geist

I sometimes wish the rest of the band would get a little improvisational. Kyo is doing whatever the fuck he wants while the other guys are practically jukeboxes. Die seems to the only one that would add extra color here and there. Sometimes Toshiya would throw in a different bass run, but for the most part they played the songs straight. Can these guys jam once in a while?

God, this wait is already starting to kill me. We're getting so close and yet it feels so far away. I was pretty hyped about the GazettE's "NINTH"; but that was nothing by comparison. 
 
Russia, if you're reading this, I hope you're able to leak The Insulated World. You'd be doing a great service to the people of Monochrome Heaven, and the world.

The mix is good as a whole, there's just some questionable decisions in the single that I feel limits the overall impact of the song. Kyo's harsh vocals in the bridge -- a first for the band -- are completely muffled by the guitars. His cleans are clear, but then the growls are mixed as if they're backup vocals when they're not. Or maybe they intended them that way. Either way, bad mixing choice IMO.

The mix is good as a whole, there's just some questionable decisions in the single that I feel limits the overall impact of the song. Kyo's harsh vocals in the bridge -- a first for the band -- are completely muffled by the guitars. His cleans are clear, but then the growls are mixed as if they're backup vocals when they're not. Or maybe they intended them that way. Either way, bad mixing choice IMO.

The producer needs to stop making Shinya sound like a MIDI drum pad.

IF the band is having a tough time selling tickets -- to my knowledge there is 0 indication of this -- they have no one to blame but themselves. Their international strategy and presence for the past 6-7 years has been virtually non-existent, and as time goes by people have naturally forgotten about them. 
 
There's 0 buzz surrounding this band. Once upon a time they were willing to tour abroad as a support act for bigger bands -- why aren't they willing to do that today? Today they expect to do a headlining tour abroad and all the fans they were gaining in 2008-2009 will start magically showing up. That's not how music promotion works, especially when general audiences are so fickle that they can love a band one minute, and be gone the next. 
 
The reality is, if Dir en grey wants to expand their audience in the West they have to put in the work to make it happen. Having a Facebook page isn't enough. Having your members make vids on YouTube promoting your tour isn't enough. You need to bring that music to audiences that haven't heard your music before, and lately -- for the past 8 years or so -- they've had 0 interest in doing that.

A shit song title is a shit song title regardless of musical quality.

all the english titles outside of maybe ranunculus kinda feel like they were ripped straight from a lynch album

if not for lack of capslock, most of english titles def sound like the gazette came up with them

“Devote my Life” and “Celebrate Empty Howls” don’t sound like Dir en grey song titles at all. 

“Devote my Life” and “Celebrate Empty Howls” don’t sound like Dir en grey song titles at all. 

IF the band is having a tough time selling tickets -- to my knowledge there is 0 indication of this -- they have no one to blame but themselves. Their international strategy and presence for the past 6-7 years has been virtually non-existent, and as time goes by people have naturally forgotten about them. 
 
There's 0 buzz surrounding this band. Once upon a time they were willing to tour abroad as a support act for bigger bands -- why aren't they willing to do that today? Today they expect to do a headlining tour abroad and all the fans they were gaining in 2008-2009 will start magically showing up. That's not how music promotion works, especially when general audiences are so fickle that they can love a band one minute, and be gone the next. 
 
The reality is, if Dir en grey wants to expand their audience in the West they have to put in the work to make it happen. Having a Facebook page isn't enough. Having your members make vids on YouTube promoting your tour isn't enough. You need to bring that music to audiences that haven't heard your music before, and lately -- for the past 8 years or so -- they've had 0 interest in doing that.

guize
 
https://www.setlist.fm/setlists/dir-en-grey-43d6c33b.html
 
https://www.oricon.co.jp/prof/6902/rank/album/
 
 

Does anyone remember the name of that god-awful pop song Kyo, and other VK vocalists, had a cameo on?
 
It was shared on Monochrome-Heaven YEARS ago, if I remember correctly it also features Shinya on drums; but I may be mis-remembering that.
 
 
EDIT: nevermind, I found it!
 
 

No way. Stylistically they have a lot in common with Sustain the Untruth and feature those signature Kaoru grooves typical of this “era”; but that’s really it. 
 
Kyos vocal delivery is also totally different. On Arche he relied on death growls and theyre virtually non existent on Utafumi, Ningen o kaburu, or the Ash remake. 
 
