Zeus

Not to impose but I think a good idea to go along with this thread is to give to those that are interested the best release to check out from the list of bands they listed. Of course, if you don't want it that's all cool too. I just find myself that bands I haven't gotten into I didn't get into because they have so much to go through and I don't have a good starting point.

And since it's clear that MH has spoken I'm locking this topic before it sparks drama.

He has pretty standard deathcore vocals. I guess standard is good when most visual kei vocalists can't even do that.

I have two.
Sigh was always an eclectic band. They started off as a black metal band and slowly began including more and more avant-garde influences. On some albums, the result of all their experimentation was cheesy but on their last full-length, In Somniphobia, they went all out and created a really good album.
Onmyo-za is another band that's been around for forever and keeps improving on their craft. Their last effort Kishibojin was a combination of all of the things that made their early works great and none of the cruft that seeped into their last few works that lowered the awesome. Not many bands could pull off a concept album that well.

And pray tell who exactly is spamming? Or what constitutes spam? And who is going to be the one that does all the bookkeeping?
This is a lot of extra work for a problem that we don't have on MH.
And quite frankly your entire post comes across as if this has already been implemented and that you are in charge of it all. Your name is not blue or red. It is not your place to tell people how they will be punished.

While this is true, the language barrier makes this a non-issue for most fans. There just isn't enough information about most artists in the scene for most people to care. Hell, for most people we don't even know their names. A lot of the charm in visual kei comes from the mystery of who these people are. Bringing personality and ethics into the mix ruins that.
On that same note, this may all just be an elaborate act and who you see on camera is who they want you to see, another part of the act and mystery. The psychotic dictator and poet Shan Yu once said, "Live with a man 40 years. Share his house, his meals. Speak on every subject. Then tie him up, and hold him over the volcano's edge. And on that day, you will finally meet the man."
Visual kei isn't much different in the end.
 
 
I want you to read up on Varg Vikernes and Euronymous and the people they associated with. There's a lot more to both of them but I'll give you a quick synopsis of some of the fucked up things the both of them did. Starting with Euronymous, when his friend Dead committed suicide before he called the authorities he took pictures of him, purportedly made a stew with bits of Dead's brain and had made necklaces with bits of his skull. Vikernes later was responsible for the death of Euronymous and claims that he acted in self-defense because Euronymous wanted to kill him...but this is after burning down several churches and spewing hateful, racist, malicious ideas.
Point is, the fucked up mentality and personalities of these two people were responsible for somewhat popularizing and legitimizing a genre that early 90's visual kei bands took a smattering of influence from. If a majority of people always took people's personalities into account when enjoying music, visual kei wouldn't be what it is today. Music wouldn't be what it is today.
And it's for this reason why I can listen to Burzum knowing full well that I don't want to be in a well-lit room alone with Vikernes.
tl;dr - No one listens to shitty music just because the artist funds cancer research. It should extend the other way too.

I was under the impression that they were widely regarded as symphonic power metal, leaning towards power metal later in their career as the symphonic parts were decreased as their career goes on.
But that's what genres do. They give you a general idea of what to expect. Any band that sticks to their guns on the genre that they belong to aren't very interesting.
 
 
He's experimented within the realm of Versailles some and that still didn't stop the torrent of criticism about how all of his music sounds the same. GLOWING BUTTERFLY, Dry Ice Scream and Judicial Noir are all pretty different sounding, yet they all sound very similar. It's Hizaki's style, not his influences, that makes everything sound the way it does.

I was under the impression that they were widely regarded as symphonic power metal, leaning towards power metal later in their career as the symphonic parts were decreased as their career goes on.
But that's what genres do. They give you a general idea of what to expect. Any band that sticks to their guns on the genre that they belong to aren't very interesting.
 
 
He's experimented within the realm of Versailles some and that still didn't stop the torrent of criticism about how all of his music sounds the same. GLOWING BUTTERFLY, Dry Ice Scream and Judicial Noir are all pretty different sounding, yet they all sound very similar. It's Hizaki's style, not his influences, that makes everything sound the way it does.

I was under the impression that they were widely regarded as symphonic power metal, leaning towards power metal later in their career as the symphonic parts were decreased as their career goes on.
But that's what genres do. They give you a general idea of what to expect. Any band that sticks to their guns on the genre that they belong to aren't very interesting.
 
 
He's experimented within the realm of Versailles some and that still didn't stop the torrent of criticism about how all of his music sounds the same. GLOWING BUTTERFLY, Dry Ice Scream and Judicial Noir are all pretty different sounding, yet they all sound very similar. It's Hizaki's style, not his influences, that makes everything sound the way it does.

