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Wow; seems like today is the release day. ^-^
The first half of the “Middle chapter” – we now switch to Yukari’s perspective as more and more details from her and Yuyuko’s past are revealed… and in the present, we get to see some fluff involving a certain shrine maiden. :3
In other news:
The wait for the 23rd of June has been killing me and I seriously needed something to cheer myself up; this one had some decent sound, not to mention the utterly wicked Ltd Ed. box, so I thought, why not? I mean, it might not be something I’d normally buy; but it kinda grows up on me with every listen – a sign of a good album – and perhaps I’m among the kind of people Konata mentioned – those weak to the word “limited”. ^-^;
(Uh… It looks much, much better in reality; it’s very glossy. Click to enlarge.)
While I was browsing the shelves of my favourite store ’round the beginning of this week, the artwork on the lone copy of this 2007 album by Ocean Collective had me intrigued. The album consists of two CDs, each with a different feel to it; Hadean/Archaean, the first disc, contains several straightforward heavy songs – nothing special to say here, apart from that they’re in fact quite well done; and the last one, gravitating more towards the progressive territory, is actually close to being memorable…
But the focus is obviously on the second disc: Proterozoic, featuring an extraordinary blend of industrial, death and doom aesthetics, along with a few well-placed doses of experimentation. A couple (slightly dull, in truth… but that depends on the mood; more on that below) chords smoothly shift into the album’s longest song, and thusly my primary point of interest – Rhyacian/Untimely Meditations; well, I’m pleased to say that the behemoth not only manages to reach the end of its over 10 minutes long stride without shortness of breath, it also gets quite a few moments of awesome on the way. The awesome mostly continues throughout the six minute assault – with a drop of melancholy – of Orosirian/For The Great Blue Cold Now Reigns; followed by Statherian, which starts off weak but gets much, much better on the way…
(Front cover with booklet removed, and back cover.)
Calymmian/Lake Disappointment does not bring disappointment, but rather leads slowly into an atmospheric landscape – broken by several heavier, yet pleasant passages; which gets us to Ectasian/De Profundis – perhaps the most experimental, most demanding track of the set. The intro to Stenian/Mount Sorrow might appear out of place, but what follows is a complex yet strongly painted structure, providing some much needed relief… in comparison, the finishing Tonian/Confessions of a Dangerous Mind is a bit of a let-down; the experimentation here has been taken a bit too far in my opinion, and onto the slippery ground of post-metal. The album ends with Cryogenian – a neat closing touch, if you ask me.
Here you have a piece of artwork from the second disc’s booklet (did I mention I suck at scanning?); as you can see, the whole thing – along with sound and lyrics – is very Lovecraftian. Rather than relying on sheer muscle to set its own mood on itself, it requires the proper conditions in order to be enjoyed to the fullest; in full daylight and through earphones, it will probably sound simplistic at times, overdone otherwise and miserably gloomy overall; but from my experiences, a dark room and a decent set of speakers should be enough to bring out this album’s true charm.
Also:
The Baul Del Yuri crew have finished their translation of Noblerot… if Spanish is your language, please go read it here; Lililicious, among tons of other stuff, released the two yuri stories from anthology Through Eyeglasses Darkly – both are quite sexy in my opinion, so why don’t you check them out if you haven’t already? :3
I’m afraid Gensokyo.org (and therefore, most importantly to me, Voile as well) is having some rather serious trouble right now… I sure hope they will manage to get through it somehow, soon.
this is a sad and touching chapter,thx for wotking on this…:)
despite the solemn mood in this chapter the Yukari x Reimu scene is really sweet and funny though..^^
and this isn’t the last chapter isn’t it?
where can I download the privious “Tonari” chapters?
Awesome, thank you.
Hmm…I can’t decide who Yukari should up with though of course Yukari and Yuyuko will need to end up as friends forever at least.
Yah, I’m such a sucker for limited edition stuff, especially snacks like Kitkat and Pocky.
Japan also has the ones that are only sold in a particular region. :p
Thank you for the album covers. I like how they included a convenient timeline too. =)
@K-Nashi:
No, no, no, it’s only half of the second chapter; I’m splitting each of the first two chapters in two parts, and the third and last chapter will probably make four parts – so there will most likely be eight parts total.
Sorry if I have caused a confusion. (And yeah, I know I should release whole chapters at once… but I’m too lazy.) -_-
@GNneko:
One full chapter has been released so far (in two parts); you can download it here.
@Shijima:
Hehe, we’ll see. :3
dear winterbraid..thanks as always for the beautiful story…hope you got my email to you. I am worried about Gensokyo.org and voile also. You can not access any of their work now..so comics in touhou wikia is fairly useless. Is there something I or we can do as Touhou fans to help ??
@Joseph Saunders, Jr.:
And thank you for your continued support; yeah, I’ve answered your e-mail. Hehe, all thanks for this story (and many other beautiful works) go to Personal Color…
@Shijima:
Also, true; I too think the timeline was a nice touch – entertainment and education in one. ^-^
Thanks for the release.
Hadn’t ever heard of The Ocean before but I like their stuff or atleast what I listened to at their website. So thanks for the recommendation too ^_^
Hehe, yeah, their website is pretty much awesome; the music you can hear in the intro is an extract from Rhyacian, my favourite song on the album; then it switches to Orosirian.
I must admit, my view of the band has also changed a lot after watching some videos of their live performances… but there’s no need for me to try and describe it when you can simply go see this video of Queen Of The Food Chain, one of their older songs, on Youtube now. ^-^
Strange I’ve never heard of them before noticing their album on the shelf; but again, there are so many bands out there, even the good stuff doesn’t always manage to get through…. Damn, I’m getting to like them more and more.
By the way, Gensokyo.org is up again… seems I have made a big fuss over nothing once again. ^-^;
This is building up really nicely, fluffy sentimental Yukari in PC’s Tonari and the crazy tease Yukari in Teddy Plazas Tenkomori are my favorites for Yukari so far. Just the right balance in the way they portray her to make them really memorable =)
Now that voile is back up I just something that would be awesome if anyone is in the mood for something lighthearted, http://voile.gensokyo.org/res/29226.html , Iku truly has me in awe in this one. She’s got all the moves, on or off the dance floor lol
I just got the third part today, and it’s more like a small book than a doujinshi. I’ll get scanning right away, but it’s going to take a while.
@ydy:
Fabulous! Yeah, I heard it’s pretty much epic; there is no hurry, mind you, as I have yet to finish the second volume… :p
Thanks for the release! A beautiful chapter. Yukari x Reimu’s really cute too. Look forward for more
This chapter was beautiful and looking forward for the next part~
Hehe, glad that you like it. The rest of this chapter will be hopefully this weekend…
Indeed, this is a beautiful story! On my first time through, I forced myself to read it as slowly as I can, soaking in every single bit of detail
. I think Yuyuko&Yukari makes a great pairing :3
Thank you for the releases, Winterbraid~
And for other fans of Y&Y, here is another doujin to keep you happy until 2nd part of PC’s story is released…
http://cgrascal.doujin-moe.us/VISIONNERZ%20Maiden%20Illusionary%20Funeral%20Before%20and%20After.zip
@DAzure:
Hehe, glad that you like it; in truth, I’m in it mostly for Yuyuko x Youmu… though it is so good, it made me like Yuyuko x Yukari a little as well. ^-^
I’m currently on page 39 (out of 61); this part is rather hard, but I would like to finish it in one go…