# Jrock! Appreciation



## Vicissitude27 (Jun 13, 2010)

I really love this genre of music, but feel I don't know many bands. I mean I have my two favorites, Mucc & Merry, but I really want to find more Jrock type bands. Or bands that are just different and innovative in Japan. So I decided to start a thread in appreciation of these sweet bands. 

I cannot get over how beautiful this video is. Gara's vox are epic.


And who can forget Mucc?


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## ry_z (Jun 13, 2010)

In before Bloody_Inferno and JohnIce.


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## Vicissitude27 (Jun 13, 2010)

Dude thanks for the recommendation! I've heard of Versailles, ABS, and Dir En Grey. But those other ones are so sick.


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## ry_z (Jun 13, 2010)

Vicissitude27 said:


> Dude thanks for the recommendation! I've heard of Versailles, ABS, and Dir En Grey. But those other ones are so sick.





One of my favorite songs from the GazettE:



And some more Janne Da Arc:


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## Shinto (Jun 13, 2010)

Some others I like:
Galneryus, Anthem, Loudness, L'arc~en~Ciel, High and Mighty Color, Sex Machineguns, Spinalcord, X Japan, Naitomea, Cycle, Du-star3...

EDIT: I swear I'm not JohnIce's or Bloody_Inferno's alt.


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## chasedowbr00t4l (Jun 13, 2010)




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## dewy (Jun 13, 2010)

Maybe not "different", but I love me some Ajikan


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## ry_z (Jun 13, 2010)

A fantastic Japanese post-punk band that I love:


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## Vicissitude27 (Jun 13, 2010)

dewy said:


> Maybe not "different", but I love me some Ajikan
> 
> You sir, are the fucking man!


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## Vicissitude27 (Jun 13, 2010)

How bout some japanese jazz?


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## dewy (Jun 13, 2010)




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## Vicissitude27 (Jun 14, 2010)

Hey dewy, in you opinion whats the best Akfg album?


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## dewy (Jun 14, 2010)

Vicissitude27 said:


> Hey dewy, in you opinion whats the best Akfg album?



I really really really like Sol-fa


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## ry_z (Jun 14, 2010)

Here, have some more Japanese stuff. 







Yes, I am a huge T.M.Revolution fan.


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## Shinto (Jun 14, 2010)

There's also Sigh, but it sounds nothing like the bands posted above.


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## ry_z (Jun 14, 2010)

Shinto said:


> There's also Sigh, but it sounds nothing like the bands posted above.



And Corrupted, but I don't think 71-minute doom songs sung entirely in Spanish would quite fit either.


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## Vicissitude27 (Jun 14, 2010)

J-pop? Yes. 

Miyavi the Noah of J-pop.

And check out these skills


I love the way he plays slap. Its so sexy. How come the US pop artists today can't play like this?!


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## ry_z (Jun 14, 2010)

Vicissitude27 said:


> I love the way he plays slap. Its so sexy.



So is h- ...wait, I won't go into that. 





Yeah, his guitar style is really cool.


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## signalgrey (Jun 14, 2010)

dewy said:


>




fuck...yes.

i have EVERY envy release. the eps, the limiteds, everything. ive seen them 4 times, and i got to hang out with them when they came to Seoul.

i fucking LOVE envy.


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## toshiyap (Jun 14, 2010)

Periphery stole djent from Gazette.


Kidding.

What amps do Gazette use?


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## ry_z (Jun 14, 2010)

toshiyap said:


> What amps do Gazette use?



Aoi seems to use a Bogner (probably an Uberschall) and Uruha usually has Mesas behind him, from what I've seen.


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## toshiyap (Jun 14, 2010)

Hmm guess its a triple rect. uberschalls? Aoi knows his shit. Japanese music production are also way better than the rest of the world


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## Bloody_Inferno (Jun 14, 2010)

You all suck. 

Now everybody take a deep breath....


































That should be enough for now. 

And yes, Gazette use Bogner Uberschalls and Mesa Triple Recs. But don't forget Reita's bass tone. That's their secret to their big sound. Neither Aoi nor Uruha dial their tones to extreme settings.


