DIR EN GREY – Rinkaku December 19, 2012

Track Listing

1. Rinkaku
2. Kiri to Mayu
3. Rinkaku Eternal Slumber Mix

1. Rinkaku

I was curious to what DIR EN GREY would release after taking that small hiatus for Kyo to kind of relax his vocal chords.  They return with Rinkaku and it kind of shows that his vocals are a little raspier than in the last couple of singles but he’s pushing his vocals as he’s singing in a much higher tone than before.  I am a bit surprised to not hear Kyo do his yells and death growls but this makes the song seem a bit smoother like “LOTUS”.  Not a bad song and the whole dark riffs from the band sound really pretty oddly enough.  It was really different for the group, but I can understand why.

2. Kiri to Mayu

Moving to the B-side, the song was definitely more of what I know of DIRU with it’s heavier sound and I guess Kyo wasn’t told to lay off from the vocals because he’s doing ALL of his vocal tricks here which is pretty damn surprising coming after the softer-tinged “Rinkaku”.  I wish I knew what the hell Kyo was saying but it’s like coming off as gibberish hahah.  At first I didn’t think we’d hear clear vocals, but there’s a short part, past the halfway mark.  I’m so not used to this and I don’t think Kyo has done this much growling/screaming in quite a while in JUST one song.

3. Rinkaku Eternal Slumber Mix

A remix on a DIRU single?  Ok…well Rinkaku gets one and it’s a bit more quieter of a remix as there’s some chanting and some arrangement changes.  I kind of like the dragging feel of this version and since it’s a bit more quiet, I felt like this was pretty damn good mixing it with Kyo’s vocals. 

 

 

I was kind of worried with Kyo having throat issues that he’d have to cut back on some of the stuff he was pulling, and at first I thought that was the case with Rinkaku because most of the song he was just singing in his lighter (but higher pitched vocals) but then Kiri to Mayu comes on and all he’s doing is growling/shrieking through 95% of the song lol.  At least he’s still capable of it even if the song was kind of a headache.  The remix of Rinkaku to me was better than the original, but I’m sure bigger fans will LOVE the main version more.  Good single overall, but Kiri to Mayu >.>

DIR EN GREY – DUM SPIRO SPERO August 18, 2011

Track Listing

1. Kyoukatsu no Nari
2. THE BLOSSOMING BEELZEBUB
3. DIFFERENT SENSE
4. AMON
5. “Yokusou ni DREAMBOX” Arui wa Seijuku no Rinen to Tsumetai Ame
6. Juuyoku
7. Shitataru Mourou
8. LOTUS
9. DIABOLOS
10. Akatsuki
11. DECAYED CROW
12. Hageshisa to, Kono Mune no Naka de Karamitsuita Shakunetsu no Yami
13. VANITAS
14. Ruten no Tou

1. Kyoukatsu no Nari

Hmmm, strange piano chords open the album up with this 2 minute introduction to the album.  After the strange chords, it gets rather destructive for the rest of the time being as there’s dissonant sounds coming from everywhere and static and maybe Kyo doing something with his vocals maybe?  I don’t know but since it really didn’t have a focal point this seemed rather pointless.

2. THE BLOSSOMING BEELZEBUB

As I look at the tracklist I see too absurdly long tracks on this album and the first one comes after the introduction.  The beginning does have a slow start and continues to have it for the first half of the song since it’s mostly instrumentation and Kyo ad-libbing the song.  However, once the second half starts Kyo does start to sing with the slow and destructive arrangement and it sounds evil for sure.  He doesn’t pull many of his vocal stunts like he did in the singles but it’s interesting…but did it have to be more than 7 minutes long???

3. DIFFERENT SENSE

Turning the energy up is the 3rd and final A-side released in the era and since I’ve seen the PV for it…I can say what a weird ass band lmfao.  Like I’ve said on the single review of this single, I said that the only song I really knew from them was “saku” because of its popularity in the states back when.  This tune showed me a lot more of this wild side to the band and Kyo’s singing ten fold.  It’s so strange yet enticing and then he gets all melodic and it’s like how is he capable of such things!  It’s a song to oddly experience because it has so much emotion strung through so it did went up on my songs to listen to.

