Deg doesn’t really have to prove anything at this point. They cemented themselves as a monolith of a band. I too share a feeling that they were really careful with this album and sticked to a sound they are familiar with, which may not created the most original sounding album but very solid and familiar sounding one
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I don’t think “formula” is the right word for it considering the band has gone through major changes in look, style, and sound in the past 10 years, let alone their whole career. Granted, it’s hard to top their transformation from 1997 to 2008 when Dir en grey went from a pop band to an extreme metal band, so it’s not really a fair comparison; but in many respects I feel like their changes as a band are still pretty significant to this day.
Kyo’s vocal delivery, for example, has completely changed since Dum Spiro Spero. During Uroboros and Dum Spiro Spero, Kyo’s bag of vocal “tricks” was relatively small to what it is now and he would rely on the low gutturals and high screeches almost to a fault. The band’s compositions have also improved, with their songs from Uroboros and Dum Spiro Spero being far more “formulaic” to what they are now.
Even the style of riffs played by Kaoru and Die have changed significantly. I’ll never forget, during the promotion of Dum Spiro Spero, Kaoru touted that DSS was a guitar album, that they were doing far more stuff on the guitar and showing off their chops. The way they played on that album is vastly different to how they’re playing on Phalaris, and personally I think it’s a welcome change.
And then, of course, we can’t forget Shinya who has made some serious improvement – or started caring – on Phalaris.
I don’t know; but it feels like to me the band has made significant, more subtle changes, over the years even if they aren’t reinventing the wheel with every release. They shouldn’t have to reinvent the wheel, they should do whatever they damn well please.
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my comment was more to the person saying phalaris seems like leftover arche songs, so if it feels that way, and while I agree they haven’t been cookie cutter in terms of material over the years, perhaps they’re playing it a bit safer these days, or more comfortable. that’s not to say i haven’t enjoyed post MOTB material though Gauze - Marrow was a lot more diverse imo. it may even come down more about taste as i don’t particularly like a lot of metal to begin with.
they certainly don’t have to reinvent the wheel, it would just be a little more refreshing to some
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Mouai ni Shosu is fun as fuck
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Utsutsu is underrated and my jam
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Eddie is clearly about fan meetings.
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Mouai-san.
They censored Olympic Games’ logo
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lol why?
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“The Olympic rings are the exclusive property of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). They are a mark protected around the world and cannot be used without the IOC’s prior written consent.”
I guess, it was too bothersome for them.
Although, that begs the question why they even used it in a first place.
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The censoring was applied during editing, right? The original backdrop video they used during the live is uncensored.
That’s what it looks like, to me at least.
Weird…
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Yep, Kyotakumrau mentioned Olympic Logo in her gig report and nothing about censorship.
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I guess Devote My Life is probably the most…Olympic-sounding? DEG song. I would participate in a 100M dash to that
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If Kyo new vocal techniques dominated the past three or so albuns to the point of burying the rest of the band, PHALARIS is fully owned by Shinyia. It’s his best work so far, it’s amazing how a beast of a drummer that frail little goblin of a men can be.
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Shinya’s approach definitely isn’t conventional a lot of times, I’ll give him that. For example, I think most drummers would have gone for a straight groove for the chorus in 13, but Shinya chose to basically lock in with what the guitars are doing. On the other hand, with something like Eddie, that standard punk pattern doesn’t work; there should be some driving double bass to match the aggression of the song. But for whatever reason Shinya’s feet have rarely kept up with his hands.
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Kamuy is the spiritual successor to Lu:Ciel.
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Phalaris is a tricky one for me. Going through Uroboros, DSS, Arche, and TIW I felt like each album was able to raise the bar in terms of songwriting and performance. I was always impressed and considered each one as possibly their best album to date. This time around it feels like they’re treading water a bit. It’s tough because this album is still really good, but it just isn’t quite on par with most of their other albums in my opinion. My highlight tracks are Otogi, Kamuy, Schadenfreude, Hibiki, and Oboro.
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Am i in the minority, that 13 fits better at the end?
Not sure about 13 at the end, but Kamuy is too smooth and not impactful as a closer
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