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## ry_z (Jun 14, 2010)

Bloody_Inferno said:


>




The first time I saw this band's videos, I thought "...what" 

Now I kinda like them, though. I should actually check them out more. 



Danchou hits some pretty sweet F5s in that song.

Oh, and I had already posted the GazettE - Leech video.


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## Bloody_Inferno (Jun 14, 2010)

^  It was bound to happen.


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## toshiyap (Jun 14, 2010)

almost forgot, my user is based on toshiya of Dir en grey. \m/ YEAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH


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## Bloody_Inferno (Jun 14, 2010)

Also considering it is the 13th anniversary, we may as well honour the godfather:


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## toshiyap (Jun 14, 2010)

hell yeah hide! as good as Slash etc

I havent heard ANY western based guitarists that plays solos like him


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## signalgrey (Jun 14, 2010)

ry_z said:


> Aoi seems to use a Bogner (probably an Uberschall) and Uruha usually has Mesas behind him, from what I've seen.



theres clearly a Herbert in the Leech video. i would imagine they use the same gear as Diru since well...they are Diru V2.0 literally


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## toshiyap (Jun 14, 2010)

signalgrey said:


> theres clearly a Herbert in the Leech video. i would imagine they use the same gear as Diru since well...they are Diru V2.0 literally



maybe ... but noone will ever make an album like Gauze


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## Bloody_Inferno (Jun 14, 2010)

signalgrey said:


> theres clearly a Herbert in the Leech video. i would imagine they use the same gear as Diru since well...they are Diru V2.0 literally



 I guess that's probably why I couldn't get into the Gazette initially. Plus they were Diru's rodies to begin with. 

But we all know classic Diru: 



Then evolved to this:




And here's some more J-randoms:

























I know too much.


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## JohnIce (Jun 14, 2010)

Damn, I'm late to the party  There goes my opportunity to say: "Everybody calm the fuck down! ...I got this!" 

So much awesome music already in this thread, I'll try to not re-post anything 

The Back Horn: Awesome alternative punk-type band, very humble with none of that image bullshit that so many indie and punk bands in the west give us.


Ling Tosite Sigure: Just... I don't know  Fucking awesome and unpredictable!


Sugizo: Should need no introduction, he was in Luna Sea ffs, a true Godfather of J-Rock. This song is a lot more obscure than his work with Luna Sea aswell as his other solo stuff, but it's pretty swingin' 


Unchain: Cool jazz-rock-pop band, very cool harmonies and intertwining key changes and so on with a chill flow to it.


Boom Boom Sattelites: Haven't listened to these guys much but they have a cool ielectro rock n' roll feel:





... and  if you thought I was gonna leave you without some Kumi!


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## ralphy1976 (Jun 14, 2010)

Kumi, is that the one you painted? he is a man right?


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## JohnIce (Jun 14, 2010)

ralphy1976 said:


> Kumi, is that the one you painted? he is a man right?


 
Haha what? 

How do you make this out to be a man?


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## ralphy1976 (Jun 14, 2010)

wasn't too sure, i remember something written about some dude REALLY looking too much like a woman and kicking ass at guitar, but that maybe "versailles"...

would love to be a video clothes designer for one of those J-rock / J-pop / J-punk bands!!!!


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## Bloody_Inferno (Jun 14, 2010)

ralphy1976 said:


> Kumi, is that the one you painted? he is a man right?





For all the post Luna Sea solo careers sans Sugizo:







And since Do As Infinity just refomed: (it was a necessity since Tomoko Van's solo albums were less than satisfactory)



Of course there's Bowwy...



...and their guitarist Tomoyasu Hotei:



And I'm surprise no Nightmare posts yet (not even by me):





Nor their (now on indefinite hold) side band Sendai Kamotsu:



I've already posted Mix Speakers Inc, so I'll post their previous incarnation:



I've also already posted Angelo so I'll post their previous incarnation...



