Since the official opening of JROCKONE last year, we’ve all been adjusting to it as our new jrock hub and have had a comfy stay. However, it’s obvious that there are certain things that have been missing since then.
It’s been a while and it’s almost the end of the year, so I figured I should bring back an old tradition onto new ground. It’s time to bring back our annual J-rock predictions for the coming new year! The landscape around jrock and visual kei has certainly changed since experiencing the doomsday period that was 2020 and the roaring years onwards, with the digital boom that resulted in constant Spotify plays and the introduction of virtual concert livestreams from an empty venue. While it’s still kicking thankfully, visual kei was not without its messy mishaps or blessed days, such as the return of vk icons Hizumi of D’espairsRay, and Genki of Mejibray/Vanessa, and the arrival of THE LAST ROCKSTARS \m/ or the messy demise of Himawari and the arrival of Bokutachi no Keikaku/Zetsumei, and DΣjGVLX existing for about a few months.
What are your thoughts/predictions on this unpredictable scene? Dish out your thoughts on the next big thing, or who are the faces behind mysterious band #892, and who’s the next band that’ll shockingly take their last bow in 2023?
Ooh this is about to be a spicy one, but I won’t be surprised if Kiryu/己龍 breaks up next week already
I won’t go too far into detail bc I’m too tired, but basically Takemasa has been gone for a year with not a single update, Mahiro’s health has been doing worse, Mitsuki told fans to really try to come see the anniversary show either irl or online (I bought online tickets) and to “let it burn in their retina” as if we aren’t meant to forget this show.
-edit-
How can I forget the fact that they made a “live-only” look with no CD planned for it
A BP Records band spending money on a whole ass matching outfit set and no CD to earn back the money they spent? That’s suspicious
Im gonna need to see XANVALA stay killing it, at the very least. I’d like to throw The Madna up there too as they’re both new bands that just consistently blow me away, so I’ll predict that XANVALA will have a second album in 2023 and Madna may release their debut LP.
Already read about Hizaki saying “all three of his bands” are releasing in 2023, so I can reasonably predict an album from Jupiter and Hizaki (solo? Grace project? Who knows) and allegedly Versailles, but I’m gonna bet money now that their live album is scheduled for release that’s going to be what their release is.
I’d like to predict something about The Last Rockstars, but I couldn’t begin to guess. I feel like that’s unpredictable. My gut says it’s going to be an embarrassing flop, but I’ve been wrong before.
THE LAST ROCKSTARS blow up on TikTok, exposing the mainstream to the scene; the kingdom of VK burns as westerners lose their collective shit over bad Nazi cosplays and the OBSCURE video. All the while Yoshiki looks on smiling, watching the empire he helped build crumble to the ground.
either that or petit brabancon releases another album that i spend $100 on purely for the packaging, idk
My vk version of the Avengers, UNiTE’s upcoming 12th anniversary live, is basically coming to fruition in April with a ton of guest vocal appearances. Canzel recently came back for a bit and Shiina Mio helped rerecord a song for ネオン. All this is to say that we’re about due for a new RELIC E.P. this coming year and I will throw whatever is left in my wallet if it’s realized. (This actually happened on the Danger Crue side without me knowing, sorta. AGREE 1 & 2 (live-limited) are crossover covers. Nothing from Shiina Mio’s camp yet.)
On the topic of UNiTE, I’m predicting we get an announcement for a new, permanent vocalist.
Kaihoku has to release their first single this coming year. (It was a mini-album)
the Raid. officially disbands and Sena starts a solo project.
Om (ex-ドレミ・ファ) will show up in a new band.
An interesting one… A newbie band will use Stable Diffusion (or some AI art model) to produce album art and will get into a kerfuffle with some established artist. (This is actually happening en-masse for indie artist MVs. Not so much the kerfuffle part.)
Sukekiyo will release the two remaining doll singles on two separate deluxe singles. We might get a 2024 album announcement before the end of the year.
Still no news in 2023 about X Japan album but Yoshiki will constantly be releasing new collaboration products and sponsorships and attending 100 events.
•DEATHGAZE returns with a new single
•Deshabillz releases album
•Gackt plays a couple of concerts
•Malice Mizer finally on digital platforms
•Dir en Grey World Tour
•Hyde ft Gackt
•Kiryu disbands
•Deviloof hiatus
•Sena solo project
•Miku solo project
•Genki returns to Vk with Vanessa
)
IT’S TIME!!