Karma’s Hat

First thoughts:

best nu track is 2. That fucking Aie riff with the prog elements are the shit. The vocalist really goes all out on this one, and the best stuff he does is usually fairly subtle, like how he alters the tone of the whisper and the incomprehensible screaming from song to song. 

the worst are 7 and 10. The first is almost a nokubura song ( probably intended for lives ) and the 10 just a snoozer 'cause it lacked the cool progressive elements they did before, so it doesn't really surprise at any point, just lulls ahead. 

4 and 8 are so over the top they're good, especially the latter. it shows that they're still not that far gone from their early output, even if it now contains more superior songwriting elements and straight up experimentation with computer efx and all that other shit. 

the tracks that were released before are still awesome, and almost kind of surprisingly I think they're at their strongest with tracks like Vanitas and GROTESQUE where it's not _all that_ stupid heavy without getting rid of the elements and techniques. That long scream in Vanitas is still incredible 

What I think pretty much everyone wanted without getting was that long song, but I think the pre-released tracks and GROTESQUE and the last track are kind of already that, except shorter. None of them is formulaic by any means and have a lot of cool stuff in them that a band like say, DIR EN GREY would never have in a track they'd put out as a single. You know it's probably a matter of time before they churn out that 10 minute epic, it's just a matter of them disbanding before that 'cause one of the members impregnated a member of the royal family or something. 

Seeing as these days his career has gone to performing at the BANANA HALL with The Flying Pants, this release makes more sense

This sounds like a bad april fools prank someone here would make

Only now I realised they didn't include the sort of heavy title track from the previous single ( which I also hated. ) Shows they're def gunning for them charts with this one.

In another context I wouldn't mind tracks like 4, I mean DEZERT was always kind of diverse as long it sounded a little weird. Here it is surrounded by the sort of sarariman oricon rock shit, a bmth rip off and just really tired and flaccid punk rock vibes. 

it wasn't enough to release bad music, they felt the need to go back and destroy their back catalogue as well. Both songs sound like shit 

what happened to their budget? I think even their recording quality has taken a slump!

I still want to believe that the last two tracks were shit left on the cutting room floor while picking the tracks for the last singles campaign that they decided to include to sweeten the deal on the cash grab album. It also could be that they're just done, but who knows. 

Their looks have been getting worse and worse tho 

Goodnight sweet prince 

I was like "fuck dali is still around?" 

I like the cover if it wasn't for the way the logo is arranged. Reminds me of what I thought this band would have been, but alas the last two tracks stink and their last two looks also. 

7 minutes ago, Yukimoto said:

@Disposable Yeah they always been good but they are one of the bands that always has some kind of live-limited release, I mean I don't think they've ever had a live without one haha. I wish I could collect them all but yeah I can't. This one is also live-limited and like always it sounds so good but I wonder if Anomaly will be as good as this one .-.

They've sometimes done softer that's which I didn't like, but when they go for that menhera darker oshare it's gold 

3 hours ago, geist said:

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.

It's hard to say whether this is almost a favour in part of the band to the european fanbase, or the management finally getting a good deal from an european tour organising body. I don't think them, or anyone else for that matter, gives a shit about the western market anymore since it's obviously not going anywhere. Even The GazettE who gets on those Itunes top rankings ( right next to early 90's metallica and queen ) only does bare bones as far as marketing in the west, by which I mean having a relatively active facebook and forcing the members to have instagram. 

I don't whether the tour is selling well or not, but it is odd that they haven't done this shit before and for kyo it's very uncharacteristic. Definitely comes from the management and isn't coming from the band itself 

Just now, Yukimoto said:

@Disposable I think they are an amazing band but they have so many live-limited and release so much that I can't keep up haha. I love their music but I wish I didn't have to miss out on all the live-limited because a lot of those are their best stuff too.

They're so acclimated to the Japanese way of doing vk biz that it's all about live attendance and milking fans with meet & greets and so on. It's shame, because think even early on they were way better than all the other bands styled after that early Royz-sound. 

1 minute ago, Cristate said:

I'll tell my grand-kids I've witnessed the birth of of the two most solid 201x VK bands : Kizu and DIMLIM.

How can they get so much better at each release ? Album please.

was thinking the same thing. 

These two and the adoratio incarnation of sukekiyo are as far as I'm concerned a few tiers above everyone else

Good good like the preview let on. This band is criminally neglected in the west 

I mean this trend is consistent that even the top names don't draw like they used to. In Helsinki The Gazette in 2013 sold out in a day, but 2016 they still had tickets at the door I believe, and it was the same venue. The addition of shows in Russia didn't help though. 

Dir en grey is doing the same venue as The Gazette and since there's tickets still left I reckon it's not going to sell out. 2011 sold out quick, but this time the venue is bigger. I wonder if they upscaled everywhere else too 

Oh yeah I forgot to mention that the Facebook attendance for this show is pretty bad with around 350 people attending. This would barely be a third of the venue they performed at the last time. 

 When shit like Nokubura and Jiluka makes you think that all metalcore vk can ever aspire to be is shoe-in melodic choruses and rapping verses, there comes out stuff like DIMLIM's last three songs that are a mix of artkei™ guitar shit, Dir en grey influence ( the good parts ) and their completely overblown early style and the technical finesse with it. I love it. Album of the year coming up 

Five more hours I'm hype 

war raido 

you can tell the tickets aren't selling when they even had to force kyo to do one of those 

Theoretically I should like this, just don't. It'd actually be better without the terrible metalcore riffs, 'cause I like the chorus and the stuff the vocalist does is fine and the image is good. Can't wait for Mathilda to save us from this 

On 7/23/2018 at 11:55 PM, chocobuzz said:

I wish I had a bigger fridge so I could just go sit there until the summer is over. I can't stand this heat. It's constantly over 30°C in my apartment, I can't sleep, I have no energy to do anything, I don't feel like eating anything and all my brain cells seem to have melted. I'm not enjoying this.

I live one bedroom flat with no curtains or nothing and when the morning sun gets in it's excruciating. Also if I want to keep the window open at night the mosquitos get in even though it's the shit fucking center of Helsinki. There's only one more week left... 

A ton of Dir en grey imagery in that PV, and even in the music you can hear the influence and still they're 100% doing their own thing. 

The samples sound great. Lime is brilliant, especially when he varies it up and does less of that shouty thing he does ( u know which ) 

 That thrashy dad riff is killing me it's so fucking bad

Is withdrawing like departing, or does that mean he’ll stay as a member but they’ll have a session drummer from now until the hiatus?

Tastes like pellets made out of food that’s been digested and stripped of nutrients, in this case of character and spirit. 

To repeat something that somehow constantly begs repeating: it doesn’t suck because it’s ”not heavy,” but because it’s a lame band stripping themselves of a sound by committing self-lobotomy, leaving behind only the dried, flesh-stripped bones where even the vultures won’t find nothing.