LIDL

Some of y'all here seems to be bipolar af
 

you always have an option of deleting your account and enjoying the band solitarily, like a serious heterosexual male should.

I'm amazed at how widespread those wrong names like Tooru Niimura or Nishimura are, tbh.
I wasn't into DEG at the vkei-craze (06~08), but whenever I read posts from that time online...
Western bangya are scary, man. I think I probably dislike (or outright hate) 99% of the DEG fanbase.
I just read a certain person's tumblr and there are so many things about Kyo's feelings and whatever, some people claiming to be his fiancee and other weird shit.
 
Those names are/were thought to be real on tanuki some years ago. I've yet to hear any update.
This is the source for "Nishimura Tooru", btw:

Dunno if it's from a KERA magazine, though. Also, the name lacks furigana, so there's multiple possible ways to read it. Funnily, "Niimura" is not one of the readings, no idea where that name comes from.
 
The only actually confirmed names are "Kaoru" and "Shinya", as in, only the first names.
I've also read that Kyo sometime confirmed that his last name is "Nishimura", but well, no real source for that.

Does anyone know the source of this photo? It's from a magazine, but I have no clue which one ._.

安東    大
西村    宏則
新倉    薫
原    敏政
寺地    晋也
 
…だね

These have never been confirmed to be their real names, but yes, this is what people (for some reason?) think are their actual names.
 
Readings for people who can't read the post above:
Andou Masaru (Die)
Nishimura Hironori (Kyo)*
Niikura Kaoru (Kaoru)
Hara Toshimasa (Toshiya)
Terachi Shinya (Shinya)
 
*A lot of western fans thinks Kyo's real name is Tooru, but this has been proved wrong before. Iirc it was Kyo trolling in an interview (a Japanese source states it was in the magazine KERA) and said that his name is Tooru. The fan translation never mentioned it being a joke and then people ended up believing it was real. Or something along those lines. 
 

thanks for the summon! the word kikei itself is considered a slur by some people because it's thought to be connected with discrimination against atomic bomb victims, the disabled, even now those affected by Fukushima, etc., so @Zeuswas on the right track. especially in light of Fukushima i could see publisher pushback against the word being stronger than ever. i remember horror manga artist Junji Ito writing that his editor told him to be careful if drawing anything related to deformity or mental illness because of discrimination reasons. but yeah, continuing on, while you might see a disabled person on television once in a blue moon, the deformity taboo is so intense that people with deformities themselves are basically taboo or persona non-grata, something you'll see with other groups that cause discomfort or might be considered burdensome in Japan  -- like burakumin , how you only find most homeless if you know where to look for them, etc. perfect material for something trying to be transgressive.

YES 👏 FUCKING 👏 PLEASE!! Even if they were just released individually, I'd pay for a re-release of VULGAR and Withering. Those VESTIGE remasters were great!

| Old scars never fade, old habits die hard
 
Throw those DECADE-compilations out and replace them with this.
 
Let me be clear about one thing: those compilations were trash. The covers were ugly as sin and the track selection, despite sharing many similarities to Vestige of Scratches, gave the impression that the band spent a week figuring out the details because they forgot about their anniversary. They literally scraped the bottom of the barrel to come up with enough content - the fact that "audrey", a butchered version of "Deity", "Repetition of Hatred", and "Jealous -Reverse-" are on it is telling enough - and most of them felt like copy-paste jobs trying to hide the lack of effort. Most of all, it didn't highlight DIR EN GREY at their best and did the band disservice as a 'best-of'. It seems like the band agrees with me, because Vestige of Scratches is everything those DECADE albums wish they could be.
 
