relentless

The tuning for Hageshisa to was done with a six string...and it was drop C# with the 6th string tuned all the way down to A# -- so it was a weird variation of drop A# I agree with you Jigsaw! Marrow of a Bone is great, and I can only imagine how much greater it would have been if Jens had mixed it. The band sent Jens a track to mix before they commited to using him as the engineer for Hageshisa, and the song they had him re-mix was VINUSHKA! Now just picture Vinushka sounding like hageshisa to....omggggggggg xD!

The band producses their music (and for a while they had people they closely knew in the japanese music industry to master / mix their music), but lately they've been having other people to master / mix their music that are more world reknowned for their skills. Jens mastered Hageshisa to, Tue Madsen is mastering / mixing DIFFERENT SENSE, and then that random killswitch engage guy mastered / mixed Lotus. Oh and some other random guy mastered / mixed Warushawa no Gensou I feel like the band finally realized that there are better engineers out there, so they've been employing all these different producers to mix their singles to see who does the best job.

The band has also finished recording their new album. What's left is for it to be mixed -- something they could let someone else do (i.e. Jens Bogren) while they tour and take time off. Think about it: If they were still working on the album, they would not be touring. This touring is a break in the work while they wait for it to be mixed and mastered. That's just my guess.

^ yes. and according to some people that went....the new song: "has heavy growly parts than a beautiful acoustic section. then there is a twin guitar solo and some slapping by kaoru" -very rough paraphrase- so in other words, the song sounds like itll be like LOTUS but heavier. at least thats what i got from it lol

Technically the original way the band had written their name was "Dir en grey", but since that doesn't really GRAB you as much as DIR EN GREY does, they decided to use that for promotions (t shirts, album covers, posters, etc.) to be more of a presence. But as far as I know the "correct" way to write the band name is "Dir en grey" due to being the first inception. But...that's if you want to be a stickler / fanboy / fangirl. It really does not fucking matter lol

Bands usually come out and say something like this when it comes close to announcing a release. Every band I can imagine has at one point stated that the new album is better than the previous, it's what gets people interested. With that said...Hageshisa to was amazing (probably my favorite single by the band) and LOTUS was straight up mediocre, so I don't know what to think right now. I have incredible hopes for the new album because of how far the band has evolved and just how good they've gotten since Missa, but UROBOROS was phenomenal. And they have to live up to the hype. But, I am sure that the new album will sound nothing like UROBOROS. I predict it'll be something completely different by incorporating minor elements of their past. But last time I checked, they said what they were doing has never been done before and there is nothing like it -- so this should be interesting.

I was going through some of my CDs today when I came across the booklet for The Bottom of Chaos by Rentrer En Soi. In the personnel section in the back it lists Kyo from Dir en grey as the "agitator" What does this even mean? Lol. Is that just a fancy term for being Satsukis screaming/dying cat growls coach? Thoughts?

Favorite indie band: OGRE YOU ASSHOLE do they count?

What two bands would you think make the ULTIMATE tour? This can be past or present bands. Disbanded or still active. Doesn't matter! My dream coupling tour: Dir en grey and Rentrer en soi. These two bands were supposed to tour with each other for a while (apparently their schedules didn't line up though), and just thinking about how good the shows would have been excites me! The shows would be opened up by Rentrer en soi who would set the mood with mostly material from The Bottom Of Chaos, to which Dir en grey would come on and end the show with UROBOROS and their recent material. The atmosphere I feel like would be unrivaled, and the sheer energy would be ridiculous! What would you all like to see?

1. Opeth and GazettE comparison? Lol what?! Now I've heard everything...Either amazing troll..or... 2. Claiming some inside knowledge that "GAZETTE IS ON A MONTHLY SALARY" is simply speculative. Littlelamb, you don't know that. And it's funny how you use that as some sort of reason / justification as to why you dislike the band. Cute, but a very poor justification. No one knows the economic holdings of any band, hell judging from my very small knowledge as to how the management operates in Japan, practically every band could suffer from the same instance in Japan. Any band. That's a whole separate matter. But at this point the original purpose for this e-argument is gone. The matter originally was: whether if music that comes naturally to people = good music, or not. Now we're talking about the monetary transactions and salaries of the band and how Blackwater Park sounds like DIM? Lol yeah that's it for me!

That or the people that bash on the GazettE are Dir en grey fans...you know how they are. They think everything that the GazettE does COPIES Dir en grey...lol. If only Dir en grey was that special!