...and what Ex Pierrot guitarist Aiji is doing right now:



My sister's favorites atm:





...and some more randoms:







Consider everything I post as spam from here on.


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## ry_z (Jun 14, 2010)

Bloody_Inferno said:


>




Dammit, you've stumbled across one of my guilty pleasure bands.


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## pink freud (Jun 14, 2010)




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## Dragonfly (Jun 14, 2010)

As mentioned Gazette.

Maximum the Hormone:





And An Cafe?  (not my thingy, but maybe you like it)

Their guitarist is sexy.. even though it's an he..


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## JohnIce (Jun 14, 2010)

Fuck greedy record companies for taking down all the Bazra videos from youtube... one of my absolute favourite bands, who sound like nothing else, and inspired a good 50% of my band's sound


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## 13point9 (Jun 14, 2010)

opening growl is awesome and they use 7's =)





Japanese Devo...


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## Murmel (Jun 14, 2010)

"wrock, wrock the errmc!"
Gotta love how their accent 

I really like this one.


The singers facial expressions both while singing and while not singing are awesome, and he looks like my old friend and neighbor


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## ry_z (Jun 14, 2010)

Oh, I almost forgot this one:







And some others:


Asagi's screams aren't that great, but hearing those vocals from someone dressed like that is hilarious. 


Takanori's vocals in this song = 


The least heavy song ever to use a Diezel VH4 and a Recto?


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## The Somberlain (Jun 14, 2010)

Here's an old one that Boris fans may recognize (they covered this song with Merzbow): YouTube - Flower, Sun, Rain (1971)


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## ry_z (Jun 14, 2010)

The Somberlain said:


> Here's an old one that Boris fans may recognize (they covered this song with Merzbow): YouTube - Flower, Sun, Rain (1971)



It's on their album Smile, as well.


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## Bloody_Inferno (Jun 14, 2010)

I approve of the Abingdon Boys School spamming. 

Abingdon Road won't leave my car. Sunao and Hiroshi's tones are amazing. I should post their entire backline already...


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## ry_z (Jun 14, 2010)

Bloody_Inferno said:


> I approve of the Abingdon Boys School spamming.
> 
> Abingdon Road won't leave my car. Sunao and Hiroshi's tones are amazing. I should post their entire backline already...





I know that at the Inazuma Rock Festival they both appeared to be using VHTs, and they sounded great.


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## josh pelican (Jun 15, 2010)




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## Vicissitude27 (Jun 15, 2010)

....so many bands to look up.....(explosion).

^ my mind by half these bands.


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## -mouse- (Jun 15, 2010)

I'll post some more later


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## Bloody_Inferno (Jun 15, 2010)

ry_z said:


> Dammit, you've stumbled across one of my guilty pleasure bands.


 
Stumbled? You're talking to me here.  








> I know that at the Inazuma Rock Festival they both appeared to be using VHTs, and they sounded great.


 
Both Sunao and Hiroshi do use VHTs, along with others. Forgot the models (I'll post the backlines when I get home), but they feed it through to 2 Marshall Cabs and a Bogner. 

Essentially, their rigs stay the same for both ABS and TM Revolution.


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## ry_z (Jun 15, 2010)

Bloody_Inferno said:


> Stumbled? You're talking to me here.



I didn't mean to suggest that Ayabie was new to _you_, just that they happened to come up.


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## 13point9 (Jun 15, 2010)

No Mana-sama yet? 


Neo Classical rock style




Gothic Dance???



Ive been looking for this DVD for about 3-4 years 

Moi Dix Mois (I have this DVD)





oh and Kozi too xD


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## ry_z (Jun 15, 2010)

13point9 said:


> No Mana-sama yet?



Woah, I don't know how he got missed.


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## signalgrey (Jun 15, 2010)

never seen anyone post these guys on here
four of my favs for a loooong ass time.


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## JohnIce (Jun 15, 2010)

Abingdon Boy School is the shizznit! One of my favourite bands at the moment, and hearing so much Steve Lukather-influenced guitar in a context like that is kind of like finding out there's an adult film star who looks like the local girl you have a crush on... it's win!