Before the hype train leaves the station, this compilation is far from perfect. Like much of DIR EN GREY's career, Vestige of Scratches is defined by its peculiar choices. Some are baffling, while others are smart. They come together in a frustrating combination that is uniquely DIR EN GREY. Let's start with the tracks that were chosen; we have at our disposal the single version of "脈" (Myaku); "罪と規制" (Tsumi to Kisei), the censored version of the remake of "蜜と唾" (Tsumi to Batsu); the version of "腐海" (Fukai) they've been playing live for some time (interesting); a new version of "THE IIID EMPIRE"; the reinterpretations of "羅刹国" (Rasetsukoku) [ew], "OBSCURE" [no], "かすみ" (Kasumi) [sure], "THE FINAL" [ok], "残" (Zan) [eh], and "霧と繭" (Kiri to Mayu) [ugh...]; the single version of "CLEVER SLEAZOID" [good!]; the choice to end the album on a reworked version of "Beautiful Dirt" out of all 200+ songs in their discography [wtf why]; the exclusion of "GARDEN" [what a tragedy]; and then minor adjustments to most other post-VULGAR tracks featured which work for the most part. We can already see this isn't the standard cash-grab version of a best album and that a proper sitting would be very rewarding, so I can only suggest you do that and start from "-I'll-".
 
Controversial opinion coming in hot here, but the production job is fantastic across all three discs. Some may disagree, but I find that I need time to adjust to a new production job before I can assess if I like the changes. There have been many albums I panned for 'inferior production values' that I eventually came to prefer. Sloppy production has always been one of DIR EN GREY's weaknesses, especially for the visual-era stuff which hasn't held up over time, so some of the older tracks have a second lease on life. GAUZE has never sounded so clean, there's a 12-string in "脈" that I've never heard, and some of the tracks from DUM SPIRO SPERO are actually listenable now that the bass isn't obnoxious. I'd pay good money to have all their albums past and future worked like this.

The way the album is structured is frustrating to describe. What at first seems like a chronological trek through their eras turns into anything but by the third disc. The first disc is an ode to their entire visual history, featuring songs from pre-GAUZE to 鬼葬 (Kisou), plus a bonus in "腐海 2018". New "腐海" sounds good, and I like it's inclusion as a way to preserve it. I'd spin it a few times, but it won't replace the original version for me. Every other song on this disc was just remastered. I'm surprised at the inclusion of "太陽の蒼" (Taiyou no Ao), since I thought Kyo hated that song, but like a few other inclusions it's here because its a single. The second disc dips back into 鬼葬 with "JESSICA", nods at six Ugly with "umbrella," and then focuses mostly on VULGAR through UROBOROS. Nothing from the disastrous UROBOROS [Remastered & Expanded] makes an appearance, which is a blessing. Personally speaking, I would have dropped "CHILD PREY" for "AMBER," "朔-saku-" for "Machiavellism," and thrown in the reinterpretation of "undecided". Disc 2 ends with a new version of "THE IIID EMPIRE" which is pretty lit and one of their more successful retakes.

Disc 3 is where most of the meat lies and unfortunately most of it is displeasing to my ears. It's packed with most of their earlier reinterpretations, many hit or miss, most of which I'd have left on the table if it were solely my choice. This is where my lack of frustration with the exclusion of "undecided" comes from, as I would have rotated out "羅刹国" (Rasetsukoku), "OBSCURE", or "霧と繭" (Kiri to Mayu) for it, the PV version of "OBSCURE", and the version of "Bottom of the death valley" from THE UNRAVELING. I would have also killed for a reinterpretation of "秒｢｣深" (Byou ｢｣ Shin) from six Ugly, or a proper version of "Hydra -666-" with more gutturals and less screaming. After comes the salvageable parts of DUM SPIRO SPERO, including a version of "激しさと、この胸の中で絡み付いた灼熱の闇" (Hageshisa to, Kono Mune no Naka de Karamitsuita Shakunetsu no Yami) superior to the album version, but not quite what the original single sounded like, a condensed serving of ARCHE, "詩踏み" (Utafumi), and then ends on a very random note with "Beautiful Dirt". Not quite sure why they set it up this way.

Maybe the unfinished feeling to Vestige of Scratches is intentional, but either way DIR EN GREY have collated a collection album worth the shelf space for any serious fan. It may not be perfect, but it's a hell of a lot better than I expected it to be. At the very least, I can argue that it's a better alternative than importing GAUZE if you don't already own it. If DIR EN GREY attack 2018 the way MUCC took 2017, we may have an interesting year ahead of us.
 
