Album Rating: 2.5

Filth is so dope, the "WOHHOHHHOHH YEAH!" right before the chorus, the production, dat phat riff just all come together brilliantly.

Album Rating: 2.5

Did he also even download the album?

Album Rating: 2.5

I love that OOR rant...it was even more stupid.

Album Rating: 3.5

Yup, that was unforgettable.

Album Rating: 2.5

Don't you love it when a person make an account just to submit a rant for once?

Album Rating: 2.5

Yep, and doesn't respond to anyone. Pointless.

Album Rating: 3.5

Wasn't really intended to be a "rant", just a comprehensive response to a review and what appears to be 5 pages of largely the same opinion. This was supposed to be about the music, but regarding the hurt feelings about a couple off-handed comments I made, let me address that, since a lot of the focus has been on that and taking it personal, as opposed to the music itself:



I read a few comments critiquing me for making assumptions about people's backgrounds in musical taste. I usually don't, but that's when we're having a truly objective discussion about the music. When I came into this conversation, I saw plenty of people decidedly labeling large parts of their music as things like "bland", as though those are objective statements that can be easily accepted as a fact. They're not, they're subjective, and when you make those statements the best that I can do is connect the dots back to your assumption of what "bland" would be. And as for the review, statements like "the Gazette are practically just a Dir En Grey cover band" immediately raise red flags for me: there's nothing new under the sun, and following logic like that I could argue that Dir En Grey has been a Korn and Cannibal Corpse cover band.



Based on the comparisons to Dir En Grey, complaints about all the tracks of Dogma sounding like the same metal sound, and the immediate dismissal of more experimental albums like Toxic and Division, it would seem there's a strong bias towards older VK and metal music in general on here, with less of an appreciation for more experimental modern genres. I don't think that's an unreasonable claim to make. If I'm wrong, please correct me, but either way there needs to be a more substantive and specific conversation if you want to avoid people making guesses about what you mean. And making broadly dismissive statements about different parts of the band's style without explaining WHAT is wrong with it doesn't count.



All I've gotten from this review and a lot of the is the same broad comparison to Dir En Grey and its genericness (very descriptive). By the way, the bands to accuse them of appropriating the most over their career would be western artists, particularly Mudvayne and Slipknot; I feel like if they dropped the VK style we'd never hear that DEG comparison again lol.

Album Rating: 2.5

At least he is back, with yet another 'baseless assumptions' plus argument that isn't supported by any proof.

Album Rating: 2.5

"And as for the review, statements like "the Gazette are practically just a Dir En Grey cover band" immediately raise red flags for me"



As I've said on the first page I've criticized the review for this reason. Sure it's easy to bring up but it doesn't be the centerpiece of the the review like it is oh here. I would not go as far as that but the elements they do take off them they do all of them worse.



"and following logic like that I could argue that Dir En Grey has been a Korn and Cannibal Corpse cover band."



...no. Even during Marrow of the Bone, their most replicate era of a band's sound you can tell straight away that it's them. The ballads and Kyo's voice are the reason why. The logic is people call the Gazette a rip off of other influences because they watered it down and lost track of what made it great in the first place, Dir took another sound and made it their own. That's the difference, the Gazette is the posterchild to people like Jas of uninspired bands taking other bands ideas and making them worse. Also Dir haven't never sounded similar to Cannibal Corpse, in terms of nearly every aspect. Tempo, playing style, vocal technique, lyrics, imagery and tone. If you said that in a primarily hardcore Metal thread here you'd get ripped to shreds.



"Based on the comparisons to Dir En Grey, complaints about all the tracks of Dogma sounding like the same metal sound, and the immediate dismissal of more experimental albums like Toxic and Division, it would seem there's a strong bias towards older VK and metal music in general on here"



You are correct, most fans of Dir en Grey and Gazette here have a lot of experience with Metal and enjoy more modern Visual Kei acts less.



"with less of an appreciation for more experimental modern genres."



Incorrect. While I won't speak for others here, I personally dismiss them because I haven't heard them in full thus I can't give a full informed opinion minus knowing a track or 2 showing they've babbled with electronic music more.



"but either way there needs to be a more substantive and specific conversation if you want to avoid people making guesses about what you mean. "



Isn't that what we're doing now though?

Album Rating: 2.5

"And making broadly dismissive statements about different parts of the band's style without explaining WHAT is wrong with it doesn't count."