4. AMON

Our next track, AMON sounds just as gritty as “DIFFERENT SENSE” in the way the arrangement starts off but once Kyo enters the song it does get faster and full of more guitars to shake a fist at.  Kyo does seem like he’s singing against the melody of the guitars and percussion which gives this uncomfortable atmosphere.  It’s an interesting concept and in some places it works and other times it doesn’t.  Not as good as the previous song…but it has its merits.

5. “Yokusou ni DREAMBOX” Arui wa Seijuku no Rinen to Tsumetai Ame

Another crazy long title to deal with?  Yokusou ni DREAMBOX actually kind of reminds me of a more creepier “LOTUS” since Kyo doesn’t seem to really incorporate his screeches or growling which I’ve said before makes me take notice of the song together.  I will say that his high notes are insane and he hits them strongly.  The second half did feel a little jagged, but otherwise I like this tune for sure.

6. Juuyoku

As this to me is the quickest and hardest tune I’ve come to yet, Juuyoku is definitely the antithesis to “Yokusou ni DREAMBOX” in where Kyo is flying all over the place, screeching…singing high notes, and growling in such rapid succession.  The band is also like they have fire under their asses playing since it’s so heavy and so damn fast!  I will say I kind of pushed away from the music because it was all too much…probably my first disappointment in the album.

7. Shitataru Mourou

After that injection from “Juuyoku” I was definitely wanting the band to calm down a little and they seemed to have done that with our next song.  At first I thought the arrangement had no direction, but they know what they’re doing and Kyo made the puzzle complete when he starts singing.  He does slip in between singing and growling so it’s not too bothersome for me.  Then the high notes came and it just was spooooooky.  It does get more interesting towards the end, but this wasn’t a bad track either.

8. LOTUS

I will admit that I still think it’s one of the album’s best tracks and it was released as the second A-side!  It’s more than likely because this was straight up Kyo singing the song and he sounds great when he isn’t flipping out or getting all demonic in the song hahaha.  I will say that amongst the other songs on the album, this is one of the more slower, ballad-like songs and continues to leave a good impression on me.

9. DIABOLOS

Then we come to the longest song off the album breaking at almost 10 minutes.  I’m sure there’s probably a story with this one because of the crazy length of the tune.  It starts off quite calmly with Kyo and the guitars being calm but it moves into quicker areas and even more slow places as time wears on.  Same thing can be said about Kyo since he changes his vocal settings during the changes as well.  Very long track and kind of bores me once I hit 7 minutes lol.

10. Akatsuki

I’m still shaking off the boredom out of “DIABOLOS” by the time this starts up and Akatsuki sounds pretty mysterious (kind of hard to tell with the other songs, but this one seriously has an interesting arrangement).  I think it’s also the first time I heard some filtering being used, but it’s light.  It’s interesting and Kyo sounds interesting enough to keep my ears listening to hear how much more creepier it can get.  I liked it!

11. DECAYED CROW

Kind of like “Juuyoku” this one is more wilder than the other songs if not as equal because the problems from the former tune is present in this one as well but I barely can tell what’s being said in the tune.  They are just twins in how hard it is to listen to this entirely…I don’t even know which one did worse at this point…

12. Hageshisa to, Kono Mune no Naka de Karamitsuita Shakunetsu no Yami

The first A-side comes next and I’m still not too impressed by this as much as I was with “LOTUS” and “DIFFERENT SENSE”.  I mean the arrangement does comes off like a couple of other tracks on this album.  I will say that I approved of Kyo singing first before going into his growling and it’s only a small step above “Juuyoku” and “DECAYED CROW” because there are parts where there’s actual singing.  Plus, that note slide he does is just epic!

