Thank you!
thatās the best part though
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tathÄgata rules
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And this is exactly what I mean. As time goes on, all of these songs have grown on me so much. Even Eddie, for which my reaction initially was āoh sickā but then gradually it fell out of favorā¦ and now I adore it again
So given that I keep appreciating Phalaris more as time goes on, Iām going to put faith in the idea that even if I donāt like MORTAL DOWNER too much when it first drops, giving it time to grow on me will be something worth doing
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itās awful!
Sometimes the band has these questionable artistic choices which make you wonder what the hell they were thinking.
Iāve harped on this before, but the intro to Midwife is a perfect example of this. Kaoru lays down a really cool chugging rhythm part, and Die just craps all over it with an awful lead part.
And then thereās the Shokubeni remake where Kyo wails to the point of ruining the song. There are just so many other examples of this type of stuff.
Otogi is easily one of the best songs on the album, and itās baffling to me that someone would think that song contains the sole blemish on Phalaris lmao. Something something different senses for different menses I guess
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Youāre going down a path I cannot follow
(I truly adore how Kaoru and Dieās parts blend together in the āMidwifeā intro, as well as Kyoās wailing on āShokubeniā remake lol)
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I wouldnāt say the only issue with Phalaris is that awful Kyo wailing. There are several issues with Phalaris, but the wailing is the only thing that rises to the level of being offensive.
Phalaris has plenty of those questionable artistic choices Iāve mentioned above. Like on Ochita when the volume drops on the breakdown. Itās one of those āwhat the hell were they thinking?!ā moments on an otherwise great song.
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ok this makes it a more palatable take to swallow
Still canāt agree but! Much less ridiculous than honing in on that part as the sole flaw lmao
I kinda see Phalaris as their buddhist/spiritual album, so the monk chanting really vibes with me. The Kyo-choice that I donāt really like is the wierd rap in Utsutsu, bouga wo kurau
uroboros and parts of DSS were the buddhist album though, phalaris just continues it
I also enjoy Midwifeās intro.
The conventional wisdom will be that thereās as many takes on this band as there are fans. I donāt know if I can name another band that has such wide divisions within its fanbase. I think thatās kind of neat and speaks to the caliber of their artistry that they keep people caring, debating and hoping about the things theyāre doing.
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Itās normal for popular bands, especially those that have changed their sound in some way 
I put them somewhat like this
MOAB - the edgy album
Uroboros - the we live in a society album
DSS - the folk horror album
Arche - the artsy album
TIW - the depression album
Phalaris - the spiritual album
But them all overlap a bit (except for TIW, TIW is all about suicide ideation)
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And Withering to death. is the damn Iām thirsty album.
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I wonāt let yāall gaslight me into thinking 13 Is a good song. Fuck all the way off (I love yall).
But i do agree with PHALARIS being the more spiritual/Buddha album. Cut 13, Hibiki, and Otogi, and this is a strong album. 13 sounds like a real bad attempt at a DEG radio friendly rock song. If Ochita didnāt get the single treatment, I could easily see it getting that slot. And thank goodness it didnāt. Kamuy seems like the final, more polished version of whatever they were going for with Otogi and Hibiki. I donāt mind slow DEG but those two songs feel like a SLOG to get through with no real reward.
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I think all the slower songs on Phalaris are great but I also feel like thereās probably one too many of them
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Eddie is rad as fuck. R to the Core and Eddie feel related.
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13 is radio rock if radio rock was good.
I want them to chase a completely new direction. I feel like Kaoru and Die and have been playing essentially the same way since Dum Spiro Spero. Kyoās crooning is near unbearable for me now. Iām sorry, but the hell is he doing on āMouai ni Shosuā. When Phalaris came out, it essentially sounded like a messier DSS to me with some TIW mixed in. Not to say it doesnāt have its own merits, but I donāt think it compares to their older work.
The Insulated World sounded different enough to feel fresh, but compositionally nothing really grabbed my attention and I HATED the mixing on that album. Every time I revisit it I feel the same. The mixing really does a disservice to the music which I think Iād actually enjoy more if it was listenable. āAkaā is still amazing though.
I actually miss Arche. I think it was the last time there was a good balance of memorable melodies, experimentation, heavy songs, ballads, good singing from Kyo, and good performances from Kaoru and Die. They even weaved in some old school Gauze-era sounds.
It feels like theyāve been incorporating more doom metal-esque/sludge-lite style and theyāre losing me with it. āThe World of Mercyā, āThe Devil in Meā, drag so hard. I appreciate that theyāre somewhat straightforward, but not much happens during their playtime.
Iām honestly not sure what Iād want from them at this point in their career. I actually think adding some breakcore into their music would be interesting. Igorrr is one of my favorite bands right now and a lot of their music somewhat reminds me of the more spiritual aspects of Dir en greyās music.
Obviously, Iām not saying Dir en grey should just replicate other bands. But I think expanding outside their usual realm of influence would allow the group to grow their sound. I think that Uroboros era of their style is outplayed now. Thereās still interesting things happening in the metal scene today and itād be amazing to see them follow suite and try something drastically different for a change.
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