blacktooth

At this point I wouldn’t even bother listening if they release samples. 

We can always make our own samples next week.

We can always make our own samples next week.

We can always make our own samples next week.

I'm still firmly in the "the mouse clicks are part of the song" camp. The Insulated World is the Internet and the concept of the album is that we're surfing through a web of pain and suffering with Deg.

they're out x

I'm still firmly in the "the mouse clicks are part of the song" camp. The Insulated World is the Internet and the concept of the album is that we're surfing through a web of pain and suffering with Deg.

https://youtu.be/3AvGJgpRj9s?t=1m24s

I saw a graph some years ago that showed that each new Deg album alternates between being good and bad. Can’t argue with science. 

He doesn't show off his tattoos so much anymore, which is a big shift.
 
Uroboros era was a great look all around with the mandatory wallet chains and Toshiya in general.

DSS is a musical laxative confirmed x

My dad works for sun-krad and he says the promo edit cut out the dubstep breakdown after the first chorus.

I don't know for sure yet, but I'm going to say Die is the one doing the flanger pedal arpeggios. During the chorus I have no idea at all because they're just playing counterpoint to each other. And yeah, that bridge riff at 1:26 is a real non-sequitur.
 
I can't agree with you more on how their lives sound much better than the album recordings these days. Whoever the band's sound engineer is has some serious talent. @Rosner, would you say live sound engineer technique carries over into the studio for recording? 

Really? I think it sounds way better than on 'Utafumi' and 'Nigen...'. Of course it's no (lets say...) 'Ænima'-quality drum tone, but I think it sounds way better than on 'Ningen...'. The toms re now bearable and controlled, the bass drum has more body and less click and the snare sounds more 'inside the mix' than before. It's a vast improvement for me. Also, the overall improved sound of the band (less muddy and bass-driven guitars, for example), really help the mix. BUT I agree that the mixing could be this album's downfall: I have the feeling that either a) the whole album was remixed to have cohesion and uniformity or that b) the album is going to be a 'Frankenstein', with each song having a complete different mixing and then an overall mastering that tries to glue 'em all together.  Here's hoping for a... but if it is b, then I'll be punching my speakers too!!!
 
The overall rhythm guitar tone in 'Ranunculus' sounds way more satisfactory than on 'Utafumi' and 'Ningen...'. It seems they finally got rid of the 'mid scooped' sound with boosted bass and now they are letting the guitars shine like they are supossed to. Also, the way the bass is mixed really helps: I'm really digging it this way because, while you can perfectly  hear it, it does not have the same mid-range presence as on previous records. It also does not seem to clash with the bass drum, which is the ideal thing for me!
 
Regarding the question, I'm no expert (hope to be some day!), but I'll try to answer. Honestly, I can't tell which part(s) Kaoru is playing, but I just can tell you this: for metal music, when you have wide guitar panning, there's a lot of things you have to do in order to make them sound right. Most of the times (on modern metal, of course), you have the same amp sound double tracked (or even quadtracked) and hard panned: you obtain the sense of stereo wideness thanks to the millisecond differences between each take. So, there's the possibility that both Kaoru and Die used the same amp settings (hell, the same vst or amp modelers surely!) when recording their takes.
 
Also, the guitars used during the recording affect the sound too: maybe they both used the same guitar, maybe not. Keep in mind that going into the studio has a really different approach than playing live for most bands. They could, for example, be endorsed by ESP and play with those guitars live, but on studio they may be recording with, I don't know... Let's say a Les Paul Custom '86 (Boris! Haha) for the rhythm parts, an old Telecaster for the cleans, a Jackson for the solos, some acoustic guitars... Today, I think the band sounds way better live than on studio, which is oddly amusing!
 
There's other possibility: when a band has a guitar player that's clearly best than the other when it comes to rhythm guitar playing, a lot of producers and engineers make that guitar player record every take in order to avoid  slopiness. For me, both Kaoru and Die are great and have different styles, but I would say Die is a tighter player (and you have to consider Kaoru's recent problems with his hand here; what if he wasn't fully healed when recording?) . So, let's say the engineer or producer, or maybe even the band was aware of that, and decided that Die must record all of the rhythm guitar parts. I highly doubt this happened, because the way Die and Kaoru play different things on each side is one of the main traits of the band's music for me (but well, I bet Die could learn Kaoru's lines quickly), but it's also an option -although a far-fetched one considering Kaoru is the leader here-.
 
Then there's one other possible scenario: what if they used different amps for the rhythm guitars? Or different amp/vst/modeler/etc. settings? If that's the case, then they are harder to work with than when the guitars are recorded with the same amps. Of course it's not impossible to make them work, its just harder. For the 'Dum Spiro Spero' sound, it is clear they were using the same settings on each side. I like that guitar sound for that style of music (let's say 'deathcore'), but I think it wouldn't work on a song like 'Ranunculus'. Just check out 'Lotus' single version and then compare it with the album version: the guitars lose a lot brightness. 'Ranunculus' hasn't metal riffs or chugging: it's mainly centered on the 'clean' leads (which, by the way, sound great!) and on the distorted chord progressions in the choruses. There's just one kind of riff at 01:26-01:28 and it sounds like shit (maybe it's intentional).  

In the DSS era Kaoru was the spearhead of the chugfest guitar tone, so yes he's certainly changed it up. I'd say it's a return to form for him actually.

Well, you know what they say... denial is more than just a river in Egypt.

My dad works for sun-krad and he says the promo edit cut out the dubstep breakdown after the first chorus.

My dad works for sun-krad and he says the promo edit cut out the dubstep breakdown after the first chorus.

Well, you know what they say... denial is more than just a river in Egypt.

that was the one sample x 

I love when Dir en grey describes what their new releases will sound like. 
Evoke the pain of living and feel the speed. 

I went to BK hoping to see him before a show some years back. 
By the way, I would have loved to try the Japan-exclusive squid ink BK burger, but I suppose this would belong in the Burger King thread.
I know for sure that Kyo is team McDonalds though. 

That was during the Age Quod Agis era so it fit in very well with the motif of pain and suffering.

There was an interview where they were talking about being in the tour van in San Francisco I think and Kyo was eating a McDonalds burger when the driver suddenly slammed on the brakes and his burger fell onto the floor. 

Yup, and Kyo's reacion was like "uh... my burger..." and somehow, the band found it way too funny, because how devastated he looked or so