13. VANITAS

A song about the Kingdom Hearts character NO WAY!!!!….just kidding.  I was pleasantly taken aback that the song was a 180 after the quick-paced “Hageshisa to…” by the fact that it starts out with light guitar and lighter vocals from Kyo.  I think this is more of a ballad than “LOTUS” is and that works for me.  I actually think between that and “LOTUS” this is the cleanest song off the album and that’s amazing.  Yeah, I dig this tune quite well actually!

14. Ruten no Tou

As it is the actual album’s closer, Ruten no Tou might’ve fit better if it was placed before “VANITAS” because it’s another loud hitter and the arrangement is wild, yet controlled.  It’s alright but there’s parts where Kaoru (guitarist) and Shinya (drums) didn’t really see eye to eye in parts and it kind of lost it’s charm quickly.  Yeah, not so good of an album closer but whatever.

Tracks Recommended

• LOTUS
• VANITAS
• Akatsuki
• “Yokusou ni DREAMBOX” Arui wa Seijuku no Rinen to Tsumetai Ame
• DIFFERENT SENSE

Song of Avoidance

• Juuyoku

I know I cover a lot of bands in J-rock-land and V-kei-land but DIR EN GREY is seriously in their own category of rock just because of the glaring style they have.  DUM SPIRO SPERO is my first album I’ve listened to by them and I will say they didn’t have filler tracks but they had some misses however.  Though some of the better songs felt like it told a story and Kyo just has an interesting way to convey it.  I think in time I can get used to him doing all those vocals the way he does but right now it’s an above average album ^_^

DIR EN GREY – LOTUS August 3, 2011

Track Listing

1. LOTUS
2. OBSCURE
3. Reiketsu Nariseba (Live take at SHINKIBA STUDIO COAST on July 20, 2010)

1. LOTUS

After the slightly disappointing “Hageshisa to…”, I was wanting something that’d pull me back into the group and it seems LOTUS did that job quite nicely. I’m even more surprised that between the three singles that were released in this era, this is their most straightforward song for Kyo because he doesn’t do any of his wild vocal flips he usually does and actually SINGS the entire track.  I must say that right there made me happy and immediately call it the best A-side of the era.  It’s a great J-rock ballad and it’s so good and together lol.

2. OBSCURE

Another song being covered from “VULGAR”?!?  With a title like that, I was curious what the new OBSCURE was going to be like.  At first it was foreboding and weird for sure but then it speeds up into something that reminds me of “DIFFERENT SENSE” almost, but it’s kind of more creepy and mysterious of a song.  I kind of like it as well since it’s just a rather strong DIRU song, though I have to say once again Kyo singing is amazin.

3. Reikatsu Nariseba (Live take at SHINKIBA STUDIO COAST on July 20, 2010)

Closing the single out is a live version of Reikatsu Nariseba (which is originally a song off their last album “UROBOROS”).  Since I’m not as deep of a fan of their music, I was curious to what they sounded like on their last album and with Reikatsu Nariseba, it’s very energetic and full of life with the band being powerful and Kyo doing his own thing which consists of the screeching and growling.  Though I will say when it cools its jets down for the slower part, I loved it to death!  Ok, for a live version, this is pretty awesome!

 

 

 

Hands down, LOTUS is the best single DIR EN GREY released in the era.  I was surprised Kyo actually sung the song entirely and not show off his vocals abilities as much.  Luckily that’s why we had OBSCURE and the live version of Reikatsu Nariseba to cover those and even then both were pretty damn good too.  I can only wonder what the album will sound like altogether since only the A-sides made the cut because clearly all of the B-sides released in the era were live versions and new takes on older songs.

DIR EN GREY – Hageshisa to, Kono Mune no Naka de Karamitsuita Shakunetsu no Yami

Track Listing

1. Hageshisa to, Kono Mune no Naka de Karamitsuita Shakunetsu no Yami
2. ZAN
3. Shokubeni (Shot In One Take)

1. Hageshisa to, Kono Mune no Naka de Karamitsuita Shakunetsu no Yami

Such a long ass title for a song DIRU!  I must say that Hageshisa to sounds like a stronger song from the band since it does feature Kyo doing a little more than just growling.  To be honest, it shows a lot of what he can do with his vocals and while I can be impressed by that, I really wanted more of him singing.  As for the music, it doesn’t seem to impress me too much and found myself more impressed of the bands work in “DIFFERENT SENSE”.  It’s alright, but doesn’t stick to me except whenever Kyo does sing.