That has been done though, multiple times. Which mainly boils down to lack of originality and they take other aspects of bands and make it worse. In this album especially the production, where the cymbals don't even sound they're being played by a human due to how fast the echo of the cymbal stops and how underwhelming the drums have a presence over the guitars.



"By the way, the bands to accuse them of appropriating the most over their career would be western artists, particularly Mudvayne and Slipknot; I feel like if they dropped the VK style we'd never hear that DEG comparison again lol."



Oh yeah Ogre from DIM is such a Slipknot clone it's laughable. That would probably happen far less yes because despite not being Visual Kei anymore, Dir is heavily associated with the scene and they've taken inspiration from said acts.

Album Rating: 2.5

"At least he is back, with yet another 'baseless assumptions' plus argument that isn't supported by any proof."



Na it's much better than the first post, plus a response so I'm happy.

Album Rating: 2.5

@calc It is better, but the passive aggressiveness in the first paragraph put me off a little bit. He definitely need to join this site, that would be fun.



Anyway, for my own opinion, I entirely dismissed the similarity between this band and DEG when I listened to The Gazette. I feel like there is a good concept behind all of The Gazette's albums. I just find the albums to be uninspired as an album.

Album Rating: 2.5

"He definitely need to join this site, that would be fun."



Yeah more filthy weebs here would be nice.

Album Rating: 2.5

I'm not that filthy as a weeb tho. Filthy enough to watch anime and make lists on anime on sputnikmusic.com.

Album Rating: 2.5

2filthy4me :o

Album Rating: 3.5

Eh, I'll pass. I've poked the bear enough to see that most of the perspectives here match that kind of monochrome heaven perspective where nothings as good as it was in the old days and everything new is called derivative and dismissed. That attitude is what killed rock and metal in the west, and that's what people are trying to prevent from happening in the east to allow their music to continue to innovate and evolve. Not being passive aggressive, just fundamentally disagreeing with you.

Album Rating: 2.5

"I've poked the bear enough to see that most of the perspectives here match that kind of monochrome heaven perspective where nothings as good as it was in the old days and everything new is called derivative and dismissed."



You say this when I laugh at some Monochrome Heaven threads for being trash, especially the Dum Spiro Spero review thread oh boy but they're a gold mine of info. I can be critical of older Visual Kei was well because stuff from there is just as bad as well (Shazna anyone?), I'm not looking at it with nostalgia tinted goggles.



" That attitude is what killed rock and metal in the west"



Metal is still alive and thriving and the West with many festivals throughout Europe and America, Rock...yeahhhh not so much unfortunately.

Album Rating: 3.0 | Sound Off

Shazna sounds like a rejected Pokemon name... or a King of Fighters character for whatever reason.

Album Rating: 2.5

Your profile picture fits perfectly with that comment and now I can't stop laughing.

Album Rating: 2.0

"I read a few comments critiquing me for making assumptions about people's backgrounds in musical taste. I usually don't, but that's when we're having a truly objective discussion about the music. "



well you fucked that one up smartass



"When I came into this conversation, I saw plenty of people decidedly labeling large parts of their music as things like "bland", as though those are objective statements that can be easily accepted as a fact. "



ah yeah we tend to call those "opinions"



"And as for the review, statements like "the Gazette are practically just a Dir En Grey cover band" immediately raise red flags for me: there's nothing new under the sun, and following logic like that I could argue that Dir En Grey has been a Korn and Cannibal Corpse cover band. "



no no no, you're missing my point entirely. While Dir En Grey for sure take influences from western metal bands, they've done it in there own way. The GazettE just come across like they want to be Dir En Grey. Dir En Grey also do not sound like Cannibal Corpse at all so you can fuck right off with that one.



"and the immediate dismissal of more experimental albums like Toxic and Division,"



I've got some really bad news for you if you think those albums can be considered "experimental"...



"it would seem there's a strong bias towards older VK and metal music in general on here, with less of an appreciation for more experimental modern genres. "



But the older bands were faaaaaaaaaaar more "experimental" with their music, list me off some of the more "experimental" modern "genres" and let's see if we're even talking about the same thing anymore.



"I don't think that's an unreasonable claim to make. If I'm wrong, please correct me, but either way there needs to be a more substantive and specific conversation if you want to avoid people making guesses about what you mean. "



I mean, yeah, that's a completely unreasonable claim to make lmao, you are wrong. I don't know how you can fuck that up though I mean I have 1300 album ratings that you can look at literally two clicks away from this page to see how much of a "traditional rock and metal snob" I am.