When people say "generic", it's a less informed way of saying 'derivative'. Derivative art is something that draws heavily (and exclusively) on an already set style without doing anything to make it genuine / different. Consider Elvis Presley: great performer but he offered NOTHING new to the rock / blues genre in terms of technique, style, or innovation. We can all croon about how dreamy Elvis was, or how beautiful his voice was; but that's really it. Compare him to the Beatles who re-defined a genre.
 
the GazettE are not Elvis Presley. What I mean by that is it's not like they've stuck to the same formula over and over again. Sure their guitar work can be incredibly dry and typical without the saving grace of Uruha's solos (Drop B, 1st and 2nd Frets. There's your GazettE song. Let's call it 'ANGRY SONG'); but they've at least taken the VK 'scene' and evolved in it with their own sound. 80's pop hooks, pop-punk, metal, and electronica all come together to make the GazettE's 'sound', which I will say is pretty unique vs. Elvis.
 
the GazettE aren't derivative, they just rub people the wrong way. Personally I'm always shifting between thinking they're cool and thinking they're the lamest thing in the world; but that makes me even more excited for this new album: I want to see which GazettE shows up. The cool one, or the lame one.

I give you my leave to try as hard as you can, but at the end of the day you can't discuss music to much extent without comparison. People before you have tried and failed. If this were a new HIZAKI project I could say that you have a good point. I could even concede if it was a HIZAKI x TERU collaboration. But comparisons between a past band and a previous band are inevitable when 4/5 of one band forms a new band. If anything, Versailles is the best band to "compare" to because of compositional and stylistic similarities that will arise because of who is in the band.
Even if they went in a completely different direction and played honky-tonk country metal, they will always be compared to Versailles. Always. May as well just deal with it now.

They're not doing it right. They're only allowed to cite "musical differences" if it's for anything but musical differences!
 
But in all seriousness, everyone saw this coming the minute YOHIO realized they needed him more than he needed them and struck out on his own.

Japanese black metal band COHOL has announced that they have signed with Osmose Productions and has plans to release their second album. More details will be announced later.
Source: http://www.cohol.info

BRING OUT YOUR AKANE MEMES.










 

Or perhaps where you're looking for melody is different from where I'm looking for melody. There is such a thing as having differing opinions and having different expectations for what we want from a release. But I'm going to delve into why I stated what I did in my review to give a complete perspective of my why my frustration for THE UNRAVELING grows every time I listen to it. It's for the same reason I highlighted in my review:
 
For as much as Dir en grey claims to experiment, they really do not. All of their songs, new and old, follow the same formula more or less because the band still hasn't gotten out of their TMOAB mindset and are still trying to be metal instead of actually just playing metal (which they can!). There's this insistence on never tuning the guitars out of drop-A if they can help it, even when another tuning (even if it's half a step in either direction) sounds better. There's this insistence on always having demanding vocal lines - growls and shrieks are there because Kyo feels expected to provide growls and shrieks any chance he gets, and his vocal range soars because he's expected to span two to three octaves in every single song. Experimentation is about subverting norms and doing what you want, but since I pretty much just described DUM SPIRO SPERO and most of THE UNRAVELING in a single paragraph how much experimentation is there? Some, but not as much as they would have us believe. On YouTube there are people who take popular pop songs and rearrange them into death metal pieces. Sometimes they come out good and sometimes they don't. I bring this up because this is proof to me that not everything can be "metallized" - some songs just sound better with influence from other genres. Removing that removes the essence of what made the original song that song. This is the same problem they've had with OBSCURE and RASETSUKOKU and now with Unknown.Despair.Lost. What made Unknown...despair...a lost originally was the driving melody behind the guitar line they shamelessly ripped from LUNA SEA's G. They dropped the tuning of the riff, but at the same time they also lost all the dynamics, the pacing of the original, the polyphony and the prominence of the original riff. This new patchwork they threw together was just awful.
And the thing is: there is no need to relentlessly pursue rhythm over melody in their heavier tracks, but they do it all the fucking time. It's as if Dir en grey is afraid of being both melodic and aggressive so they choose one or the other and stick firmly in that camp. The resulting "black or white" contrast gets old very quickly. As a matter of fact, their whole approach loses it's appeal because you know what's coming before the song is over: if the song is aggressive it won't deviate. Blastbeats and death growls ahoy. If the song is initially melodic, it's not going to deviate.
And then you know what they do? They throw THE FINAL and MACABRE in there just to fuck with my point. THE FINAL is the very definition of what I mean when I describe something as melodic but aggressive. They get this one right but they fuck up Unknown...despair...a lost and Karma? What gives?
Imaginary pressure, that's what. The inconsistency of their approach slays me. Had they done with the other remakes what they've done with the last two tracks, this would be a damn near flawless release. But they didn't, so I can't say that.
So honestly, feel free to like this release however much you want. That's the beauty of personal opinion and I'm not here to crush that. But if you want to know "exactly" what I meant, it's outlined above. I don't just say things because I like blind worship, or because I love to hate everything, or because I like being unpredictable just to be unpredictable. That's what I get from this release.
So the next time you say someone doesn't "understand" melody, remember there's more than one way to approach music.

