Category: Japan

[MUSIC] Crystal Lake with a European tour

4/4/2018

The Japanese band Crystal Lake will land in seven European cities in total this summer. Who exactly are Crystal Lake, what type of music do they create and why is it worth it to book a ticket for their show? I'll try to give them a rather brief but still proper review, if you, however, are already familiar with the guys and want the tour dates straight away - just one scroll down keeps you from them!

The band was formed in 2002 and right from the start Crystal Lake state that their main influence was the hardcore style, popular during the '90s. Their songs can be described as metalcore (early years), hardcore, progressive metal and nu metal. The typical heavy vocals and growling are absolutely here but you may have to bear in mind - recently they include more clean vocals as well. The style varies from truly aggressive mosh pit-worthy songs to soft and somehow calming songs (as much as that's possible for a hardcore song, maybe I am just weird). An example of that is two of the songs I included throughout this article - Apollo and Black and Blue. I absolutely adore how even in different types of songs and emotions, Crystal Lake still has a distinct sound which is never lost.

Apollo is their last single. It was released at the end of last year. The art on the right gives us a hind to something alien, the music video is a neon hallucination. And the song, you ask, what about the song! Often I baffle people around me when I say that a song with growls and heavy riffs calms me down. Apollo is one of those songs. The vocals aren't irritatingly aggressive but compliment the instruments delightfully. The guitar and drums are unforgivingly perfect for a mosh pit but at the same time an absolutely lovely melody comes in and blends it all. During this 5-minute song, we can find also some discrete rapping, some clean vocals, and nostalgic DJ mixing sounds.

This universe was not big enough for us
Open the sky

- Apollo

The tour dates and cities around Europe are as follows:

June 28–30, 2018 - JERA ON AIR 2018 - Ysselsteyn, The Netherlands Tickets
June 30–July 1, 2018 - Dissonance Festival - Milan,Italy Tickets
July 5–7, 2018 - ROCK DEN SEE 2018 - Sankt Andrä, Austria Tickets
July 5, 2018 - UK TECH-FEST 2018 - Newark, UK Tickets
July 6, 2018 - JAPAN EXPO 2018 - Paris, France Tickets
July 13, 2018 - RESURRECTION FEST 2018 - Viveiro, Galicia, Spain Tickets
July 14, 2018 - Fajtfest 2018 - Velké Meziříčí, Czech Republic Tickets

Official site of Crystal Lake
Official Facebook page of Crystal Lake

Статията може да намерите и на български - тук.

Author: Lilia Bozhinova

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[MUSIC] Arlequin with a new single

2/4/2018

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Arlequin (アルルカン) are serving us a quite delightful spring portion of visual kei with their single exist which hit the shelves on the 21st of March. The title track under the same name is a bold combination of everything we might call visual kei now, in this day and year. It starts off with some electronic elements and we kinda mentally prepare for a song that is not-so-metal. Quickly, we are proven wrong by a heavy guitar riff that makes me quite happy. The vocals are on point and with great joy, I can say that the trend of too much falsetto among visual kei singers might be dying out. Right when I thought the song might be getting predictable, we stumble upon some heavy vocals which are a bit out of place. We never hear them again, they are just kinda... there. That might be the only minus of the song.

The title song is accompanied by a PV (which you can find at the bottom of the review). It does not have a huge budget or a super elaborate plot. Shots of the musicians, dominantly dark atmosphere in tune with the sound of the song, as well as tasteful splatters of blood (teased by the new images of the group too). Overall, compliments the song and the mood well but isn't anything that can keep me glued to the monitor.

The single comes in several versions with small differences but overall you could find these titles on the backs of the CDs:

1.exist
2.Antidote.
3.NEGA ABILITY
4.exist -instrumental-

Take a quick look at the visuals they pull for the new single. I may be delusional but I find that Arlequin has settled down a bit - both musically and visually. We see a more mature and polished group. Of course, the very iconic symbols of the genre can be found - the haircuts, the almost industrial style but everything without excess. Black and red are dominant, to match the main color nuances of the music video.

Arlequin are on the visual kei stage since 2013 and they have behind them 2 full-lenght albums and 13 singles. More about the boys from Arlequin you can find down in the following links:

Official website of the group
Youtube channel of GOEMON Records
Official Twitter

Българският вариант на статията - тук.