Lets not forget that Arche developed over time and the band progressed through different styles in just that period alone. So maybe on one Arche song they may feel like “leftovers” but compared to tracks such as The Inferno and Soshaku they’re rather different. 

that's their ghost-singer

Does anyone remember the name of that god-awful pop song Kyo, and other VK vocalists, had a cameo on?
 
It was shared on Monochrome-Heaven YEARS ago, if I remember correctly it also features Shinya on drums; but I may be mis-remembering that.
 
 
EDIT: nevermind, I found it!
 
 

This is dir en grey,I know that it's gonna be good,but the singles utafumi and kaburu are songs that I never play,so sometimes I doubt if I'm going to love it
(And I don't think utafumi is going to be included)

It's good; but not great.
 
One of the strange things about the GazettE is their inability -- or unwillingness -- to create a cohesive, solid, album experience that is consistent from start-to-finish. Throughout their career, the GazettE have only been consistent with one thing: mediocrity.
 
Take any of their albums and you'll find a mix of great music with strange forays into all kinds of styles ranging from smooth Jazz and Muzak to pop-punk, and electronica. While a band cannot be faulted for seeking to explore new sounds and styles, criticism is due when it results in an overall product that is lacking in consistency and impact. Without fail, the GazettE is consistent in that trend. Even albums considered among their "best" (NIL and DIM) are packed with the musical equivalent of bumper-to-bumper traffic. Often the albums will start with a strong trio of songs (Nausea & Shudder, Bath Room, Maggots) and then immediately devolve into boring, meandering pop tunes such as Namaatatakai Ame to Zaratsuita Jōnetsu, D.L.N., and Shadow VI II I that grind everything to a halt. 
 
This is a trend that, without fail, you can apply to every GazettE album. Except one.
 
DOGMA (2015) is an album best described as the GazettE's first real, and serious, attempt at consistent songwriting within the Metal style. In the past, we got structurally boring tracks like OGRE, HEADACHE MAN, Before I Decay, and DISCHARGE characterized by their simplistic progressions, structure, and rhythm. These are songs by a band, that you can tell, don't really understand metal because the style was largely unfamiliar to them. Years of refining their craft lead them to DOGMA, and as a result we got the most cohesive and impressive GazettE release to date. Each track fits into that "DOGMA style" and feels like they're part of one unified sound. Even the individual contributions by band members (Deracine, Wasteland, Grudge, Paralysis) fit into the overall sound of the album and don't deviate in anyway that could be perceived as jarring. DOGMA is, without a doubt, the GazettE's best album.
 
So imagine my surprise when the GazettE released a couple singles, and began promoting NINTH. The aesthetic was similar, the band's sound was similar, so I thought we would get a perfect compliment to DOGMA. In some ways we did, in others we didn't.
 
First let me say, I really enjoy the production on this album. DOGMA, despite great songwriting, was mixed in such a way where there's not much low end present in the mix. The bass and drums are largely drowned out by the over-prominence of the guitars. This is why some people here have said NINTH is mixed in a way that it sounds "muddy" -- because the mid-range instruments (guitars) are not has heavily prominent as they were in DOGMA or other releases. For once on a GazettE record, you can feel Kai's strikes on the drums and the low-end crunch of Reita's bass. The guitars are still there; but they're dialed back somewhat, leading to a more even mix that does not overshadow any of the other members.
 
With that said, it appears lightning was unable to strike twice for the GazettE, causing them to fall into composition faux pas that see them pulling from the well of musical gimmicks they seemingly always return to. One of which is Kai's insistence of playing this stale, party rock, pop-esque drum beat that opens the track Uragiru Bero and is played consistently in several other tracks that feel like the GazettE are moving away from a serious Metal sound and towards a combination of DOGMA with a mainstream pop/party vibe. There is also the GazettE musical gimmick of including hand claps to count along to the beat. Hearing this in the intro to the verse of ABHOR GOD, I can picture all of the Japanese girls clapping along and dancing in unison -- which is a strange visual for a song that opens up the way that ABHOR GOD does. And that's part of the problem for me: on an album that has tracks like ABHOR GOD and NINTH ODD SMELL, we're then treated to the designated pop sections and the run-of-the-mill pop punk tunes like UNFINISHED.
 
The GazettE tricked me. I thought when they released DOGMA, it would usher in an age of great songwriting because the band was challenging themselves in ways they hadn't done before. Not only were they trying to write metal tunes, they were trying to write good metal tunes. Serious metal tunes. That, apparently, was a one-time thing because the GazettE are back to business as usual. There's a lot that I enjoy about this album: FALLING, NINTH ODD SMELL, Uragiru Bero, and ABHOR GOD include some really stellar moments; but then you realize you're listening to an album by the GazettE, and I feel like the band suddenly realized it as well.
 
