My first overnight stay at Tokyo Dark Castle for over a year was damned exciting. The crowd was a bit different from what I remember with only a few familiar faces, but they were pumped up and ready to scream. Japan’s Golden Week is usually a pretty light time in terms of people turnout (because everybody runs away to their hometowns), but this event was pumping with a comfortably crowded Marz club and more cool fashion than you can point a sparkler at. Gothic, lolita, cyber, leather, fetish, dreg (uh me), and more.

Auto-Mod
The band was fiery hot. Auto-Mod were in fine form with a fantastic set featuring ye olde metal grinder (a real one flashing out sparks and shit), fireplay, and a meatier sound that showed these local underground legends that they can continue to deliver to today’s audience. The band has come a long way in the past 14 months when I last saw the start of the change with the new line-up/arrangement.

Lloy
Lloy smashed my pre-conceptions of thinking of them as a moody alt-rock band. These guys are hard rock with strong femme vocals making them a very hot item on stage. A number of people inside the scene told me they were damned good – I just didn’t know how good until I saw them for myself!

Baal
I was primed for insanity by this time, but I was not prepared for the next act – my dear friends Baal. They just ripped shit up on stage and had the audience screaming and jumping to their hard-punching cybernetic industrial rock. I have loved Baal’s live performances since I first saw the band, when it was known as Chronotrigger, in 2005. A t that time I knew they were a fresh, harsh industrial group who’ll electrify any crowd, but even now Baal has kept on ratcheting up the intensity, power and its appeal to the point where it truly is one sexy dominating beast on the scene! While they are my friends, I am being completely honest in my comments – they are that damned good! Check the video at the bottom!

Destruct System
Finally I scoped Destruct System who I have seen at a number of events. These guys are harsh hard rock that is just plain hot. Where Baal left off, DS took over turning the lower level of the two-tiered Marz venue into a grinding pit of Gothic flesh. They know how to connect with any crowd and their sets are varied to suit the tastes of the night (metal, Gothic, electronic, etc.) , so you will get something a bit different every time you see them. These guys are damned good and can ignite any crowd with their intensity.

So that wraps that up. Tokyo Dark Castle is bigger and flasher than ever. All the bands are stepping up the intensity to deliver an array of hard-hitting sounds that will soon be able to shed the “J” moniker and be considered as part of the global Goth scene. And the crowd is growing all the time.

As for me personally, turning up after a long hiaitus as a cybernetic entity, it was kind of strange. There were some familiar faces, but I am a stranger again. It was good to catch up with a few good friends and see just how far the scene has progressed in the past 12 months.

Baal @ Tokyo Dark Castle

[youtube sZkGVfrB9VU]

The December event avoids the pre-Xmas rush and New Year’s dirge by delivering post-punk-rock Auto-Mod, industrial rock from Destruct System and Gothika and more on the first day of December.

December 1, 2007 :: Tokyo Dark Castle #35
Where: Marz Shinjuku
Address: Dai-Ichi Tokiwa Building B1F, Kabuki-cho, Shinjuku, Tokyo :: 新宿区歌舞伎町2-45-1 第一トキワビルB1F :: Map
Tel: 03-3202-8298
Bands: Auto-Mod, Destruct System, Mira Kurumi, Gothika and Demons.
DJ’s: Chihiro, Taizo, Sisen
Exhibition: Luna Park and more.
Open: 24:00
Price: 3,000 yen adv. or with flyer :: 3,500 yen @ door
You can find reservation forms on the TDC site, but you can also book by contacting your favorite band.