I wasn't really expecting an explosion of such prog elements that Dir en grey attempted to use back in 2011 with DUM SPIRO SPERO. What's amazing is the musicianship portrayed by MIKA, TAKUMI, YUCHI, and UTA. Alone, they steal the show, and destroy Kaoru/Die's progression throughout Dir en grey's *entire* career. Upon further inspection, there's more believable melodic bridging between heavier and lighter transitions in songs like "Madara Ningen" which uses exceptional use of flamenco style guitar playing, in a sort of "asian-mariachi"-esque, while maintaining the insanity from the beginning of the track (serious shredding from Takumi/Uta, holy fuck.) Use of atmosphere is important as well, as "hemimetabolism" perfectly describes what the track is -- an incomplete, but decidedly whole composition free of pre-disposed concepts. Strong tracks like "hidden one", "aftermath", and "nine melted fiction" really display the band's technicality, and proficiency at a level which the boys in Dir could never touch. Yuchi's already displaying himself as a master of the rhythmic back-end, displayed in "the daemon's cutlery" (which is by the by, the best not-dir en grey-but-dir en grey song, if not the only one.). Vocally though? Lots of Kyo's newfound love for what other fans online are calling "Kyopera". Not that it's a bad thing though, as it compliments most songs nicely. The only gripe I have with this wonderful piece of work is the fact that it suffers from being incredibly disjointed at points. I understand there's a really progressive japanese metal feel to it; however it marrs otherwise wonderful tracks like "scars like velvet", and "zephyr".
Tl;dr : Kyo's new band blows Dir en grey's members out of the water with their technical/musical proficiency. Has ANYONE HEARD SHINYA PLAY DRUMS RECENTLY!? IT'S LIKE A TODDLER BANGING ON STUFF WITH NO AIM. This band will ease you into life without Dir en grey. It's a pretty solid first effort.
EzraEroguro got a reaction from Pretsy in sukekiyo - IMMORTALIS