 
 
 
7/10
 

It's good; but not great.
 
One of the strange things about the GazettE is their inability -- or unwillingness -- to create a cohesive, solid, album experience that is consistent from start-to-finish. Throughout their career, the GazettE have only been consistent with one thing: mediocrity.
 
Take any of their albums and you'll find a mix of great music with strange forays into all kinds of styles ranging from smooth Jazz and Muzak to pop-punk, and electronica. While a band cannot be faulted for seeking to explore new sounds and styles, criticism is due when it results in an overall product that is lacking in consistency and impact. Without fail, the GazettE is consistent in that trend. Even albums considered among their "best" (NIL and DIM) are packed with the musical equivalent of bumper-to-bumper traffic. Often the albums will start with a strong trio of songs (Nausea & Shudder, Bath Room, Maggots) and then immediately devolve into boring, meandering pop tunes such as Namaatatakai Ame to Zaratsuita Jōnetsu, D.L.N., and Shadow VI II I that grind everything to a halt. 
 
This is a trend that, without fail, you can apply to every GazettE album. Except one.
 
DOGMA (2015) is an album best described as the GazettE's first real, and serious, attempt at consistent songwriting within the Metal style. In the past, we got structurally boring tracks like OGRE, HEADACHE MAN, Before I Decay, and DISCHARGE characterized by their simplistic progressions, structure, and rhythm. These are songs by a band, that you can tell, don't really understand metal because the style was largely unfamiliar to them. Years of refining their craft lead them to DOGMA, and as a result we got the most cohesive and impressive GazettE release to date. Each track fits into that "DOGMA style" and feels like they're part of one unified sound. Even the individual contributions by band members (Deracine, Wasteland, Grudge, Paralysis) fit into the overall sound of the album and don't deviate in anyway that could be perceived as jarring. DOGMA is, without a doubt, the GazettE's best album.
 
So imagine my surprise when the GazettE released a couple singles, and began promoting NINTH. The aesthetic was similar, the band's sound was similar, so I thought we would get a perfect compliment to DOGMA. In some ways we did, in others we didn't.
 
First let me say, I really enjoy the production on this album. DOGMA, despite great songwriting, was mixed in such a way where there's not much low end present in the mix. The bass and drums are largely drowned out by the over-prominence of the guitars. This is why some people here have said NINTH is mixed in a way that it sounds "muddy" -- because the mid-range instruments (guitars) are not has heavily prominent as they were in DOGMA or other releases. For once on a GazettE record, you can feel Kai's strikes on the drums and the low-end crunch of Reita's bass. The guitars are still there; but they're dialed back somewhat, leading to a more even mix that does not overshadow any of the other members.
 
With that said, it appears lightning was unable to strike twice for the GazettE, causing them to fall into composition faux pas that see them pulling from the well of musical gimmicks they seemingly always return to. One of which is Kai's insistence of playing this stale, party rock, pop-esque drum beat that opens the track Uragiru Bero and is played consistently in several other tracks that feel like the GazettE are moving away from a serious Metal sound and towards a combination of DOGMA with a mainstream pop/party vibe. There is also the GazettE musical gimmick of including hand claps to count along to the beat. Hearing this in the intro to the verse of ABHOR GOD, I can picture all of the Japanese girls clapping along and dancing in unison -- which is a strange visual for a song that opens up the way that ABHOR GOD does. And that's part of the problem for me: on an album that has tracks like ABHOR GOD and NINTH ODD SMELL, we're then treated to the designated pop sections and the run-of-the-mill pop punk tunes like UNFINISHED.
 
The GazettE tricked me. I thought when they released DOGMA, it would usher in an age of great songwriting because the band was challenging themselves in ways they hadn't done before. Not only were they trying to write metal tunes, they were trying to write good metal tunes. Serious metal tunes. That, apparently, was a one-time thing because the GazettE are back to business as usual. There's a lot that I enjoy about this album: FALLING, NINTH ODD SMELL, Uragiru Bero, and ABHOR GOD include some really stellar moments; but then you realize you're listening to an album by the GazettE, and I feel like the band suddenly realized it as well.
 
 
 
 
7/10
 

It's good; but not great.
 
One of the strange things about the GazettE is their inability -- or unwillingness -- to create a cohesive, solid, album experience that is consistent from start-to-finish. Throughout their career, the GazettE have only been consistent with one thing: mediocrity.
 