Or perhaps where you're looking for melody is different from where I'm looking for melody. There is such a thing as having differing opinions and having different expectations for what we want from a release. But I'm going to delve into why I stated what I did in my review to give a complete perspective of my why my frustration for THE UNRAVELING grows every time I listen to it. It's for the same reason I highlighted in my review:
 
For as much as Dir en grey claims to experiment, they really do not. All of their songs, new and old, follow the same formula more or less because the band still hasn't gotten out of their TMOAB mindset and are still trying to be metal instead of actually just playing metal (which they can!). There's this insistence on never tuning the guitars out of drop-A if they can help it, even when another tuning (even if it's half a step in either direction) sounds better. There's this insistence on always having demanding vocal lines - growls and shrieks are there because Kyo feels expected to provide growls and shrieks any chance he gets, and his vocal range soars because he's expected to span two to three octaves in every single song. Experimentation is about subverting norms and doing what you want, but since I pretty much just described DUM SPIRO SPERO and most of THE UNRAVELING in a single paragraph how much experimentation is there? Some, but not as much as they would have us believe. On YouTube there are people who take popular pop songs and rearrange them into death metal pieces. Sometimes they come out good and sometimes they don't. I bring this up because this is proof to me that not everything can be "metallized" - some songs just sound better with influence from other genres. Removing that removes the essence of what made the original song that song. This is the same problem they've had with OBSCURE and RASETSUKOKU and now with Unknown.Despair.Lost. What made Unknown...despair...a lost originally was the driving melody behind the guitar line they shamelessly ripped from LUNA SEA's G. They dropped the tuning of the riff, but at the same time they also lost all the dynamics, the pacing of the original, the polyphony and the prominence of the original riff. This new patchwork they threw together was just awful.
And the thing is: there is no need to relentlessly pursue rhythm over melody in their heavier tracks, but they do it all the fucking time. It's as if Dir en grey is afraid of being both melodic and aggressive so they choose one or the other and stick firmly in that camp. The resulting "black or white" contrast gets old very quickly. As a matter of fact, their whole approach loses it's appeal because you know what's coming before the song is over: if the song is aggressive it won't deviate. Blastbeats and death growls ahoy. If the song is initially melodic, it's not going to deviate.
And then you know what they do? They throw THE FINAL and MACABRE in there just to fuck with my point. THE FINAL is the very definition of what I mean when I describe something as melodic but aggressive. They get this one right but they fuck up Unknown...despair...a lost and Karma? What gives?
Imaginary pressure, that's what. The inconsistency of their approach slays me. Had they done with the other remakes what they've done with the last two tracks, this would be a damn near flawless release. But they didn't, so I can't say that.
So honestly, feel free to like this release however much you want. That's the beauty of personal opinion and I'm not here to crush that. But if you want to know "exactly" what I meant, it's outlined above. I don't just say things because I like blind worship, or because I love to hate everything, or because I like being unpredictable just to be unpredictable. That's what I get from this release.
So the next time you say someone doesn't "understand" melody, remember there's more than one way to approach music.

Or perhaps where you're looking for melody is different from where I'm looking for melody. There is such a thing as having differing opinions and having different expectations for what we want from a release. But I'm going to delve into why I stated what I did in my review to give a complete perspective of my why my frustration for THE UNRAVELING grows every time I listen to it. It's for the same reason I highlighted in my review:
 
