I’m a bit late, but here are some of my favorite things from 2017 in the world of Japanese Alt-Idol.
Most people have released top ten lists and such, so I’m a bit late. To be honest, I’m cheating a bit to use this to fullfil my goal of writing one non-technical article per month.
Apologies for typos, etc. Feel free to ping me on Twitter to discuss.
Debut
Broken By The Scream
From what I’ve found, Broken By The Scream debuted in January 2017, so they barely qualify for this. The unit has two “harsh” vocalists: Kagura provides the “black-metal” screams and Io does the growls. Their backing track is often full of blast beats and they love to do breakdowns. They are every metal head’s new favorite idol unit - or at least mine.
Album
NECRONOMIDOL Deathless
The girls of darkness had quite a 2017. Releasing a full album and an EP (which may be better than the album) as well as a short US west coast tour.
Deathless has all the characteristics that Neconomidol fans seem to enjoy: NWOBHM, power metal(ish), darkwave, and a general spooky vibe.
Honorable Mention
Passcode Zenith
I’d heard most of Zenith on earlier EPs - Miss Unlimited being released in 2016 and some of the other songs in 2017. Passcode still sounds like Passcode - which people generally tend to love or hate. It’s availible on US iTunes.
EP
This one is hard, so I’m calling it a tie between Broken By The Scream and NECRONOMIDOL.
Broken By The Scream Screaming Rhapsody
NECRONOMIDOL Dawnslayer
Single
Passcode Bite the Bullet
I only generally listen to what’s availible legally in the US. Luckily more and more idols are releasing music elctronically in the US. Also, many publish to Youtube. However, my pool of “singles” is pretty shallow. Even so, I’ll give the nod to Passode.
Honorable Mention
Shiina Pikarin バババーババウムクーヘン
Pikarin doing Pikarin things. Not bad for a 23,000 year old. The B side - GEBO GEBO is better than the featured song.
B Side
Candye♡Syrup Idol of Death (featuring M!sa)
Makes me wish M!sa would join the unit permanently. Candye Syrup has some straightforward pop songs and then they have songs that let Non do what she does - scream, growl, and howl.
Video
Mistress 死死死死死死死死死 (Die Die Die)
Warning - blood, guts, and more blood.
I had heard of Mistress before, but didn’t have any strong feelings about their music. Out of nowhere, they released this video. It’s sort of like the opposite of Deep Girl’s I Kill.
I’ve heard more of their music since they released this video, but none of it has struck a nerve with me. 死死死死死死死死死 may be a “one hit wonder” for me, but it stands above all other Idol videos I saw from 2017.
Most Interesting
*・・・・・・・・・ (Dots)
I still don’t know what to make of “Dots”. Part shoe-gaze, part pop, part noise. They released a song that is 72 minutes long !?!?