Not to mention getting my approval covering a Luna Sea song is damn hard, but they do it  


Either way, now that we brought up Mana we should recognize another legend here:


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## ry_z (Jun 15, 2010)

JohnIce said:


>




I think someone was playing a bit too much FF7.










Another band!


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## 13point9 (Jun 15, 2010)

Wasnt one of the characters in FFVII Crisis Core based on Gackt?


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## ry_z (Jun 15, 2010)

13point9 said:


> Wasnt one of the characters in FFVII Crisis Core based on Gackt?



FFVII Dirge of Cerberus, actually. I'm not sure if it was based on his costume from the PV or the other way around, but regardless.


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## JohnIce (Jun 15, 2010)

^Actually, it's been said that the character designer of FF8 (Tetsuya Nomura) was such a fan of Gackt that he modeled Squall after him. Then they both went full circle when Gackt actually appeared as the character Genesis in the FF7: Crisis Core game:



He also made the theme song for FF7: Dirge of Cerberus (in which he also appeared in a secret ending scene, again as Genesis)


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## ry_z (Jun 15, 2010)

Ah, there we go. 

More random stuff:










There, some slight br00tals cred.


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## Bloody_Inferno (Jun 15, 2010)

Completely forgot Mana, Malice Mizer, Acidman, Balzac... damn I suck.  

Anyways simply because I can, here's the backline used by the ABS guitarists:

Hiroshi Shibasaki:

Guitars:

Musicman BFR Luke (Blue)
Main guitar. Drop D tuning and stock electronics, used in songs: Strength, Blade Chord, Shosai among many others. 

Musicman Luke (Black)
Drop C# and stock electronics, used in many songs such as Innocent Sorrow, JAP, Athena etc. A second black Luke is kept as a backup. 







Musicman Luke w/Floyd Rose (Indigo)
Drop B tuning, used for the low songs like Howling, Pineapple Army and Siren. 

Musicman Luke w/Sustainer (Sky Blue)
The other Drop D guitar. Used in songs such as And I Love..., Desert Rose among others. 






PRS Custom 24 (Blue)
Retrofitted with Dimarzios, PAF Joe on Neck, D-Sonic on Bridge and tuned to Drop C for songs such as Desire, Via Dolorosa, Souen and Valkyrie. 

Sago New Material Custom Guitar (Amber burst)
Custom HSS Strat with Floyd Rose. Used for various tunings, EMG pickups to mirror the collection of Lukes (85 Bridge, SA Middle/Neck). 

Aircraft Custom Guitar (Purple)
Similar to the Sago custom but with a maple board and custom electronics (unknown). 

Cole Clark FL2AC acoustic
Stand mounted, used for acoustic rendition of Desert Rose. 

Amps/Rack:

Main 2 heads used are a Custom Audio Amplifier OD-100 and VHT Classic. Other rackmounted units include an ISP Decimator (both pedal and Pro Rack G), CAD CGM-2 Champ, Alesis Quadraverb, various Custom Audio Electronics stuff like Super Tremolo, Digital Music Corp Dual Stereo Line Mixer and Juice Goos E Twelve Paq. All fed through 2 Marshall 1960AX and a Bogner (model unknown). 

Onstage effects:

Most effects are fed through a Custom Audio Electronics MIDI switcher. Various pedals include: Shin's Music Perfect Volume, Love Pedal Super6, Fulltone Octafuzz and Mini Deja Vibe, Xotic BB preamp and RC Booster, Arion SCH-Z chorus, MXR Phase 100, Dunlop Q-Zone QZ1 Wah, Boss FS-5L footswitch, Korg DTR Rack Tuner. 


Sunao:

Guitars:

Sunao gets more axes than Hiroshi:

Paul Reed Smith SC250 (Red)
Main guitar. Stock electronics and tuned to Drop D for the bulk of ABS songs. 

Gibson Les Paul Standard (Red)
Drop D tuning and Bridge pickup retrofitted with a Seymour Duncan JB. Used in songs such as Desert Rose and Nervous Breakdown. 