For as much as Dir en grey claims to experiment, they really do not. All of their songs, new and old, follow the same formula more or less because the band still hasn't gotten out of their TMOAB mindset and are still trying to be metal instead of actually just playing metal (which they can!). There's this insistence on never tuning the guitars out of drop-A if they can help it, even when another tuning (even if it's half a step in either direction) sounds better. There's this insistence on always having demanding vocal lines - growls and shrieks are there because Kyo feels expected to provide growls and shrieks any chance he gets, and his vocal range soars because he's expected to span two to three octaves in every single song. Experimentation is about subverting norms and doing what you want, but since I pretty much just described DUM SPIRO SPERO and most of THE UNRAVELING in a single paragraph how much experimentation is there? Some, but not as much as they would have us believe. On YouTube there are people who take popular pop songs and rearrange them into death metal pieces. Sometimes they come out good and sometimes they don't. I bring this up because this is proof to me that not everything can be "metallized" - some songs just sound better with influence from other genres. Removing that removes the essence of what made the original song that song. This is the same problem they've had with OBSCURE and RASETSUKOKU and now with Unknown.Despair.Lost. What made Unknown...despair...a lost originally was the driving melody behind the guitar line they shamelessly ripped from LUNA SEA's G. They dropped the tuning of the riff, but at the same time they also lost all the dynamics, the pacing of the original, the polyphony and the prominence of the original riff. This new patchwork they threw together was just awful.
And the thing is: there is no need to relentlessly pursue rhythm over melody in their heavier tracks, but they do it all the fucking time. It's as if Dir en grey is afraid of being both melodic and aggressive so they choose one or the other and stick firmly in that camp. The resulting "black or white" contrast gets old very quickly. As a matter of fact, their whole approach loses it's appeal because you know what's coming before the song is over: if the song is aggressive it won't deviate. Blastbeats and death growls ahoy. If the song is initially melodic, it's not going to deviate.
And then you know what they do? They throw THE FINAL and MACABRE in there just to fuck with my point. THE FINAL is the very definition of what I mean when I describe something as melodic but aggressive. They get this one right but they fuck up Unknown...despair...a lost and Karma? What gives?
Imaginary pressure, that's what. The inconsistency of their approach slays me. Had they done with the other remakes what they've done with the last two tracks, this would be a damn near flawless release. But they didn't, so I can't say that.
So honestly, feel free to like this release however much you want. That's the beauty of personal opinion and I'm not here to crush that. But if you want to know "exactly" what I meant, it's outlined above. I don't just say things because I like blind worship, or because I love to hate everything, or because I like being unpredictable just to be unpredictable. That's what I get from this release.
So the next time you say someone doesn't "understand" melody, remember there's more than one way to approach music.

Score:  | It's like they forgot how to be melodic


The fandom is very averse to Dir en grey remakes. Either they nail them perfectly like they did with the acoustic rearrangement of undecided, or they butcher it beyond all salvation as they did with OBSCURE. So when Dir en grey announced that they were unleashing a whole mini-album full of remakes and one new song, I immediately grabbed my riot gear for fear of the oncoming shitstorm.

It's really not as bad as I was expecting it to be, with Unraveling kicking off the mini sounding like a DSS leftover. It stays away from the maddenly introspective "I write for me and I'm so progressive so let's place together sections of song that don't work at all to be artistic and experimental" songwriting that made the last album such an insufferable cocktail of inventive but poorly executed ideas to listen to. Karma isn't new at all, but the original sounded like it was recorded on tape a monkey wiped their ass with, so it feels like a new song too. However deep they ventured into their back catalog to pull this out of some dark orifice doesn't change the simple, repetitive structure of the song. Considering what they limited themselves to working with, it's a wonder it even turned out this decent. So is that good or bad? You decide.

The main portion missing for some of the remakes is melody. A good portion of the songs they've chosen to remake are melodic in their original incarnations, yet here Dir en grey seem fit to turn up the crunch on their guitars. This leaves us at a crossroads with some very awkward sounding song segments since the tone doesn't match the intent. One could say that this was accidental, except the remake of MACABRE and the two unplugged tracks keeps all the melodic sensibilities intact (and in some cases add some). Therefore, what are songs like Unknown.Despair.Lost doing with thinly disguised chugs and a needless breakdown over Kyo's much improved English?

Other songs like Karasu and Bottom of the death valley are barely recognizable in their new incarnations. My biggest disappointment was the atmosphere of the latter track - what I loved most about the original track was how the bass created a nice "Western" atmosphere - which has been replaced with more of a "Borderlands-styled deserted planet what am I doing here?" feel. Karasu erred on the forgettable side (but is still better than the original) but Bottom of the death valley stuck out in a good way and is a worthy remake, with the bluesy solo easily being my favorite part of the song. Before I move on, I must point out Kasumi here for them upping the cheese factor. The original was perfect. All the reverb, wah-wah pedal and Kyo-crooning takes away from the somber atmosphere. Sometimes it's good to leave something the way it is and re-record it without having to put it through the Dirufier.
Now on to the good things - I am so pleased by the lack of tacked on, awkwardly sandwiched MIDI synthesizer garbage on this release. Amon was done terribly. LOTUS was done terribly. No song on this release is as bad as those two, or OBSCURE, or whatever AGITATED SCREAMS OF MAGGOTS was supposed to be. The unplugged version of Unraveling strays close to it but it stops short with piano and some flutes, which hints that maybe they realize that over the top style symphonic arrangements do not suit them. Plus points for that.