2. ZAN

Then there’s the B-sides of the single which for right now aren’t the best thing from the band, but I can make an exception for ZAN since the energy output of the song far exceeds “Hageshisa to…”.  There’s just a lot of power and speed to the song and while Kyo is restricted down to doing his low growls and deep singing, I don’t find it as offending as it was in the A-side.  I will say the creepy whispering with the music was my favorite part about the song before it gets back into their death metal sound.  Good B-side surprisingly and good retreading of the band’s 4th single!

3. Shokubeni (Shot In One Take)

Not sure if it meant they really did this in one shot but I’m going with that for Shokubeni which is a self-cover of an album song from “VULGAR”.  The beginning sounds really cool for sure and sounds evil (like most of their music).  It does sound like they did this straight in the studio with no edits.  Kyo is singing again and I love the parts that he does since it’s smooth and not forced.  Then again he’s also doing his vocal aerials as well and he sounds like he has total control on his vocals but it’s so strange sometimes…especially since some of it he sounds like he’s being strangled.  Odd song, but done well!

 

 

 

Going back to what started the “DUM SPIRO SPERO” era, Hageshisa to, long title name isn’t as jaw-dropping like other songs they’ve had and it does kind of feel a little underwhelming at points but it showcases a lot of Kyo.  ZAN and Shokubeni showed more colors from the entire band and that was a better way to deal with the songs and of course both were touchups on older songs!  It’s a good single, but not for its A-side.

DIR EN GREY – DIFFERENT SENSE June 22, 2011

Track Listing

1. DIFFERENT SENSE
2. Tsumi to Kisei
3. RED SOUL [LIVE] *Live take at NAMBA Hatch on November 9th, 2010

1. DIFFERENT SENSE

It’s been a while since I’ve heard a Diru song and DIFFERENT SENSE is my first time brought back after the awesomeness of “saku”.  DIFFERENT SENSE is just wild and all over the place (like what I remembered).  Even better is I remembered how Kyo sounded like and he still can to the crazy ass vocal aerials that he’s definitely well-known for.  Growling and yelling and just going all out.  When the groups get into the more melodic side of the song, it’s pretty epic for sure.  Strong song from the band and shows a lot since the last time I heard em last.

2. Tsumi to Kisei

About the same length as “DIFFERENT SENSE” the B-side gives off a more creepier vibe with the growling coming from Kyo and slower tempo from the band.  It kind of gives me Tool vibes with everything going on in the song, but in a way I also couldn’t tell what Kyo was really saying because his growling is so deep and shit.  I did like the band with handling the arrangement, it just Kyo didn’t gather my attention very well.  Then again the fans seem to think the same since this is a reworking of “Tsumi to Batsu” from their debut album, “GAUZE”.

3. RED SOIL [LIVE] *Live take at NAMBA Hatch on November 9th, 2010

So closing the single out is a live version of RED SOUL which is originally a song off their last album “UROBOROS”.  Diru live is pretty interesting because I would wonder if Kyo can keep up with his vocals on stage and he pretty much can.  I actually love hearing the crowd getting into the song as much as the band is and Kyo sounds really good singing.  I’m surprised he can do his vocal aerials live too….wow amazing ^_^

 

 

 

As the third and final single for the “DUM SPIRO SPERO” era, DIFFERENT SENSE is definitely different for me.  As I’ve only heard them through one song beforehand, I was wondering what else this band is capable of and was surprised.  DIFFERENT SENSE is wild but the melodic parts are amazing.  Tsumi to Kisei isn’t much to me since the growling can get annoying, but the instrumentation was nice, but seems not better than its original and of course hearing the band live with RED SOIL was awesome.  I wonder what the other two singles are like…