Quick! While I have some time away from this PHP project....


Overall, 2011 was kind of a mix of good and alright, with a bit of disappointments. A lot of people like making lists of things they feel are "best" and "worst," once the year draws to a close. I, personally, don't really like lists like this because it takes me a long time to form a true opinion on something: many times I don't love an album till years later, or something I love instantly starts to become not so great. With that being said, there were some things this year that really caught my attention. This isn't going to be a list of "The best and worst of 2011" releases, but just a post about things I feel deserve some attention.


Vior Gloire are one of the newest editions to UNDER CODE. They're pretty fluffy and romantic with a bit of a VK sort of hard-core edge due to, or so I'm assuming, their guitarist Kei (who is from Brodiea). If you liked GRiST, then you'll probably like them as well. Shall has a beautiful voice and their music has the potential to show immense levels of maturity. Unforutnately, the Japanese kind of reacted to them with "wwwww iie," so they kind of are suffering from E'm~grief~ syndrome...The Western fans drool over the potential of some news from them, where as the actual Japanese fans could care less about them. Hopefully they release something new soon, because their first single could be the start of something great!

GremlinS:
GremlinS is not a new band: they've been active since 2009. However, they didn't release anything not live-limited till this year, so for all intents and purposes, they're new. They're pretty strange, both musically and image-wise. Their first single is a mixture of old nagoya-kei / circus-y stuff, metal-core, and a hint of black metal in the vocals. Their vocalist actually screams well and sings rather out of tune during the clean vocals. It's like everything I could have ever asked for! Another band whose potential seems to be great, but doesn't look to be doing much of anything. If you like gRAWAAAAGROOOEREOOAF  EEEEEE AAAAHHHH ~clean break down~ AAHHHHH kind of songs, be sure to check them out!


Signal:

 Signal have become a bit of a guilty pleasure of mine. They're very Dir en Grey: growly, screamy, with weird vocal noises that sound like the vocalist is being possessed and somewhat decent pig squeals. People are already comparing their vocalist to Kyo, but I personally don't think he sounds like him aside from an obvious technique emulation. He does have kind of nice clean voice, unlike Kyo, but it sounds like he always has something stuck in his throat. Anyway, Signal are much more metal-core orientated than Diru are (I think? I kind of only listen to them up till 2002), and even managed to write an August Burns Red-esque breakdown on their first single. They're quickly becoming quite popular amongst the vk-indie lovers, and are releasing their first mini-album soon.

Suzaku:

 Another one of UNDER CODE's newest bands, Suzaku are crazy! Their first single is a mixture of heavy synth rock with insane and fun vocals. They've already lost 2 members and kind of went on a mini hiatus because of it, but towards the end of the year they returned with new people to fill their spot. If that were cool enough, their looks are definitely different as well! I hope that they stay strong and keep up the good work! Originally I thought I was going to hate their music, but after listening to their single, I actually truly enjoyed them.