Valley Arts M Series Tele (Cream)
Drop C tuning and equipped with a Floyd Rose and EMGs (85 Bridge, SA Middle/Neck). Used in songs such as Souen, Valkyire. 

Valley Arts M Series Strat (Amber burst)
Similar to the M Series Tele, this guitar is tuned to Drop C# for various songs (Athena). 






Crews Maniac Sound Bottom's Up II Ultra Q (Psychedelic swirl)
Main Drop C# Guitar. Same specs as the Valley Arts Strat and used for songs such as JAP, Innocent Sorrow etc. 






Paul Reed Smith Custom 24 (Wine Red)
Tuned to Drop B and retroffited with a Dimarzio D-Sonic for the Bridge. Used for Howling, Pineapple Army, Siren etc. 

James Tyler Classic (Blue)
SSH Config with Wilkinson Trem. Used for From Dusk Till Dawn. 

James Tyler Studio Elite HD (Psychedelic Vomit finish )
Used for various tunings as a backup. 

Aircraft AC-5 (Natural)
Similar specs to the Valley Arts Strat, used occasionally as a backup. 

Fernades Ravelle Elite (Black)
Equipped with a Fernandes Sustainer for the neck and Seymour Duncan JB for the bridge. Uses, unknown. 

Paul Reed Smith SE Singlecut
Guitar usually used as a backup for PRS Custom 24. 

Cole Clark FL1A Limited Acoustic Guitar
Stand mounted, used for acoustic rendition of Desert Rose. 

Amps/Rack:

Sunao uses 2 VHTs, 2150 head and Two Nine Two poweramp rack. Others on the rack include Shure UR4D wireless, Custom Audio Electronics AC0912T, CGM-2 Champ and 3+SE, Rocktron Intelliverb and Intelliflex. 2 Marshall 1960AV2 cabs are used. 

Onstage Effects:

Sunao's effects setup is more simple compared to Hiroshi's. Custom Audio Electronics MIDI switcher as main controller. Pedals include, Korg DT-10 Tuner, MXR Phase 100, Arion SCH-Z Chorus, CAJ Twin Tremolo. Wah and Volume pedals used unknown. An Ebow is also used for Athena. 


Takinori Nishikawa (because I have the info too )

Guitars:

Guild S-4CE Acoustic. (Gibson L-I 50 Custom for backup)
Standard Tuning, sued for Sweetest Coma Again. 



Unfortunately finding pics of all of this is near impossible.  But who knows, I found all the Janne Da Arc guitar stuff so anything's possible.


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## ry_z (Jun 15, 2010)

I'd rep you, but it won't let me.


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## Murmel (Jun 15, 2010)

I don't remember who posted Mucc, but fucking 1000000+ rep to that guy/girl because I'm addicted to them now


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## Shinto (Jun 15, 2010)

I never got around repping Bloody_Inferno for posting Janne da Arc the other day, I'm way too hooked now. 

EDIT: done.


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## JohnIce (Jun 16, 2010)

Murmel said:


> I don't remember who posted Mucc, but fucking 1000000+ rep to that guy/girl because I'm addicted to them now


 
They're in Sweden now and then, I think they played Sweden Rock at some point, and I caught them 2 years ago at Fryshuset  Fucking ace band!


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## 13point9 (Jun 16, 2010)

Not a big fan of these guys but saw them and brought a t shirt cos the design looked like a brutal DM t shirt


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## PnKnG (Jun 16, 2010)

JohnIce said:


> They're in Sweden now and then, I think they played Sweden Rock at some point, *and I caught them 2 years ago at Fryshuset  Fucking ace band!*



Was that at Taste of Chaos?
With the following bands (that I can remember):
Horse the Band, As I Lay Dying, Story of the Year, Path of No Return and Atreyu


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## JohnIce (Jun 16, 2010)

PnKnG said:


> Was that at Taste of Chaos?
> With the following bands (that I can remember):
> Horse the Band, As I Lay Dying, Story of the Year, Path of No Return and Atreyu


 
Yup, that it was!  I was there for MUCC but Atreyu weren't bad, I must say.