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Garden is a classic bop tho. Praying they will never ruin it by updating the sound like they did to Kiri To Mayu 

I kinda feel this is it for them tbh. He might not seem as important as a vocalist but you know, some Japanese bands are really into this "bros who ride together die together" stuffs. That they won't use the band name when one of them departing and regrouped with different name instead or disband altogether.
 
I will see how this thing progress. This is a sad day tbh.
 

You need to contact them honestly since this is not normal.

I mean, really, a majority of this thing is the result of fans voting. There isn’t much to angry at the band about. Besides, let’s not act like we all haven’t made our own best of albums already. 

THEY MUST DO DAHLIA, I believe it's an approachable enough song for the western audience? They must really play their cards right if they want this to work for them.

More crappy music from them finally

Awesome, now I am much more motivated to get this Vestige album after knowing their intention doing this in the first place. 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

from https://yridenergyridenergy.tumblr.com/post/169250059834/phy-vol-11-dir-en-grey-interviews
 
Edit: Okay maybe new Fukai isn't that good. There are lots of weird random noises all over the song, I think? And it could've used some more power. Hmmmm... I wonder how the other songs sound...

I’m going to try and cliff note this and if anyone else wants to chime in feel free.
 
I think it was in April (???) that Mejibray’s Youtube channel’s name was changed to Forum Official. Another band was added that no one gave a shit about it. People assumed or hoped that was the reason why.
 
Then in May, after the first show on the Hangman tour which was completely normal, they posted that announcement on the homepage and all about the hiatus. After that, there were no more encores. Moreover, there were no more MCs. Tsuzuku didn’t talk to audiences at all (bar shouting the name of the city and maybe “Mejibray”).  A lot of fans are of the mind that he was essentially gagged by the label and prohibited from speaking. No way to know this for sure, but it felt like it. Also worth noting is the instores switched from talks to 2shots before any of this. Also no way to know for sure this is related. 
 
Most of their one-mans ended with BI”name”JIKA. Sometimes Decadance.
 
Mobile member content was really sporadic from there. Even the staff blog hasn’t had images added since the beginning of the last tour.
 
Fast forward to the tour final at Shinkiba Studio Coast. Tsuzuku and Koichi emerged painted black. They’d each done this once previously this year. The live was 14 songs instead of 15. This may or may not have been deliberate as Tsuzuku had collapsed and stayed down at the last song, seemingly overwhelmed. Koichi went to him and checked on him before stepping in front of him and seemingly flipping off the staff at the back and then holding up three fingers to the audience. The curtain finally closed.
 
Koichi’s birthday was a lot more fun. During the breaks between songs at one point, rather than facing the drums, Tsuzuku faced outwards, staring at the audience. He still didn’t speak; it was Koichi that spoke at the end, remarking on the challenges of the year and said we’d meet again next year. Everyone was crying, but the general air was optimistic after the live.
 
Then when the end of December hit, an announcement was posted on Mejibray’s OHP declaring that Tsuzuku’s and Koichi’s contracts had expired and to wish them the best in the future. Koichi’s Twitter and Instagram have been wiped clean. Meto’s birthday live where he will be providing vocals under a different name was announced. Mia is busy as fuck all spring with various projects and sessions.
 
So it’s basically been a massive clusterfuck. _(:3」z)_

Coachell did official live stream the past two years. They will likely to do it again this year.
 
 
I hope they will do Rusty Nail and Dahlia

Beyoncé takes pity on local talent but would never. 

I got at least three favourite look.
 
One is from awhile ago, I am not sure from which era that was. Probably some magazine photoshoot. But Ruki was having this visual as if half of his face are having scars from burns. It was quite nasty but kinda cool.
 
then, the one with ruki wearing this red top hat. Iconic
 
Another one is the Dogma look actually.

Wow, that is cool. 
 
Also funny how their name are that small but I understand why. If this was in Japan, their name would be side by side to Bey.

Wow, that is cool. 
 
Also funny how their name are that small but I understand why. If this was in Japan, their name would be side by side to Bey.