Saishu

They played Akuro no Oka in NYC back in 2009, I believe. They were playing old stuff as encores for that tour, and I think they were in New York for a few nights. When I saw them that tour they played Ugly and Amber.

Peep Show, M.E.R.R.Y., and Underworld all sounded like shit. Like the sonic equivalent of eating a ball of tin foil.

Pale Communion and Heritage were both going for that old school sound, though. They went for a more natural, analog sound. I'm not saying everything sounds bad, but there's definitely a trend in just making things loud. Most remasters these days are just the original recording with a higher volume (DEG's DECADE collections being a prime example).

And, you know, sometimes things were just better in the old days. It actually is a legit point sometimes.

I listened to Macabre for the first time in ages today. Such an amazing album

Also, I like how Arche sounds. I think it has a lot of punch to it which gives it a sense of immediacy to me. This is probably why the tracks transferred so well to live performances in comparison to tracks from DSS.

Arche songs sound better live compared to DSS songs because the band actually played the songs together, live in the same room, during the recording of the album. DSS was just all of them sitting in a room and sending parts to each other via computer, then they didn't work out how to play any of it live until it was time to tour. Then they hit a wall: these songs have tons of guitar parts and vocal layers, how do we do this shit with only five people?

To be fair, almost every album sounds like shit these days. There's no dynamics anymore. Quiet parts of songs should not be as loud as the loud parts, but that's how it is now. Everything is recorded at the same level.

In all honesty, I think their worst sounding album is probably Kisou. It's like they moved every dial on the soundboard all the way up and called it a day.

Uroboros remaster still ended up sounding better than the original (except for Toguro). There were things in the original that I just straight up never noticed.

DSS sounds too dry and mechanical, almost like it wasn't played by humans. The Unraveling and Arche are the worst because they sound like they're being played thru an old school amp with the "hall" setting turned on. DEG needs to listen to a Tesseract album to get a better idea of how a heavy band should have dynamic range.

Haha like anyone knew the difference.

Ps does Kyo just ''improvise'' with lyrics because he can't be assed to remember the actual lyrics or what? Also, are there any other bands who do this? I can't think of any but Dir en grey off the top of my head at the moment..

Well, no. Like with Fukai he straight up changed all the lyrics, they weren't improvised. When he does that it's probably because the song means something different to him at the time. It's not uncommon for bands to improvise in a live setting, but I don't know if changing lyrics entirely is a common occurrence.

BAKA!!!

After hearing DECAYS and Sukekiyo, it is so clear that influence that Kaoru has on the bands sound. It is why he has always been my favorite member as I know the dark and agressive sound is cultivated mostly by his musical direction.

When it comes to choosing remakes, I was suprised that 深い [Fukai] vs. (the Code of Vulgarism version) wasn't listed. I honestly love both versions of that song, and to this day it is one of my favorite Diru B-Sides, mostly because that was the height of my Diru obsession when I was in High school in Japan. For that reason, many of my most nostalgic and beloved songs come from the 鬼葬 [Kisou] - WTD era, but I still love their new and old songs too.

I never understood all the hate for MOAB - Songs like 艶かしき安息、躊躇いに微笑み [Namamekashiki Ansoku, Tamerai ni Hohoemi], 凌辱の雨 [Ryoujoku no Ame], and The Pledge are some of my Diru favorites - and just becasue the band dabbled in Metalcore after the Family values tour doesn't mean they executed it poorly - I'll never forget the energy of The Fatal Beliver as the opening song when I saw them at the NYC Inward Scream show.

It is hard choosing favorites amongst the massive discog they have.

I'm not sure I'd count the Vulgarism version of Fukai as a different version because Kyo just changed the lyrics while the music itself stayed the same. He's done this with a few other songs too (The Final, Conceived Sorrow).

I actually thought Yuu would be the one that would be most active after Nega disbanded.

And sorry, but while I know VK bands steal from each other, Guilt Trip is inexcusable.

Was digging around wondering if Nega had a thread. Totally surprised it's filled with praise. These dudes straight up stole Zakuro from DEG and called it Guilt Trip. Wonder what these losers are doing now.

Hageshisa has two versions too. The single version has a different riff in the part after the chorus and the mix is completely different.

I'm probably the only person that prefers the 2011 version of Tsumi to Batsu. I also love both versions of Kiri to Mayu equally. My favorite thing is picking out how they reworked the old riffs into new ones.

I wish they had just rerecorded Obsucre at a faster tempo instead of changing it. Because while I like the speed at which they play the new version, I prefer the old arrangement.

Fun fact: I didn't like Bugaboo until the remastered Uroboros came out.

Pretty sure the best song Dir en grey has released is 虜.

Expecting it to become a setlist staple very soon.

If they start playing this then I'll listen to Decayed Crow for 24 hours straight.

I come down pretty hard on songs from the Withering/Marrow eras because it was when DEG was dabbling in heavier material but not fully committing, so a lot of songs sounded awkward and amateurish (especially since this was when Kyo insisted on singing in English and all he could do was shout "DICK MEN" and "FUCK YOU FUCKING BULLSHIT!"

I HATE that twangy, flange-y part in Decayed Crow, and the whole thing sounds like a parody of deathcore than an actual, serious song. Props for the melodic part towards the end, but when I saw it live only Kaoru played that part and he totally screwed it up hitting almost all the wrong notes.

As for best songs, off the top of my head I would say Yurameki, Macabre, Kiri to Mayu, Toguro, Kaishun, Sajou no Uta, Different Sense, Undecided, Umbrella, and Kodou (pulling from each album).

I'll admit that The Inferno has grown on me and I no longer skip it, but HOLD THE FUCK UP are you saying that Kaishun is BORING?!? L!

Decayed Crow is a mess. And what's funny is I'm not a fan of any of the other tracks Tokage mentioned either. I hated The Inferno at first but I've grown to like it more after a repeated listens. I mostly like how the riff has subtle changes as the song progresses. Not one of their best songs by any means, but it's better than Decayed Crow.

And Shinya did a proper blast beat on The Inferno!

Die has a better smile. And prettier hair.

Well, I did say "one of the absolute worst," so Jesus Christ RnR is definitely another.

Decayed Crow is one of their absolute worst songs.

When will someone finally make one of those ''KISS shreds'' parody videos for Dir en grey i want to die

Just watch a live performance of Decayed Crow.

Yeah, I can def agree. I still prefer Kaoru over him due to song compositions, weird shit that he pulls off with his Guitar. But Die has that Style that demands attention and adds that flare that makes a Dir en grey song, a Dir en grey song.

Well Kaoru definitely dominates when it comes to composing songs, but when Die gets a song on an album it's usually a banger. Tousei and Kaishun are some of the best DEG songs in years.

I was down on Kaoru for a while because he seemed really off and sloppy during the DSS phase, but that was true for the entire band I think. I would just cringe everytime I heard him screw up the solo in Different Sense.

If we're going in that direction, Die is hotter.

Die definitely seems more versatile than Kaoru. I'm not exactly sure what style Kaoru goes for, but I like that Die incorporates jazz/funk stuff in even the heaviest songs. I can't help but smile while he does his VK flicka flicka thing in the chorus for Hageshisa. It's like that shouldn't even work, but it does.

By the way I love what Toshiya did in Glass Skin. The song is very ethereal so the bottom end that Toshiya provides basically keeps the whole thing grounded with a melodic groove. He's the backbone of that song, no doubt.