@littlelamb: there is a big difference between "criticism" and complaining you don't like something. And contracts / agreements to release an x amount of singles =/= a band isn't expressing themselves. Most bands are held to contracts / deadlines, but that never brings into question a bands expression. It can't be argued. Simple as that. If a band doesn't ENJOY doing music anymore (a lot of bands that have been around for a while begin to fade away), then that is a completely issue and can bring into question a bands expression. But like I said, that is completely different. Perhaps the GazettE are tired of making music...but they certainly are showing no signs of it.

Did anyone else watch the HBO concert special with Gaga? It was her show at Madison Square Garden, and was very good.

^ agreed I also find it funny how he called someone's appreciation of music narrow or whatever it was, then went off to say how ONLY TALENTED PEOPLE SHOULD MAKE MUSICCCCCC. Hmm...contradiction much? But yeah...Speaking from a purely technical stand point -- the GazettE has talent. To be able to write music, compose it, and bring it all together within a structure that flows, is talent all in itself. What this kid littlelamb is doing, is substituting HIS TASTE IN MUSIC and making it the standard for "talent". That is just...full retard. Whenever someone doesn't like something, they can go off to say "that song is boring. it's dull. it's uninspired. its untalented", but that's just a reflection of their narrow musical taste. Summary: People say "talent" or any other load of BS to justify their subjective music taste. Littlelamb doesn't like a song by the gazette, does that mean the band is untalented? Well apparently to him it does. He just doesn't know what he's talking about...and has clearly expressed that in his posts. Besides...he's one to talk, calling bands untalented and what not. Lol

what i hear: " i want to cream, then wear little girlies make up"

Song sucks, I'm depressed. And music is not about being talented...nor is it about challenging yourself. People within the music world may be talented and may challenge themselves, but those are just the characteristics of those that play music...music is art. Art is expression. Therefore music is all about the expression of the creator. I thought this was obvious...guess not.

if they're gonna TRULY make a best of...it should be a track-less album!

Well the band specifically said summer, so that's what I'm going off of. And Dir en grey has never been known to follow traditional practices. There's really only one or two cases where a band played songs before their release (unless the tour was to build support for the album. i.e. The Rose Trims Again). I remember Dir en grey playing STUCK MAN (then called Third Time Does the Trick) practically a year before UROBOROS, but that's all I've really heard of.

I doubt the announcement will come late summer as much as the release itself. The band has set up a tour around that time, and plan on doing full lengths in the US and Japan as well. It's a promotion tour, and a band would not tour the world to promote a single. We'll get an album in August the latest.

You also have to factor in the money made through overseas sales and merch sales -- which is where bands get most of their money anyways.

Hate to be a stickler..but are Dir en grey even considered "major"? Last time I checked Firewall div. was an "indie" division of Free-Will. I could be wrong though.

In each case that the band has officially re-recorded older songs (Hydra 666, Zan, Undecided, Obscure and not including Shokubeni), each song was made technically better. The guitar work on the old Zan was horrendous, but now it's absolutely admirable. Hydra 666 has stronger composition, and more concrete parts which make it a more memorable track (IMO), and then Undecided is kind of clear how much BETTER it is than the original. Obscure is my least favorite because it's too much like the original, just softer and sped up. Re-recording any song from Vulgar and on is almost pointless -- as shown with OBSCURE and how similar it is. The band has gotten better since they originally recorded these. The vocals, are better. The drum work, is better. The guitars, are better. Everything is an improvement of what they used to be, and updated. Which I feel like may be one of the main reasons why the band continues to re-record tracks -- because there are just soo many in their discog that fall short and need to be reworked into something better. Zan is the first that really came to mind and look what they did with it. It's better, heavier like how they wanted it to be (i assume), and not as ridiculous. It's very mainstream and contains a tremendous amount of appeal. This is of course completely OUTSIDE of my personal preference. Do I ENJOY that growling and the grind-core esque progressions in the new Zan? Not really. I hate extreme metal like that. But Dir en grey makes it work by not making it unbearable. And recognizing this is what prevents me from saying they "butchered" these songs.

Question: How can a band "butcher" their own song?

Though the beats in her songs have become sooo amazing...the vocal performance and overall presentation has remained stagnant for 3 years now. I'm not really a big fan...didn't she say this was going to be a rock album? Whatever happened to that?

>went to Japanese store with a Dir en grey hoodie on >bought Pocky and Ramune >ate and drank with my friend while we drove around listening to the GazettE >mfw I look back on that day as probably the most pathetic of my life