I'm a big fan of a Japanese goth band called Malice Mizer and I was wondering if anyone else knew of them...they disbanded a few years ago and whilst I've got all their songs, I've played them half to death. Not good, don't want them to lose their charm (doubt it'll happen but nyah :p).
If anyone knows of them and can recommend any other bands of a similar nature, it would be much appreciated. I've been craving new Malice Mizer-esque music for the past few weeks but wouldn't have a clue where to start looking.

Check out Dir En Grey, specifically the albums "Gauze" and "Macabre". The band members were supposedly big Malice Mizer fans, but from what I've heard of both bands, Dir En Grey are noticeably different.

I would say ,listen to Gackt (the guy who left the band malice mazer). I'm not really familar with his work, so this is just a guess.

Mana, the core of Malice Mizer, has a new band called Moi Dix Moi that's worth checking out.

Avoid Klaha's solo work at all costs. Gackt does pop music now, and altho some of it's okay it's not like his MM stuff at all.

I second Dir en grey, although they're quite different from MM. Also good are Airoria, Kagrra, Kagerou, Alien Ma'riage, Due le Quartz, and Blam Honey. (Blam Honey is... noisy. But worth a try, I think.)

Oh,a nd altho nothing like MM at ALL... try some hide. He really was a great artist.

-N

Merzbow.


*sneaks away*

Lareine, Lucifer Luscious Violenoue, D'erlanger, Velvet Eden, Soft Ballet or Buck Tick.
And I say listen to Gackt, even though he doesn't sound like MM did. Go for the songs like Lu:Na, deathwish, doomsday and Oasis. <3.

Ah, the joy of Japanese music.

~ Katherynne... resident Gackt fangirl.

I listen to Dir en Grey too and their music is vastly different to MM, more contemporary. Still, I love them all the same...except for their recent foray into nu-metal ??? Didn't know what to make of Six Ugly, however, good news on the horizon: they're releasing a new album in September called 'Vulgar' which steers more towards the style of recent singles Kasumi and Drain Away. Heavy yet beautiful, kind of reminiscent of 'Macabre'...no one does it like DeG (Christ, that sounded like a sales pitch).
Gackt, imho, simply rocks in whatever he does because he's just so damn good. I prefer his earlier albums, especially 'Mars', but even 'Moon', heading more mainstream, is brilliant. I've been hooked since his MM days, he's just amazing. Ah...Mizerable, one of my favourite songs of all time. Great way to break into the mainstream market.
Thanks for the replies, I've got my work cut out for me
*Cheers on fans of J-pop and Visual*

Holy crap, somebody else has heard Merzbow? Sweet! ^^

Gackt's 'Vanilla' disturbs me on so many levels. I just thought I'd mention that. And 'Soul of Fire' is quite possibly the funniest thing I've heard in my life.

I was less than impressed with DEG's recent stuff, but I keep hoping whatever sedative they used on Kyo that makes all that foam at the mouth will wear off a little and things will stop sounding so... western.

-N

I downloaded two Merzbow songs and they were rather...hmmm, how to put this? All I could hear was noise...*cringes from retaliative blows*. Is it meant to be like that or did I just happen to download two very bad quality recordings?
Also managed to get hold of two Moi dix Mois songs, Dialogue Symphonie and Glorie Dans le Silence...blew me away. I've never liked Mana much but his music is excellent and this is no exception. Whoever doesn't think gothic-metal is a genre, I suggest you listen to this band.
Having said that, I was reading an article about them and the author said that they 'resembled the epihpony of Polish goth-rock' or something along those lines (I've really got to start saving these articles for referencing). Basically, a lot of orchestral and baroque influences...does anyone know anything about Polish goth-rock for comparison purposes?

>_> GASP. You forgot an S at the end of Moi dix Mois. Lol... ever the perfectionist, me is.

Eh, Klaha has a couple good songs. I like Kamereon no Seppun. Swingy... but yeah, most of them are really poppy. Stay far away from "Penguin". It'll make you want to cut your ears off. It's disgustingly happy. Gackt is pretty cool, not really goth, but watch out. A few of his songs are very poppy. Secret Garden and Cube are a couple good ones...

My friend says that if you like Jrock, hide (always with that lowercase h. lol...) is really awesome. Former member of XJapan who died a few years back. Suicide. Rather unexpected... while I haven't heard any of hide's stuff, he comes highly recommended.


Dir en Grey is really good. If you like more the slow kinds of Music, Ain't Afraid to Die and Embryo are two songs to go straight after. Both are really awesome... but they're more well known for their faster stuff. Kyo (the singer) is really insane. Brilliant, however. He can do all sorts of crazy shit with his voice...lol. More rockrockrock (er..yeah) songs are FILTH, Rasetsu Koku, the whole Six Ugly album (not their usual stuff, but good nonetheless) and a lot of stuff from the Kisou album. There's a big wide world of Jrock out there.... but I seriously doubt that MM will ever fade. They're too awesome.

GAH, that reminds me. Gackt's solo song "Mizerable" is extremely similar to MaliceMizer's stuff. In fact, it's often mistaken for a MM song. Very good, in my opinion...

I am pretty sure there already is a thread about Malize Mitzer.

They are pretty good though. Especially Beast of Blood (the video is neat)...

Malice Mizer is amazing they are beautiful and so is Dir en Grey.. but you can also listen to L'arc~en~Ciel, Glay, Eve of Destiny (with the MM ex-member Kozi), Mirror, Psychommunity, Mirage, Baiser.... the only problem.. it's hard to find mp3's

btw. anyone knows any other online stores (not in japanese) where you can buy j-rock/visual rock cd's, not including http://www.cdjapan.co.jp?

http://www.yesasia.com is a good one. Amazon occassionally has them, but don't expect to find Albums at affordable prices. Bara no Seidou (MM) is around $54. The singles aren't as bad; closer to $20, but still. That's about how much you pay for an American Album. YesAsia is pretty good, but sometimes their prices go upupup.... More reasonable than most other places, though.

So miserable is by gackt and not malice mizer. I too feel some greivance over there being less bands like malice mizer. I am a huge fan. I am in love with the victorian age and malice mizer is what introduced me to gothic lolita. I have never quite heard anything quite like them. I think there are other bands like them in the japanese goth scene but I can't really give and names. Sorry. but anyway I just love malice mizer.