The new version of MACABRE is amazing. The first ten minutes are an almost straight rendition of the original version found on the album featuring the same name. This is all positive, since they took one look at it and realized that it is perfect the way it is and needs absolutely no tweaking. Then the last six minutes feels like a natural extension to the song, featuring some of the greatest songwriting I've heard from them ever. It trumps the original in every single way. Likewise, the unplugged version of THE FINAL sounds almost theatrical, which is a new for this band. I can detect no semblance of the original melody in the instruments, and if you removed Kyo's lyrics I would not be able to tell at all that this is the same song. However, the reinterpretation of this song is so excellent I simply don't care.
 
A step up from their last full-length, Dir en grey are finally learning that questioning everything doesn't always mean the end result is immediately good. Now if we could do something about their badly placed deathcore influences and persistent THE MARROW OF A BONE-esque "turn up the crunch and get metal" attitude, we could have a winner on our hands.
 
Also Shinya, tune your fucking drums.

Score:  | It's like they forgot how to be melodic


The fandom is very averse to Dir en grey remakes. Either they nail them perfectly like they did with the acoustic rearrangement of undecided, or they butcher it beyond all salvation as they did with OBSCURE. So when Dir en grey announced that they were unleashing a whole mini-album full of remakes and one new song, I immediately grabbed my riot gear for fear of the oncoming shitstorm.

It's really not as bad as I was expecting it to be, with Unraveling kicking off the mini sounding like a DSS leftover. It stays away from the maddenly introspective "I write for me and I'm so progressive so let's place together sections of song that don't work at all to be artistic and experimental" songwriting that made the last album such an insufferable cocktail of inventive but poorly executed ideas to listen to. Karma isn't new at all, but the original sounded like it was recorded on tape a monkey wiped their ass with, so it feels like a new song too. However deep they ventured into their back catalog to pull this out of some dark orifice doesn't change the simple, repetitive structure of the song. Considering what they limited themselves to working with, it's a wonder it even turned out this decent. So is that good or bad? You decide.

The main portion missing for some of the remakes is melody. A good portion of the songs they've chosen to remake are melodic in their original incarnations, yet here Dir en grey seem fit to turn up the crunch on their guitars. This leaves us at a crossroads with some very awkward sounding song segments since the tone doesn't match the intent. One could say that this was accidental, except the remake of MACABRE and the two unplugged tracks keeps all the melodic sensibilities intact (and in some cases add some). Therefore, what are songs like Unknown.Despair.Lost doing with thinly disguised chugs and a needless breakdown over Kyo's much improved English?

Other songs like Karasu and Bottom of the death valley are barely recognizable in their new incarnations. My biggest disappointment was the atmosphere of the latter track - what I loved most about the original track was how the bass created a nice "Western" atmosphere - which has been replaced with more of a "Borderlands-styled deserted planet what am I doing here?" feel. Karasu erred on the forgettable side (but is still better than the original) but Bottom of the death valley stuck out in a good way and is a worthy remake, with the bluesy solo easily being my favorite part of the song. Before I move on, I must point out Kasumi here for them upping the cheese factor. The original was perfect. All the reverb, wah-wah pedal and Kyo-crooning takes away from the somber atmosphere. Sometimes it's good to leave something the way it is and re-record it without having to put it through the Dirufier.
Now on to the good things - I am so pleased by the lack of tacked on, awkwardly sandwiched MIDI synthesizer garbage on this release. Amon was done terribly. LOTUS was done terribly. No song on this release is as bad as those two, or OBSCURE, or whatever AGITATED SCREAMS OF MAGGOTS was supposed to be. The unplugged version of Unraveling strays close to it but it stops short with piano and some flutes, which hints that maybe they realize that over the top style symphonic arrangements do not suit them. Plus points for that.

The new version of MACABRE is amazing. The first ten minutes are an almost straight rendition of the original version found on the album featuring the same name. This is all positive, since they took one look at it and realized that it is perfect the way it is and needs absolutely no tweaking. Then the last six minutes feels like a natural extension to the song, featuring some of the greatest songwriting I've heard from them ever. It trumps the original in every single way. Likewise, the unplugged version of THE FINAL sounds almost theatrical, which is a new for this band. I can detect no semblance of the original melody in the instruments, and if you removed Kyo's lyrics I would not be able to tell at all that this is the same song. However, the reinterpretation of this song is so excellent I simply don't care.
 