Author: Lilia Bozhinova

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[CINEMA] "The Night I Swam" during Sofia Film Fest 2018

2/4/2018

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The Night I Swam (La Nuit où j'ai nagé) - 2017

Directors - Kohei Igarashi, Damien Manivel
Written by - Kohei Igarashi, Damien Manivel
Staring - Chisato Kogawa, Keiki Kogawa, Takara Kogawa, Takashi Kogawa
Genre - drama
IMDB rating - 6,3

Snow, snow, and even more snow. Everything around is coated with a thick white cloak. A father leaves every night for his work down at the fish market. A child - almost awake and almost asleep - swims through the snowy streets. He has a destination and a mission.

"The Night I Swam" is not a film for everybody. The French touch can be felt right at the start of the movie - filled with fine details, specific camera work and still life type of scenes. The little boy is in the center of the plot with his walk around the snow-filled Japanese city. A frame is present at the beginning and at the end of the movie - a staircase, snowfall can be seen through the window, and a hurried cigarette. We seem to have an ending to the story but actually, the cycle continues beyond. The wheel continues to spin no matter what the little boy does, however the story changes - the father always goes to work before the boy awakes. Always missing each other, always leaving "love letters" for each other - one with drawings, the other with a silent gesture. Despite the deeply heartbreaking cycle, "The Night I Swam" makes us relax and follow the flow without worrying where we might end. Takes us on a journey with our little main character and experience the world through his eyes. It is a bonus that we do not need any language skills neither in Japanese, nor French. Only a heart is needed.

An absolute journey-movie, made by all laws of art cinema. Silent, natural, realistic, snow-white dream of a child. The film follows closely the travels of one kid through the endless snow in the northern town of Aomori. We don't go down the journey as we might expect, as other movies do. We go with no words. We need only steps.

This is a movie that we could spend hours analyzing and trying to figure out. Everyone can find something unique and many things to think about. At the same time, the movie can be enjoyed by absolutely shutting down the logic. By just going with the flow. For me, the first method is easier so it came naturally to ask myself many questions as for why the only musical piece that we can sporadically hear is "Spring" by Vivaldi and why only in specific scenes? Why was that camera static during the whole movie but moved just 2 or 3 times, was it at random? Was it by design that the little boy was constantly surrounded by water in different forms and shapes - his fish figurines and pictures, the drawing, the snow, the river, the fish market? Truth is - it doesn't matter what was on purpose.

It is very hard for adults to peek into the little man's mind and understand what is driving him to go to such extents. The little runaway carries an important drawing that he has to show to his father. The journey is dangerous and even risky at times but he never gives up. Many obstacles await him before he gets to his destination - the fish market. He is taken by surprise there - the market is already closed and everything around is completely empty. No people. Right at that moment, the fatigue takes its toll on the kid. He has to finally sleep. The Odyssey of the little man is shown through three silent parts - "The Drawing", "The Fish Market" and "The Long Sleep".

For Cineuropa Damien Manivel says: "Before shooting the film, we talked a lot about what kind of feelings we would like to evoke. And then we started figuring out how to achieve that effect. But sometimes, or even most of the time, it was Takara himself who would come up with some new ideas, completely changing what we previously had in mind. And we loved it!"

If you are looking for action and dynamics, better look elsewhere! If you decide tho that you need a bit of silence and calmness, you can safely trust "The Night I Swam"!

"The Night I Swam" during Sofia Film Fest

Статията на български език - тук.

Author: Lilia Bozhinova and Maria Simeonova
Translated by Lilia Bozhinova

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[ANIME] Aggressive Retsuko is angry so we don't have to be

31/3/2018

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Aggressive Retsuko или Aggretsuko (アグレッシブ烈子)

Creator - Yeti for the company Sanrio
Airing - from 02.04.2016 until now (still airing)
Genre - comedy

The 25-year-old red panda Retsuko is faced constantly with stressful situations but she has a rather... creative way of battling them. Late at night, after work, she goes to karaoke. And growls her problems to death metal tunes. Yes.

We need to take into account that this is a one minute per episode anime. With that being said - the arch and plot aren't life-changing material. But are they brilliant? Oh, hell, yea. The charm of the little snips of her life is that they remind us a lot of our own experiences. We all have bad days at work, we are put under pressure and most of all - we all know the annoying people around Retsuko. Most of us try to keep up a polite front, she tries as well and is actually very successful in that. I dare say tho, not any of us start screaming to the faint (at first) guitar riff tho. And this is where Retsuko is brilliant, she is on the verge of our own break-down and she breaks down so we don't have to. Ok, that may have sounded a bit too deep but the anime is truly a wonderful way to loosen up after a hard day.

