Saishu

Mana is probably like 60 years old. 

Fucking blew my mind. Always cries about DEG fans being bullies, then literally comes out of nowhere to insult someone for not singing praises to Ninth. 
 
But when they were like “I know who you are, but you don’t know me” then started listing specific things I’ve said and that I use “female” as my gender. That threw me off until I checked my MH profile and realized my gender is set as female for some reason. I was going to fix it, but eh. Lol. 

| Dir en grey's tenth album is something special indeed.
 
Few artists can bring the scene together and elicit responses from everyone the way that Dir en grey can. They can make you pause your habitual listening routines to check out their newest single or album, even if you don't like them. This is because Dir en grey is one of the few bands where we can sense the progression and self-improvement from release to release. I don't think that Dir en grey aspires to impress anyone but themselves from three years ago, and now more than ever I see and feel a band that has graduated from copying trends to setting them. As a concept, and after listening to the album several times, I believe The Insulated World refers directly to them, their view on the world, and the inspiration for where the music they wish to create comes from.
 
The Insulated World feels like a journey into oneself, and the album feels separated into two parts. The first half of the album feels like a turbulent descent into madness, while the second half feels like the madness has yielded to tranquility as the listener floats towards personal understanding. I prefer the second half to the first half. This is a far cry from literally every other album of theirs, where tracks were arranged haphazardly and the experience suffers for it. I can hear various influences from each of their previous eras and albums - some more than others - but one of the most redeeming points about The Insulated World is that it doesn't sound like anything in particular.
 
In the past, I've felt that Dir en grey bit off more than they could chew, and failed to deliver on their own expectations. I felt this most when listening to DUM SPIRO SPERO, where the band used progressive elements for the sake of being progressive. The Insulated World has the progressive elements applied more sensibly, similar to ARCHE. Songs morph and change direction on a whim, but there are hooks and motifs that the band returns to that gives each song coherency. Vocalist Kyo reminds us once again that he's the king of vocal manipulation - just in case you had doubts - but he's embraced his mid range more. Focusing on the extremes of his vocal techniques leaves an immediate and lasting impression at the expense of it sounding very binary. I prefer the vocal extremes for specific emotional climaxes and using other vocal techniques for specific feelings at the appropriate times. "Values of Madness" is the best example of what I am describing, where we get screeching, rapping, singing, and more in a compact four minutes. The re-recording of "The Deeper Vileness" is another great example, and also highlights how well some of the ideas they explored in The Marrow of a Bone translate into their new style ten years later.
 
Complaints about the terrible production job for the singles "Utafumi" and "Ningen wo kaburu" were founded and make more sense in hindsight, with the new versions sounding less congested. Die and Kaoru no longer compete with Toshiya for total control of the low end frequency, Shinya's drum kit sounds less robotic, Kyo doesn't feel tacked on top of the mix, and there's plenty of room left for the guitar distortion techniques and electronic samples to breathe. For the most part, I like the tone chosen for the guitar and the way everything comes together in each song, and I would rank this among both their best and least obnoxiously mixed albums to date. I wish they could get their singles to this quality.
 
The Insulated World is not a perfect release. "Devote My Life" is not listenable due to the piercing, unrelenting tone of the guitar. Sticking it in the second slot does a lot to turn away people who only have once chance to give Dir en grey. They should have gone with a guitar tone closer to "Downfall". "Ranunculus", while a great song and a good note to end the album on, has an atmosphere which doesn't fit with the album. I get the impression this track was conceived either very early or very late in the production cycle, because it stands well on its own. I also am unable to find the hook in the album opus, "絶縁体" (Zetsusentai), which I find difficult to wrap my head around. They've done this style of track more effectively with "Vinushka" and even "Diabolos", and it doesn't hold a candle to the pure atmosphere of "MACABRE". Speaking of Macabre, I also find the new version of "理由" (Riyuu) slightly inferior to the original version. The cover of the song does justice to the original by not straying too much from the melody, but they reined in the emotion of the song and the guitar solo with only a cleaner sound to compensate,  and the original version of the song sold itself on its emotion. They didn't ruin it, but they didn't improve it much. The new version of "鬼眼" (Kigan) falls into the same camp, but the much better production values edges it out ahead in the end. For the record, I much rather these safe reinterpretations than ones that butcher the song beyond recognition.
 
These interpretations are subject to change as I spend more time with The Insulated World, and perhaps catch them live one day to experience these songs in person. Even a month later, I still think I wrote this review prematurely, as there are songs still growing on me and others that I am unsure if I like or not. I am pleased overall with how this album turned out, and I can see myself listening to this album in a few years without the songs wearing thin. Dir en grey did well, and this is an album I can recommend to both long time fans and the curious, but if ARCHE did nothing for you then this won't either.
 
 
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I ended up getting into it with a weird Gazette fan in the comments section of a really small YouTube channel. They basically went off on some dude that called Ninth generic (“shut the fuck up”, “keep the Gazette out of your mouth”) then played victim because “DEG fans won’t leave Gazette fans alone”. It got really surreal when they knew exactly who I was because they visited here briefly a few months back,  even though I use my real name on YouTube. 
 
They’ve since moved on to a place where no one speaks ill of Gazette. 

Demos are from the second disc in the edition that came with DSS on vinyl. There’s an entirely different Decayed Crow remix by Kyo on that one. The 9 minute droning static version by Narasaki is on the third disc of the DSS at Budokan DVD. 
 
I believe Euro and NA releases of DSS had Rasetsukoku and symphonic Amon as bonus tracks. 

These guys don’t know how to make a setlist flow do they? Rinkaku between Keibetsu to Hajimari and Beelzebub? 

Smashing Pumpkins played 3 hour shows during their summer reunion tour, and they’re all in their 50s. DEG needs to step their game up. 

tu ru ri ru ra ra

tu ru ri ru ra ra

His biography on Tidal isn’t even in English. I think it’s in German. 

Man that’s nonsense, Stigmata and Megiddo were fucking ace. 
 
 

Any PV filmed in a forest or church is immune to criticism. 

I’ll have to watch that again. I always thought they had him hidden backstage or something. 

Any PV filmed in a forest or church is immune to criticism. 

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. 

Yes, Satsuki, you are indeed “exited”. 

Am I supposed to believe that Satsuki was too busy to actually take a photo wearing a Naruto headband?

Any PV filmed in a forest or church is immune to criticism. 

Any PV filmed in a forest or church is immune to criticism. 

I already have a best of album which is everything from Orion Once Again to Jagganath. 

That’s one of the Arche tracks that doesn’t translate live very well though. 

That’s one of the Arche tracks that doesn’t translate live very well though. 

http://kyotakumrau.tumblr.com/post/178871739862/shinya-instagram-20181008-weve-finished-the
 
Jeezus, Shinya...
 
name of the tour should be “Where’s The Human Skin?”

I think it’s the Family Values dvd where he appears for an interview, but I don’t think he said a word. 
 
That dvd is embarrassing by the way. There are performances of Kodoku ni Shish and Dead Tree, and at the start of each song there’s a huge roar from the crowd that’s dubbed in. 
 
My bad, it’s IIID Empire, not Dead Tree. That is one even funnier because Kyo doesn’t sing the “kokkahanei” part as if the dumbfounded 30 people in the audience are going to. 

No one saw the sarcasm in this?