A step up from their last full-length, Dir en grey are finally learning that questioning everything doesn't always mean the end result is immediately good. Now if we could do something about their badly placed deathcore influences and persistent THE MARROW OF A BONE-esque "turn up the crunch and get metal" attitude, we could have a winner on our hands.
 
Also Shinya, tune your fucking drums.

Score:  | It's like they forgot how to be melodic


The fandom is very averse to Dir en grey remakes. Either they nail them perfectly like they did with the acoustic rearrangement of undecided, or they butcher it beyond all salvation as they did with OBSCURE. So when Dir en grey announced that they were unleashing a whole mini-album full of remakes and one new song, I immediately grabbed my riot gear for fear of the oncoming shitstorm.

It's really not as bad as I was expecting it to be, with Unraveling kicking off the mini sounding like a DSS leftover. It stays away from the maddenly introspective "I write for me and I'm so progressive so let's place together sections of song that don't work at all to be artistic and experimental" songwriting that made the last album such an insufferable cocktail of inventive but poorly executed ideas to listen to. Karma isn't new at all, but the original sounded like it was recorded on tape a monkey wiped their ass with, so it feels like a new song too. However deep they ventured into their back catalog to pull this out of some dark orifice doesn't change the simple, repetitive structure of the song. Considering what they limited themselves to working with, it's a wonder it even turned out this decent. So is that good or bad? You decide.

The main portion missing for some of the remakes is melody. A good portion of the songs they've chosen to remake are melodic in their original incarnations, yet here Dir en grey seem fit to turn up the crunch on their guitars. This leaves us at a crossroads with some very awkward sounding song segments since the tone doesn't match the intent. One could say that this was accidental, except the remake of MACABRE and the two unplugged tracks keeps all the melodic sensibilities intact (and in some cases add some). Therefore, what are songs like Unknown.Despair.Lost doing with thinly disguised chugs and a needless breakdown over Kyo's much improved English?

Other songs like Karasu and Bottom of the death valley are barely recognizable in their new incarnations. My biggest disappointment was the atmosphere of the latter track - what I loved most about the original track was how the bass created a nice "Western" atmosphere - which has been replaced with more of a "Borderlands-styled deserted planet what am I doing here?" feel. Karasu erred on the forgettable side (but is still better than the original) but Bottom of the death valley stuck out in a good way and is a worthy remake, with the bluesy solo easily being my favorite part of the song. Before I move on, I must point out Kasumi here for them upping the cheese factor. The original was perfect. All the reverb, wah-wah pedal and Kyo-crooning takes away from the somber atmosphere. Sometimes it's good to leave something the way it is and re-record it without having to put it through the Dirufier.
Now on to the good things - I am so pleased by the lack of tacked on, awkwardly sandwiched MIDI synthesizer garbage on this release. Amon was done terribly. LOTUS was done terribly. No song on this release is as bad as those two, or OBSCURE, or whatever AGITATED SCREAMS OF MAGGOTS was supposed to be. The unplugged version of Unraveling strays close to it but it stops short with piano and some flutes, which hints that maybe they realize that over the top style symphonic arrangements do not suit them. Plus points for that.

The new version of MACABRE is amazing. The first ten minutes are an almost straight rendition of the original version found on the album featuring the same name. This is all positive, since they took one look at it and realized that it is perfect the way it is and needs absolutely no tweaking. Then the last six minutes feels like a natural extension to the song, featuring some of the greatest songwriting I've heard from them ever. It trumps the original in every single way. Likewise, the unplugged version of THE FINAL sounds almost theatrical, which is a new for this band. I can detect no semblance of the original melody in the instruments, and if you removed Kyo's lyrics I would not be able to tell at all that this is the same song. However, the reinterpretation of this song is so excellent I simply don't care.
 
A step up from their last full-length, Dir en grey are finally learning that questioning everything doesn't always mean the end result is immediately good. Now if we could do something about their badly placed deathcore influences and persistent THE MARROW OF A BONE-esque "turn up the crunch and get metal" attitude, we could have a winner on our hands.
 
Also Shinya, tune your fucking drums.

Score:  | It's like they forgot how to be melodic


The fandom is very averse to Dir en grey remakes. Either they nail them perfectly like they did with the acoustic rearrangement of undecided, or they butcher it beyond all salvation as they did with OBSCURE. So when Dir en grey announced that they were unleashing a whole mini-album full of remakes and one new song, I immediately grabbed my riot gear for fear of the oncoming shitstorm.