By the way, the fact that they are just a minute-long means that we can both binge-watch them in like an hour AND we can squeeze in an episode if someone grinds your gears. Just a thought.

P.S. It is set to air on Netflix as well on the 18th of April.

Статията на български може да намерите тук.

Author: Lilia Bozhinova

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[MUSIC] Aristocrats, vampires and roses = Kamijo has a new album

27/3/2018

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"Sang" is the name of the most recent album by one of the biggest names on the visual kei scene - Kamijo. The album consists of 14 songs in total, 4 of which are interludes that ease the transition between the main pieces. These 52 minutes of pure bliss are composed with absolute precision and thought, not only to fill a mandatory number of songs. All of them bind together perfectly in a divine symphony and are best listened to in the official order on the CD.

The album was released on the 21st of March and since then it has been on repeat in its entirety.

The full list of songs is available for browsing at the end of the article. For now, we'll look at a few accents among them, although I feel obliged to repeat again that the perfection of Sang hides in its entirety. I can't say any song is vastly better or worse than the others. In the sense of composition and musicality, there is not one weak piece of music on this album. This is the reason why my choice of specific songs to discuss is rather more based on the meaning. Songs that are so very much Kamijo and mark his success as a musician and as a singer.

"Nosferatu" is the third song by the original order. You may have already encountered it during February, as it was released as a single. Just with the name of the song we can already see a connection with the album name and the whole theme (sang from French - blood, and Nosferatu as in the first and most iconic vampire film from 1922). We are very used to seeing the purely aristocratic side of Kamijo even with his career roots with Lareine, followed by a full aristocrat explosion with Versailles. Now we are introduced to a darker side of that nobility. The black color is dominant, dim lit candles and darkness during his live performances, as well as somber themes for many of his songs. Everything, of course, served with the uttermost excellence of a true aristocrat.

"Vampire Rock Star" can be described best as SO Kamijo. Heavier, a bit more aggressive than the others, with a faster tempo but oh so perfectly placed to sprinkle some surprise among the more classicly composed pieces. At a first glance, I wasn't too sure why this song, in particular, grabbed my attention and is slowly climbing to the spot of a favorite one. The energy in Vampire Rock Star brings the album to life, accompanied, of course, by brilliant guitar riffs, Yuki behind the drums and Kamijo... who, let's be honest, is truly a vampire rock star. Brilliant! (And the next song - "Emigre" comes just in time to pick up where we have left.)

"mademoiselle" is the second single out of the album and we are including it here mainly to note how gentle it is. Probably the most gentle one. The piano and violin blend smoothly with the now calmer drums and guitars. Kamijo softly sings about his probably second biggest love after the roses - the French language.

The trilogy Sang I, II, III concludes our journey into the dark aristocratic parts of Kamijo's soul. The overuse of this word is real but necessary - a brilliant end to a brilliant album. The combination between classical and metal instruments, the choir in the back, unmistakable vocals - every little tiny element is composed with consideration of all other to birth a perfect symphony for us to enjoy.

Full track list of the album "Sang":

Dead Set World
Theme of Sang
Nosferatu
Bloodcast -Interlude-
Vampire Rock Star
Emigre
Mystery
mademoiselle
Delta -Interlude-
CASTRATO
Ambition -Interlude-
Sang I
Sang II
Sang III

There are a few tour dates announced but for now - only around Japan. Next to Kamijo live the audience will have the pleasure to hear Anzi (ex. Matenrou Opera) on guitar, Meku (ex. Galeyd) on guitar, Yuki (ex. Versailles) on drums and Shigure on bass guitar. Further information about Kamijo, the album, the tour and any future projects you can find at the following links:

Official page of Chateau Agency
Official Facebook page of Kamijo

Статията на български може да намерите тук.

Author: Lilia Bozhinova

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[MUSIC] Crystal Lake with a European tour

[MUSIC] Arlequin with a new single

[CINEMA] "The Night I Swam" during Sofia Film Fest 2018

[ANIME] Aggressive Retsuko is angry so we don't have to be

[MUSIC] Aristocrats, vampires and roses = Kamijo has a new album

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