it starts a conversation first and foremost… venting itself is harmless and costs nothing.
assuming western fans have any say in what forms the bands decisions - it actually gets us places. it slowly got us back artful videos and visuals for ranunculus, world of mercy and oboro after the absolute shitfest that their white metal band knock-off era has been, I’m talking about this:
and this
I guess I’m just tired of posers complaining about Dir en grey’s early days being the best, even if I have had MACABRE on repeat for the past few months.
That’s assuming we have any say in what forms the band’s decisions. I think we have a minor part to play, but I also think that they went back to visuals because that’s something they wanted to do. They also went from not acknowledging their visual past to re-recording some of their old tracks, so the band also matured along the way.
I find it interesting how Dir en Grey is currently in this state of being somehow Visual Kei but with Visuals which look more like from normal metal bands.
That’s an interesting way of looking at it. They’ve certainly swung pretty hard back in the direction of having visual elements take a front seat again which I like. I don’t know if I would say that it’s too similar to other non-VK metal bands, but that could be a matter of who/what I tend to listen to. My next favorite metal artist after Diru is Devin Townsend, and he’s most likely to show up to a gig wearing pajamas or normal jeans/shirt combo, and probably has a tutu back stage just in case he plays ‘Why?’ lol
Can’t recall the name of the site, but it had a bunch of translated lyrics for DEG and I remember the site owner pretty much throwing in the towel after Drain Away was released. So I mean people’s tolerance for how much West got into their East seems to vary wildly.
You mean Tattered Cloth?
I discovered it in 2002 for the first time, and I’m surprised it’s still online. It was one of the best Dir en grey fan sites back then.
I finally got my physical copy of Oboro with the full concert DVD. They’re on point for the most part but man, some of Kyo’s high screams sounded really thin, like they didn’t have enough support. Whereas when I saw them in NYC before the pandemic, his vocals sounded full and strong. I hope he’s taking care of his voice 
Rest of the band sounded great though. And it was a nice treat to hear so many TIW songs mixed with the more open quality that their live DVD’s get. Having more width in the mix between Die and Kaoru, without extra rhythm overdubs, lets their parts shine a lot more. And there’s actually some top end on the kick drum here! TIW had some really good songs imo, but it took me a really long time to appreciate that because of the mix. I’m generally a fan of Dan Lancaster’s work but that whole record sounds like there’s a blanket over the mix. And getting a mastering engineer who doesn’t primarily work with metal was a… well it was certainly a choice.
Mine came in the other day from cdjapan. Was missing sukekiyo’s ANIMA, so picked that up, too.
Came with an Oboro phone accessory and a bonus postcard (along with the ones in the box, not shown here).
Yup! That’s it!
Ahh nice! Mine only came with the post cards in the box. I don’t think I’d have a use for the phone case though, I’m so clumsy if I don’t have an Otterbox on my phone I will DESTROY it haha
Oh, that’s Cassiel’s site. Is she even still around?
Kyo apparently tweeted his rainy day playlist
I think it’s pretty solid playlist. I would maybe change the order of the tracks.
For me the entirety of The Insulated World is associated with rainy days. Something about the timing of its release as well as the 2018 and 2020 European tours made it so that I always found myself listening to it while walking alone in cold rain. But maybe the overall mood of the music is like that too? Like if you were synesthetic, it’d be all blues and greys. At least to me, the whole record sounds like wet socks until you get to Ranunculus and change to a dry pair.
I think I saw an interview with Kyo where he was mentioning how most of the album is supposed to be a singular depressing mood until you get to Ranunculus, which is just a tiny bit of light at the end of the tunnel, so this reading of “wet socks until you get to Ranunculus and change to a dry pair” totally makes sense to me as in-line with the vision of the album.
I think this is the interview
*https://www.google.com/amp/s/kyotakumrau.tumblr.com/post/178454223487/phy-vol13-interview-with-kyo-you-can-get-the/amp
Yes, that’s the one I was thinking of, thank you!
Yeah, it’s taken from the lyrics.
I got the Kaoru keychain on that single.
Anyone actually got a Kyo one?
So, Shinya still remembers how to play ｢S｣, huh
