Saishu

Oh, yeah! My intention wasn’t to discredit the man’s work with such a sweeping generalization. He’s done some fantastic work in the past, but I’d say for nearly two decades now almost every Rick Rubin project is a wall of noise. Fuck, he even managed to make Billy Corgan’s recent acoustic solo album sound loud as hell. Blood Sugar Sex Magik sounds awesome. Californication does not. That was actually the first album where I noticed the loudness thing.

Try turning the treble up a bit and the volume down. Honestly, it doesn’t sound great, but it doesn’t sound as bad as any rock album touched by Rick Rubin. Listen to the original mix of Metallica’s Death Magnetic for one of the worst example of brickwalling.

We almost never focus on a band’s look around here. This is just a rare but fun moment.

Looking awful has been Kyo’s thing for a few years. Remember he had a fucking bowl cut for the Ningen video.

At the end of the day Die is basically a Cipher clone, but give me long black hair Die any day.

But look at him in the latest photo. Nah. I feel like Shinya is going to try to hold on to his youth via walls of makeup for as long as he can. Him, Yoshiki, and Mana.

Listen, Die’s hotness is purely based on the state of his hair, and right now it ain’t working for me. Shinya never changes his hair and honestly he’s starting to remind me of Yoshiki. Toshiya’s been killing it lately.

If you want it for the artwork that’s fine, but most modern vinyl releases are kind of pointless since the music is recorded digitally and mastered for digital platforms.

Best part is the text on the spine is in shiny purple foil lettering.

Know what sucks? My car doesn’t have a CD player. Like, this is becoming a thing now.

Devote My Life in particular pulls no punches. Basically says it’s not his parents’ fault he’s miserable, but he shouldn’t have been born to begin with. I just... don’t understand why those lyrics are in a song so fucking chaotic and abrasive.

Jesus Christ these lyrics are bleak as fuck, but then Ranunculus ends with “Scream alive, I am alive” so maybe he’s cool.

Got it ten minutes ago!

Same here.

Toshiya has been the hot one for quite a while now.

I uh... dare I say this is the first time DEG has truly sounded heavy without sounding like they’re struggling? Like, seriously, that sludgy riff in Keigaku no Yoku is fucking HEAVY.

I’ve discovered that both Ninth and The Insulated World sound best in my car, but I’m general you should try boosting the treble a bit, it brightens things up. TIW really starts to open after several listens. Initially the first six tracks sort of bleed together, but eventually it meant to be just an energetic “Side A” (with Aka) closing it out). There’s really strong songwriting here, and I think all the talk of it being more simplified and direct was misleading. Given that the common theme in the lyrics is that Kyo just wants to fucking die, the almost suffocating and claustrophobic mix seems fitting. It’s like you’re locked in a tight room with Kyo’s mind and it’s uncomfortable as fuck. I’d place it somewhere in the bottom of my top 5 DEG albums right now.

What? Kanji ARE Chinese characters.

Let’s be Inferno bros

And there it is, Values of Madness in the encore.

Wait wait... know what “Values of Madness” reminds me of? “The Cry Against Me” by Merry.

Ibitsuna kimi INSAIDOMIND ibitsumakkana biiiiii BLECH!

Keibetsu to Hajimari, you pleb! Turn in your fan card!

Devote My Life is growing on me, but that siren-like riff drives me batty. Maybe if it wasn’t so prominent in the mix. It’s supposedly dedicated to Kyo’s parents, which is kind of odd in terms of how it sounds musically.

Seriously? I’m changing the track list for myself. Shifting some files around on my laptop isn’t going to alter the experience for anybody else. The original body of work is still out there for hundreds of thousands of people to enjoy, including myself. It’s just a fun little experiment. I did the same thing with Arche.