTA. It has a good riff here and a good one there, but Ruki stumbles about with his exaggerated tongue rolls. It's kind of annoying when the song ain't that great. He REALLY abuses the double-track-rule here too. Not Behemoth level, but still..

Okay, that's all folks! Yes, I know, I skipped a week. It was either that or do a half-baked review of UnsraW's Gate of Death.. which would be just as boring as the single itself.

Gazette - Regret

Long time no see, eh? Well, I'm here with a review of Gazette's Regret! Here goes.


Regret - I don't like this song. I'll be honest. The beginning is nice and sounds like it's going somewhere.. but then it just goes into Alice Nine land and flops on its back and dies. Uruha's just really unimpressive here. It's kind of irritating since I usually listen to him more. In the end, this song sounds like it's been packaged and compressed. The part where Ruki sings all fast is pretty cool, but it is short lived. And alas, we head back to crapland where the song drags around like an itchy dog.

Psychederic Heroine - What in Meevland is this?

Worthless War - I only like this because I feel I have a duty to. This sounds like generic music, but with Ruki's Rukiness on top of it. It's kinda thrown-together sounding, and some things could have been written better. I was expecting this to be a punk-style song or at least something like DISCHARGE. It ended up going down the road of nothingness instead. What happens next? Boredom. Will I listen to this in the future? Maybe.


So, in order, it goes: Boring, Irritating, Mediocre. I'll pass. Unless I end up getting used to it or something. (Or, more likely, I'll force myself to like it because it's Gazette.)