This is a bit late to write, but for me Behind the Tales feels kind of new since I didn't get a chance to see it until february.
The DVD was pre-released at Velvet Eden's live gig on the 31 October and officially released on the 26 November.
This DVD is the bands second since the revival (I don't count the Sad Mask DVD) and contains 6 live videos and a PV for the song Marionette Waltz.
Me and a friend talked about the livevideos for some time, we both got a bit annoyed and confused by the way they've edited them...
Most of the time it looks like the above, several images a top of eachother, making it rather hard to focus on one thing.
I thought that was rather sad, it felt like the images got blurry after a while.
The setlist was good though, we finally got to see Street of Alice, old style.
Dada and Kalm used to fence during this song and so did Dada and Chro.
The DVD also included a PV for Marionette Waltz, which I have to say is my favorite of their new PV's. It's not recorded as a selfie, and it's in black and white.
I've noticed Behind the Tales haven't made it up on Starwave records topchart over sold items, and it doesn't seem like that many international fans have ordered it, how come?
Setlist:
1. Street of Alice
2. Freakshow
3. La fin
4. Luzifer
5. Masquarade Alone
6. Confession of Mask
7. Marionette Waltz PV
For those who follow Közi on Twitter it's not that much big news to say that he once again made a piece for an art exhibition.
This time it's for a Czech artist and filmmaker named Jan Svankmajer. I made a quick search and he's making short films which recembles Dali's art (seems interesting and Közi-enough).
I don't know how many remember Közi's last piece of art-music, but in short it was an almost 20 minutes long piece of sounds. Yes, I do not want to say piece of music because he worked with a lot of sounds, creating a sort of horror feeling. Same with this.
17 veins spliced an ecstatic mind is about 17 minutes long and sounds pretty much like it's from a horror movie (not the over dramatic american ones of course). A lot of squeaking noises and dripps of water, and we even get to hear Közi this time, making some atmospheric sounds.
I wouldn't recomend this to those who just think Közi's an okey musician and likes to listen to him at times, probably not worth the money since you're not likely to put this on that often, but of course I want everyone to support Közi's work, so concider buying it if you want to hear it at least. Of course a must have for all Közi fangirls though.
So, how did I buy it?
To be honest, it might be tricky for those who do not speak japanese since their whole webpage is in japanese and I'm not sure how well the staff manage english. They offered SAL and EMS shipping, and also only credit card payment.
Here's a link to their webpage , click on the こちらのメールフォームより>> in the square which mentions this cd and just write what it is you want and they'll reply with shipping method and payment. The price of the cd itself is 1500yen.
Since I can't be reporting from funfun Tokyo anymore *sob*, and I want to keep this blog going, I was thinking about what I could possibly write about that would be interesting. I do update when I buy stuff, but besides that? I hate those boring blogs which posts a link to a song and goes "check them out, they're awesome", everyone can find new bands by looking through youtube for endless hours (been there, done that unfortunatley). So I thought since I want to recomend bands I might aswell do it all the way, from presentation, recomendations to discography.
First up is a new crush of mine, Rentrer en Soi ~
Out of a very random happening during my last week in Tokyo I decided to check Rentrer en Soi out. They're one of the bigger, modern visual kei bands so of course I've heard of the name before but to be honest I never really listened to anything from them. So I checked some songs on youtube and then I downloaded the complete discography. (That's how you do it when you have too much freetime) Rentrer en Soi began their activities in 2001, and because of their connection with BAISER member Katsura (who also was their drummer until Mika came along), the band was heavily influenced by BAISER (to be honest, in the early days Rentrer en Soi looked a bit left behind compared to newer visual kei bands). In sound the band also had a sort of 90's visual kei touch to it, aswell as visually. Have a look to a PV from their early period, Sincerely.
By this time the guitarist Ao had left and been replaced by Shun. I have to honestly say I'm not a big fan of their early sound, In my opinion shit started happening in 2005.
Their sound changed a lot, one of the fanfavorites, Protoplasm was released and in that you get a preview of what their future releases would sound like. The song itself is very catchy, and Satsuki changes from singing beautifully to screaming, this was a love at first hear for me, totally. (In other words, I listened to it nonstop for hours...during a couple of days)
Their visual style also changed, from very typical visual kei in old manner, to something more modern. Check this one out for sure, it won't disapoint you.
The band kept releasing some of their best works, in my opinion,the selfnamed album Rentrer en Soi, The Bottom of Chaos, and they also played in the US and gained some international fans (VK-sized but still). The previously mentioned cds both include a heavier sound, Satsuki mixes growling with his normal singing style alot. What also made me very interested in this perticular era of Rentrer en Soi is that the lyrics got way more darker than the previous releases. For those who enjoy shouting I can highly recomend the song I hate myself and want to... (also called I hate myeslf and want to die on The bottom of chaos)
Everything seemed to go great, they released the amazing single Stigmata, and it seemed like they tried to loose the visual kei style a bit (I'm sorry but Satsuki looks so much like a host at times), normally that means bands are aiming to go major-MAJOR. Unfortunately that wasn't the case for Rentrer en Soi. They announced their Millenarism tour in Japan and then they left the very sad message on their official webpage that they would stop activities after the last concert in Shibuya on the 25th of December 2008. Earlier that year they released their last minialbum Megiddo, which includes one of my personal favorite songs Baptism. It's very hard compared to other Rentrer en Soi releases and also a huge contrast to the sound they had when they first started.
In 2009 Satsuki went solo and changed sound completly, he's a bit more pop/rock, I'd even say he reminds me a bit of Gackt's early work. Takumi and Mika is now active in the somewhat famous band Sukekiyo .
To get a full discography I recomend to check their webpage out, also they have 3 free videos to download! If someone decides to check Rentrer en Soi out, please leave a comment and tell me what your impression was/is!