It's really not as bad as I was expecting it to be, with Unraveling kicking off the mini sounding like a DSS leftover. It stays away from the maddenly introspective "I write for me and I'm so progressive so let's place together sections of song that don't work at all to be artistic and experimental" songwriting that made the last album such an insufferable cocktail of inventive but poorly executed ideas to listen to. Karma isn't new at all, but the original sounded like it was recorded on tape a monkey wiped their ass with, so it feels like a new song too. However deep they ventured into their back catalog to pull this out of some dark orifice doesn't change the simple, repetitive structure of the song. Considering what they limited themselves to working with, it's a wonder it even turned out this decent. So is that good or bad? You decide.

The main portion missing for some of the remakes is melody. A good portion of the songs they've chosen to remake are melodic in their original incarnations, yet here Dir en grey seem fit to turn up the crunch on their guitars. This leaves us at a crossroads with some very awkward sounding song segments since the tone doesn't match the intent. One could say that this was accidental, except the remake of MACABRE and the two unplugged tracks keeps all the melodic sensibilities intact (and in some cases add some). Therefore, what are songs like Unknown.Despair.Lost doing with thinly disguised chugs and a needless breakdown over Kyo's much improved English?

Other songs like Karasu and Bottom of the death valley are barely recognizable in their new incarnations. My biggest disappointment was the atmosphere of the latter track - what I loved most about the original track was how the bass created a nice "Western" atmosphere - which has been replaced with more of a "Borderlands-styled deserted planet what am I doing here?" feel. Karasu erred on the forgettable side (but is still better than the original) but Bottom of the death valley stuck out in a good way and is a worthy remake, with the bluesy solo easily being my favorite part of the song. Before I move on, I must point out Kasumi here for them upping the cheese factor. The original was perfect. All the reverb, wah-wah pedal and Kyo-crooning takes away from the somber atmosphere. Sometimes it's good to leave something the way it is and re-record it without having to put it through the Dirufier.
Now on to the good things - I am so pleased by the lack of tacked on, awkwardly sandwiched MIDI synthesizer garbage on this release. Amon was done terribly. LOTUS was done terribly. No song on this release is as bad as those two, or OBSCURE, or whatever AGITATED SCREAMS OF MAGGOTS was supposed to be. The unplugged version of Unraveling strays close to it but it stops short with piano and some flutes, which hints that maybe they realize that over the top style symphonic arrangements do not suit them. Plus points for that.

The new version of MACABRE is amazing. The first ten minutes are an almost straight rendition of the original version found on the album featuring the same name. This is all positive, since they took one look at it and realized that it is perfect the way it is and needs absolutely no tweaking. Then the last six minutes feels like a natural extension to the song, featuring some of the greatest songwriting I've heard from them ever. It trumps the original in every single way. Likewise, the unplugged version of THE FINAL sounds almost theatrical, which is a new for this band. I can detect no semblance of the original melody in the instruments, and if you removed Kyo's lyrics I would not be able to tell at all that this is the same song. However, the reinterpretation of this song is so excellent I simply don't care.
 
A step up from their last full-length, Dir en grey are finally learning that questioning everything doesn't always mean the end result is immediately good. Now if we could do something about their badly placed deathcore influences and persistent THE MARROW OF A BONE-esque "turn up the crunch and get metal" attitude, we could have a winner on our hands.
 
Also Shinya, tune your fucking drums.

Score:  | It's like they forgot how to be melodic


The fandom is very averse to Dir en grey remakes. Either they nail them perfectly like they did with the acoustic rearrangement of undecided, or they butcher it beyond all salvation as they did with OBSCURE. So when Dir en grey announced that they were unleashing a whole mini-album full of remakes and one new song, I immediately grabbed my riot gear for fear of the oncoming shitstorm.

It's really not as bad as I was expecting it to be, with Unraveling kicking off the mini sounding like a DSS leftover. It stays away from the maddenly introspective "I write for me and I'm so progressive so let's place together sections of song that don't work at all to be artistic and experimental" songwriting that made the last album such an insufferable cocktail of inventive but poorly executed ideas to listen to. Karma isn't new at all, but the original sounded like it was recorded on tape a monkey wiped their ass with, so it feels like a new song too. However deep they ventured into their back catalog to pull this out of some dark orifice doesn't change the simple, repetitive structure of the song. Considering what they limited themselves to working with, it's a wonder it even turned out this decent. So is that good or bad? You decide.

