For Those About to J-rock, We J-salute You
Good morning, class. Hope you all had a great weekend are ready for a …
… pop quiz!
The above photograph is:
A) An early promotional image for next year’s Castlevania movie.
B) Early favorites to win the “Victorian Times” cosplay contest at this year’s Anime Expo.
C) Versailles, a Japanese neo-classical metal group, playing the Knitting Factory tomorrow night.
D) The Upper Crust, in better days.
Now remember, if you peek at any of the links above, you’re only cheating yourself.
Okay, pencils down! Answers after the break.
If you answered “C,” give yourself a tender-yet-masculine pat on the back.
The group Versailles hails from Japan and were formed with the goal of achieving, “the absolute Youshikibi (beauty of form) sound and extremes of aestheticism.”
Or, as Gene Simmons might put it, “You wanted the best? You got the best.”
The group starts by playing hard-rockin’, extremely technical metal reminiscent of Iron Maiden or Dream Theater, adds Victorian goth lyrics about vampires and other fantasy epic Dungeons and Dragons-friendly subject matter, and tops it all off with costumes so elaborate that even Ziggy Stardust might blush.
And don’t be scared by those outfits. After all, the passage of time makes any rock band’s wardrobe seem ludicrous. From the Beatles to Elton John, Mötley Crüe to Pearl Jam, Slipknot to Miley Cyrus, nobody is safe from the occasional rock star fashion faux pas.
Opening for Versailles is East-LA-based Harpokrate, a black/death/melodic metal group who claim their songs touch on “mythological creatures, epic warfare, and their love for nature and misanthropy.”
Sounds like somebody has a case of the Mondays.
Photo: Versailles play the main stage at The Knitting Factory on Tuesday, June 3, at 7:30 p.m. Image courtesy of the artist.
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These guys crack me up. They should tour with Dragon Force.
E) Failed auditioners for Eighties one-hit wonder Dead or Alive ("You Spin Me Around (Like a Record)").
There are a lot of these kinds of bands from Japan trying to make it in the states, and most of them are like boy bands, pandering to fangirls, and blatantly ripping off the big 90s japanese glam/power metal bands. I assumed these guys were the same way, but according to their Myspace page, they have members who were actually in some of the 90s glam bands that all the new kids are ripping off! I don’t go for the costume stuff much anymore, but I am still a sucker for harpsichord samples and double bass drums.
Oh, that should say Tues June 3 not June 2, right?
Right you are, thedaniel. Thanks! I’ve made the correction.
They remind me of David Bowie in Labyrinth.