Take any of their albums and you'll find a mix of great music with strange forays into all kinds of styles ranging from smooth Jazz and Muzak to pop-punk, and electronica. While a band cannot be faulted for seeking to explore new sounds and styles, criticism is due when it results in an overall product that is lacking in consistency and impact. Without fail, the GazettE is consistent in that trend. Even albums considered among their "best" (NIL and DIM) are packed with the musical equivalent of bumper-to-bumper traffic. Often the albums will start with a strong trio of songs (Nausea & Shudder, Bath Room, Maggots) and then immediately devolve into boring, meandering pop tunes such as Namaatatakai Ame to Zaratsuita Jōnetsu, D.L.N., and Shadow VI II I that grind everything to a halt. 
 
This is a trend that, without fail, you can apply to every GazettE album. Except one.
 
DOGMA (2015) is an album best described as the GazettE's first real, and serious, attempt at consistent songwriting within the Metal style. In the past, we got structurally boring tracks like OGRE, HEADACHE MAN, Before I Decay, and DISCHARGE characterized by their simplistic progressions, structure, and rhythm. These are songs by a band, that you can tell, don't really understand metal because the style was largely unfamiliar to them. Years of refining their craft lead them to DOGMA, and as a result we got the most cohesive and impressive GazettE release to date. Each track fits into that "DOGMA style" and feels like they're part of one unified sound. Even the individual contributions by band members (Deracine, Wasteland, Grudge, Paralysis) fit into the overall sound of the album and don't deviate in anyway that could be perceived as jarring. DOGMA is, without a doubt, the GazettE's best album.
 
So imagine my surprise when the GazettE released a couple singles, and began promoting NINTH. The aesthetic was similar, the band's sound was similar, so I thought we would get a perfect compliment to DOGMA. In some ways we did, in others we didn't.
 
First let me say, I really enjoy the production on this album. DOGMA, despite great songwriting, was mixed in such a way where there's not much low end present in the mix. The bass and drums are largely drowned out by the over-prominence of the guitars. This is why some people here have said NINTH is mixed in a way that it sounds "muddy" -- because the mid-range instruments (guitars) are not has heavily prominent as they were in DOGMA or other releases. For once on a GazettE record, you can feel Kai's strikes on the drums and the low-end crunch of Reita's bass. The guitars are still there; but they're dialed back somewhat, leading to a more even mix that does not overshadow any of the other members.
 
With that said, it appears lightning was unable to strike twice for the GazettE, causing them to fall into composition faux pas that see them pulling from the well of musical gimmicks they seemingly always return to. One of which is Kai's insistence of playing this stale, party rock, pop-esque drum beat that opens the track Uragiru Bero and is played consistently in several other tracks that feel like the GazettE are moving away from a serious Metal sound and towards a combination of DOGMA with a mainstream pop/party vibe. There is also the GazettE musical gimmick of including hand claps to count along to the beat. Hearing this in the intro to the verse of ABHOR GOD, I can picture all of the Japanese girls clapping along and dancing in unison -- which is a strange visual for a song that opens up the way that ABHOR GOD does. And that's part of the problem for me: on an album that has tracks like ABHOR GOD and NINTH ODD SMELL, we're then treated to the designated pop sections and the run-of-the-mill pop punk tunes like UNFINISHED.
 
The GazettE tricked me. I thought when they released DOGMA, it would usher in an age of great songwriting because the band was challenging themselves in ways they hadn't done before. Not only were they trying to write metal tunes, they were trying to write good metal tunes. Serious metal tunes. That, apparently, was a one-time thing because the GazettE are back to business as usual. There's a lot that I enjoy about this album: FALLING, NINTH ODD SMELL, Uragiru Bero, and ABHOR GOD include some really stellar moments; but then you realize you're listening to an album by the GazettE, and I feel like the band suddenly realized it as well.
 
 
 
 
7/10
 

It's good; but not great.
 
One of the strange things about the GazettE is their inability -- or unwillingness -- to create a cohesive, solid, album experience that is consistent from start-to-finish. Throughout their career, the GazettE have only been consistent with one thing: mediocrity.
 
Take any of their albums and you'll find a mix of great music with strange forays into all kinds of styles ranging from smooth Jazz and Muzak to pop-punk, and electronica. While a band cannot be faulted for seeking to explore new sounds and styles, criticism is due when it results in an overall product that is lacking in consistency and impact. Without fail, the GazettE is consistent in that trend. Even albums considered among their "best" (NIL and DIM) are packed with the musical equivalent of bumper-to-bumper traffic. Often the albums will start with a strong trio of songs (Nausea & Shudder, Bath Room, Maggots) and then immediately devolve into boring, meandering pop tunes such as Namaatatakai Ame to Zaratsuita Jōnetsu, D.L.N., and Shadow VI II I that grind everything to a halt. 
 