The main portion missing for some of the remakes is melody. A good portion of the songs they've chosen to remake are melodic in their original incarnations, yet here Dir en grey seem fit to turn up the crunch on their guitars. This leaves us at a crossroads with some very awkward sounding song segments since the tone doesn't match the intent. One could say that this was accidental, except the remake of MACABRE and the two unplugged tracks keeps all the melodic sensibilities intact (and in some cases add some). Therefore, what are songs like Unknown.Despair.Lost doing with thinly disguised chugs and a needless breakdown over Kyo's much improved English?

Other songs like Karasu and Bottom of the death valley are barely recognizable in their new incarnations. My biggest disappointment was the atmosphere of the latter track - what I loved most about the original track was how the bass created a nice "Western" atmosphere - which has been replaced with more of a "Borderlands-styled deserted planet what am I doing here?" feel. Karasu erred on the forgettable side (but is still better than the original) but Bottom of the death valley stuck out in a good way and is a worthy remake, with the bluesy solo easily being my favorite part of the song. Before I move on, I must point out Kasumi here for them upping the cheese factor. The original was perfect. All the reverb, wah-wah pedal and Kyo-crooning takes away from the somber atmosphere. Sometimes it's good to leave something the way it is and re-record it without having to put it through the Dirufier.
Now on to the good things - I am so pleased by the lack of tacked on, awkwardly sandwiched MIDI synthesizer garbage on this release. Amon was done terribly. LOTUS was done terribly. No song on this release is as bad as those two, or OBSCURE, or whatever AGITATED SCREAMS OF MAGGOTS was supposed to be. The unplugged version of Unraveling strays close to it but it stops short with piano and some flutes, which hints that maybe they realize that over the top style symphonic arrangements do not suit them. Plus points for that.

The new version of MACABRE is amazing. The first ten minutes are an almost straight rendition of the original version found on the album featuring the same name. This is all positive, since they took one look at it and realized that it is perfect the way it is and needs absolutely no tweaking. Then the last six minutes feels like a natural extension to the song, featuring some of the greatest songwriting I've heard from them ever. It trumps the original in every single way. Likewise, the unplugged version of THE FINAL sounds almost theatrical, which is a new for this band. I can detect no semblance of the original melody in the instruments, and if you removed Kyo's lyrics I would not be able to tell at all that this is the same song. However, the reinterpretation of this song is so excellent I simply don't care.
 
A step up from their last full-length, Dir en grey are finally learning that questioning everything doesn't always mean the end result is immediately good. Now if we could do something about their badly placed deathcore influences and persistent THE MARROW OF A BONE-esque "turn up the crunch and get metal" attitude, we could have a winner on our hands.
 
Also Shinya, tune your fucking drums.

Score: | The only thing stopping them now is production.

 
A is somewhat of a rarity for me in the visual kei scene in that I enjoy everything they've ever done. After the release of ELEMENTA ALCHEMICA, I am convinced that this band can do no wrong. This double A-side doesn't change that any.

This is a more mature release that takes a few spins to really open up, so if you're a fan of A's rock anthem tunes you're going to have a hard time sinking your teeth into this. A have supplanted the background shouts, wailing guitar solos and speedy drums with a slower, more introspective atmosphere drenched in melancholy and hope, primarily constructed from vocals, piano and violin. 白い悪魔～Phantom of the Snow～ could have used some more musical progression to push it onto the same level as it's big brother track 雪月花 -The end of silence-, but with what it has it works excellently.
SAKURA is a good complement to the new track. On WHITE ALBUM, it was a track with a subdued atmosphere that got lost in the mix with the rest of the mini. The re-recording adds a new flair and gives some pop to the instruments that it really did need. The similar pace between both tracks also provides a nice cohesion so that one track flows into the next. This is best reflected in how one track can come after the other and neither suffers for it.
 
There are only two downfalls to this single. The first would be the orchestral version of  白い悪魔～Phantom of the Snow～ and the piano arrangement of SAKURA. Nimo was a prominent staple of both songs. Without his presence, the songs are pretty but have little to offer on subsequent listens. In particular,  白い悪魔～Phantom of the Snow～'s orchestral arrangement could have competed with the original if lyrics were present. What missed opportunities.

The second would be the only average production. Both ballads could have had a larger impact if they had that sparkle amazing production can add to a song, but their budget must not allow for such an advanced studio. Yet. I am only bummed over what I know could have been here and hope to see more of that emerge if they decide to place  白い悪魔～Phantom of the Snow～ on a future release.

With such mature songwriting and playing ability, these guys tower head and shoulders above most of the bands in the scene which birthed them. If you aren't on the A Train yet, get on board. These guys are going to get big.

Once again, take all this wonderful Dir en grey conversation to the topic here.

I keep track of all of mine here.