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## Bloody_Inferno (Jun 16, 2010)

Now that I've hinted to ry_z about posting L'Arc~en~Ciel guitarist Ken's backline, I may as well do so:

This was based on the Kiss Me tour 2007:

Guitars:

Fernandes LD-115KK Signature






Main guitar for the tour. 

Neck: Maple/648mm scale Bolt on
Fretboard: Maple 21F, 350R
Body: Light Ash 45mm
Pickups: VS-4 x 3
Control: 1 Volume, 2 Tone, 5 Way Lever Switch
Bridge: 510TS-SF2 CK synchronised trem. 
ColourL Red Pearl Sunburst. 

Various other Strat models (about 15!) are used with different graphic finishes and hardware (Model 4 has a hardtail bridge, Model 3 has a reverse headstock etc). All have maple boards and 21 frets. 

Fernandes LA-CUSTOM 






Red Superstrat Signature model. A custom 3S version was used for the Kiss Me Tour. 

Fernandes LA-21FKK Custom

Similar to the Red Superstrat but more... Strat like. 3 Single coils, vintage synchronised trem and normal neck heel. 

Main Rig:

Shure UR42-ABK Wireless then fed to Providence PRC-100. The Providence is the heard of Ken's rig. A second is kept as a backup. 

Rocktron All Access switching system set offstage for tech, then fed to Providence Cornish PMS-18U then to Providence PC-77 Interface then into the PRC-100. A Boss FE-8 Footswitch is also connected and placed onstage for Ken. 

7 out of 8 loops on the PRC-1000 are used:

1 - Vox Wah (located onstage)
2 - Klon Centaur (rack)
3 - Providence Sonic Drive (rack)
4 - Damage Control Demonizer (rack)
5 - Korg DTR Tuner (rack)
6 - Unicord Univibe (rack) > Remode Expression Pedal (onstage)
7 - Empty
8 - TC Electronic TC2200, which has an MXR Dyna Comp, Roland SDE3000A Delay, and Roland SDE2000 Delay all connected in seperate loops. 

The Providence PC-1000's 3 Line Outs then go...

Line 1 and 2 - Roccaforte Levant Serices High-Gain 100 Head > Marshall 1980BX cab. 
Line 3 - 65amps London. 

The Marshall Cab is apparently specially miked and fed through a Chandler Limited TG2 > Alexis QD20 > Digitech Halfier G150 then finally a Pacific 2 Speaker Monitor Cab. 


That's a fair bit going on, but that's to be expected especially with L'Arc En Ciel concerts. Plus Ken's single coil tones are just gorgeous.


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## ry_z (Jun 16, 2010)

Thus far, I have successfully resisted the urge to post the Hot Limit video.


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## Bloody_Inferno (Jun 17, 2010)

Overdue but I guess The Alfee belong here too:



...as does Loudness:



...and even English singing Loudness:



And considering, every member of Siam Shade's post career has been posted, may as well (again)...



Jun-Ji seems to be playing for Gackt these days...


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## ry_z (Jun 18, 2010)

A friend of mine turned me on to this band the other day. Excellent stuff.


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## Bloody_Inferno (Jun 21, 2010)

> Plus Ken's single coil tones are just gorgeous.



Seriously it is.


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## JohnIce (Jun 21, 2010)

I enjoy L'Arc~en~Ciel... but the solo in Finale...


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## Jtizzle (Jun 21, 2010)

Vicissitude27 said:


> How bout some japanese jazz?



This is amazing. I love you.

But yeah. The only JRock I know about is from anime I watch. So I know pretty much the famous ones like Asian Kung Fu Generation (from Bleach), Maximum The Hormone (from Death Note), and then I listen to some the first One Piece intro theme, which I like a lot haha.

Well, has anyone heard of Toe? or since were at it, Lite? Toe is like one of my favorite bands. They're amazing.

The music vid is pretty weird, but I love the song.


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## Joseph Kimbrell (May 20, 2013)

LOTS of good stuff in this thread


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