This is a trend that, without fail, you can apply to every GazettE album. Except one.
 
DOGMA (2015) is an album best described as the GazettE's first real, and serious, attempt at consistent songwriting within the Metal style. In the past, we got structurally boring tracks like OGRE, HEADACHE MAN, Before I Decay, and DISCHARGE characterized by their simplistic progressions, structure, and rhythm. These are songs by a band, that you can tell, don't really understand metal because the style was largely unfamiliar to them. Years of refining their craft lead them to DOGMA, and as a result we got the most cohesive and impressive GazettE release to date. Each track fits into that "DOGMA style" and feels like they're part of one unified sound. Even the individual contributions by band members (Deracine, Wasteland, Grudge, Paralysis) fit into the overall sound of the album and don't deviate in anyway that could be perceived as jarring. DOGMA is, without a doubt, the GazettE's best album.
 
So imagine my surprise when the GazettE released a couple singles, and began promoting NINTH. The aesthetic was similar, the band's sound was similar, so I thought we would get a perfect compliment to DOGMA. In some ways we did, in others we didn't.
 
First let me say, I really enjoy the production on this album. DOGMA, despite great songwriting, was mixed in such a way where there's not much low end present in the mix. The bass and drums are largely drowned out by the over-prominence of the guitars. This is why some people here have said NINTH is mixed in a way that it sounds "muddy" -- because the mid-range instruments (guitars) are not has heavily prominent as they were in DOGMA or other releases. For once on a GazettE record, you can feel Kai's strikes on the drums and the low-end crunch of Reita's bass. The guitars are still there; but they're dialed back somewhat, leading to a more even mix that does not overshadow any of the other members.
 
With that said, it appears lightning was unable to strike twice for the GazettE, causing them to fall into composition faux pas that see them pulling from the well of musical gimmicks they seemingly always return to. One of which is Kai's insistence of playing this stale, party rock, pop-esque drum beat that opens the track Uragiru Bero and is played consistently in several other tracks that feel like the GazettE are moving away from a serious Metal sound and towards a combination of DOGMA with a mainstream pop/party vibe. There is also the GazettE musical gimmick of including hand claps to count along to the beat. Hearing this in the intro to the verse of ABHOR GOD, I can picture all of the Japanese girls clapping along and dancing in unison -- which is a strange visual for a song that opens up the way that ABHOR GOD does. And that's part of the problem for me: on an album that has tracks like ABHOR GOD and NINTH ODD SMELL, we're then treated to the designated pop sections and the run-of-the-mill pop punk tunes like UNFINISHED.
 
The GazettE tricked me. I thought when they released DOGMA, it would usher in an age of great songwriting because the band was challenging themselves in ways they hadn't done before. Not only were they trying to write metal tunes, they were trying to write good metal tunes. Serious metal tunes. That, apparently, was a one-time thing because the GazettE are back to business as usual. There's a lot that I enjoy about this album: FALLING, NINTH ODD SMELL, Uragiru Bero, and ABHOR GOD include some really stellar moments; but then you realize you're listening to an album by the GazettE, and I feel like the band suddenly realized it as well.
 
 
 
 
7/10
 

Laputa was a Japanese nagoya kei rock band, active from 1993 to 2004. The band chose its name from the flying island in Gulliver's Travels and tried to portray a similar unrealistic view of the world with their performance. Their 1997 album Emadera was named one of the top albums from 1989-1998 in a 2004 issue of the music magazine Band Yarouze.
 
I had never heard of these guys before and stumbled across them after listening to Dir en grey's "Ash" and their song "舌" was queued afterwards. What is everyone's thoughts on this band? Like them? Hate them? Favorite releases? They seem pretty interesting and I was looking to check them out later!
 
 
 

Language barrier and the fact Japanese Popular music largely copies musical trends in the West.
 
As a rule of thumb: if a certain sound becomes popular in the west (like a type of pop music, or metal subgenre), it will become a popular trend in Japan 3-5 years later. This is why nu-metal suddenly became a thing years after it hit in the West. This is why metalcore suddenly became a thing years after it hit in the West. This is why hardcore suddenly became a thing years after it became popular again in the West.
 
 

Awesome, thanks for the clarification. Japanese is certainly a fun language and for new speakers like myself, I find myself sometimes playing a guessing game over things like this.