I believe 12012 tried to cash on Uroboros too with their self-titled, even going so far as to borrow the font.
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Thatâs true, it doesnât really change too much. Eventually, everyone becomes Dir en grey in one form or another!
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Oh yeah, you can definitely hear it on Madrigal de Maria. I remember when Sadie released it the forum was going nuts. It was so blatant. You bring up good examples.
Also like @Nullmoon pointed out, 12012 is another band that Uroboros-fied themselves and wasnât shy about it.
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Thatâs true. Itâs not like Dir en grey are purely original. No band really is. There are a lot of Japanese bands that have blatantly ripped off western bands.
âI hate youâ by Berry is obviously inspired by âIrresponsible hate anthemâ by Marilyn Manson (even in title).
And âTatoebaâŠkimiâŠgaâŠshindaâŠraâ by DâespairsRay shares a similar riff with âAngel with the scabbed wingsâ by, again, Marilyn Manson.
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Itâs interesting that Uroboros became the crown jewel of inspiration for a time for many vkei bands. In a way I think it speaks to how groundbreaking the album was at the time it was released for the band and the scene.
I mean, letâs take a quick look at what some well known bands were releasing during that time.
2008
Girugamesh - Music
the studs - and hate
deathgaze - Awake -Evoke The Urge-
2009
12012 - Mar Maroon
the GazettE - Dim
Sadie - Master of Romance
DâespairsRay - Redeemer
Girugamesh - NOW
lynch. - shadows
the studs - alansmithee
I guess if you look back, Uroboros was widly different than what a lot of bands were doing. I can see why a band like 12012 might use Uroboros as inspiration to wash down the taste of Mar Maroon.
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For me, itâs Rosario. The song is clearly pulling heavily from Different Sense and Mao is practically skin walking as Kyo.
Hell, even the bassist is doing his best imitation of Toshiya when he isnât clearly bored in the background.
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Man, those are all on my list of favorite albums, haha. What a time.
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The Madrigal de Maria album was clearly inspired by DEG, but I actually remember liking it quite a bit. Then again, Iâm one of those blasphemers who preferred Sadie over DEG (Though I will admit DEG is consistently much better technically with every release)
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Honestly this was a rather unique song it took me a little while to get into. Also me realizing there are english vocals here took a little bit. It was very hard to tell
I rocks with this.
These songs soon way more tight and refreshed.
Also the mixing is solid imo.
Mixing on OG Sadie songs were dogshit.
Main complaint that thereâs some lower tuned songs id have liked to see redone.
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How sad is this album?
Well, at the beginning of the last song they added Mao and friends saying âItâs sadness timeâ then they sadded all over the place
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Thanks, did you get sad to listen to it?
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Oh man, its so fucking sad.
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Just wanted to chime in and say that I finally got my copy and it sounds frickinâ incredible. So nice to revisit some of their best tracks in the modern day. You can tell they have all improved musically, and itâs nice Mao hasnât been out of practice for years (like Miyawaki from 12012) as his vocal improvement is very apparent.
I hope they learned their lesson and make more songs like these classics in the future.
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I absolutely despise Ryoâs production work, I mean, heâs got a knack of making everything sound like itâs a cover being played by some scrub on YouTube. The only thing itâs got going for it is that it sounds BIG and LOUD but so do most metalcore bands the world over. But even if I didnât think that heâs especially bad, I still wouldnât necessarily want to see some of these songs remade when the originals captured the atmosphere of the 2000s visual kei nu-metal wave so well, with perfect economy. Touching up some of these songs with additional flourishes and accentuating the underlying melodies by pronouncing them in the mix is just a case of putting a hat on a hat, or saying the quiet part out loud. Sadie did have a slightly uncomfortable transition aesthetically from Trend Killer into the sleeker band with a wider arsenal of moods that they eventually got to be, so in some cases I can see that a certain tracks benefit from being punchier, namely Crimson Tear.
That said, thereâs no harm in this compilation, quite the opposite. The fans can get alternative versions and this will float on Spotify now for people to listen to. Iâll just stick to the originals if I have them at hand.
Also, to add on the previous discussion, itâs funny how their reputation as a Grieva-esque rip off act was almost completely unjustified (I mean who didnât take a song or two of theirs) until it became a self-fulfilling prophecy with the Uroboros and DSS knockoffs mentioned above. The early period of this band looks into more stylistically pure nu-metal, similar to other vk bands in that wave, instead of Dir en greyâs more idiosyncratic take on the genre.
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Looks like the concert IS going to be live streamed for anyone interested!
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