nullmoon

I would assume you are becoming a fan after listening to Vinushka too.
 

actual picture of me listening to these remakes
 

brb, getting in my car

Say what you will about Kyo's voice aging, but I'm happy the dude has stopped using so much falsetto and instead uses his head voice to hit the high register. 

I wonder why people people assume that the CD would sound better than an ALAC or even a lossy AAC rip. Even if you'd be able to make out any differences, they would be so miniscule it wouldn't change your overall perception of the music.
 
Other than that I have to say that I happen to enjoy the production on the album... sure the dynamic range sucks but it's 2018 and this is an aggressive rock/metal record, what did you expect? It's raw, it's gritty but at no point did I get the feeling that I'm listening to a wall of noise. Even in the more chaotic moments during the first half the instruments retained their distinct textures and presence.

Wait, is all this stuff new to you guys? Dir en grey has never had great production. Back in 2008 Kerrang wrote a review of Uroboros and stated that due to the mixing the album lacked "punch".
 
Complaining about loudness reminds me of baby boomers remembering the "good ol' days". This is an album you're supposed to play loud, and under such circumstances it sounds great. Also keep in mind depending on the speakers you're listening to the album with -- yes, even headphones -- you're bound to get a difference experience. At one point last night I listened to a part of the album through one of those bluetooth speakers and the sound quality, of course, was "bad". For some reason the speaker was focusing on Shinya's tom's more than anything. It was really weird; but going back and listening in other formats (nice Sony speakers, studio monitoring headphones, etc.) I think the album sounds "fine".
 
Then again, I generally don't subscribe to this audiophilia stuff because I tend to focus on the compositions more than anything else. and I often listen to really bad quality Aud recordings of bands, so there's that.

Between the release of Arche and The Insulated World.
 
I don't think the CD version is going to be better. Remastered and expanded edition, when?

Okay I’m listening with headphones now and good lord this album sounds awful. I’m going to punch Kaoru in his face. 

anyway, CHE DO A RA vs NINTH vs THE INSULATED WORLD - ultimate 2018 hypebeast album free for all, who winnin here?????

For me it sounds like DSS's aggressive darkness filtered through the style of Arche. 
 
I couldn't pick up much on my first two listens this afternoon, but it has begun to fully click tonight, especially after reading the lyric translations. 

If you truly love Deg, you hate Deg. 

I just love the way Diru threads always dramatically escalade from "fuck these guys" to "OMG I love it."
 
truly the most hated and loved bands ever.

First half is almost unlistenable to me, what were they thinking? Second half is a bit better but there are no real 10/10 songs, I guess the best song is Ranuculus..?
 
I dont think I have been this underwhelmed by a DeG album before.  Compared to Arche it feels like they didnt even try with this one. 

I put my thoughs inside a spoiler box because it's A LOT of stuff. 
 
inb4 this is my "forum-suicide"

Unpopular opinion: I  think I'm the only person here who isn't blown away by the new album. Maybe it'll take more listens but barely any of the tracks are grabbing me at the moment. On first impressions it's like a bland Dum Spiro Spero, and I'm not a huge fan of that album.
 
Ranunculus is the stand out track to me. 赫, Followers, and 谿壑の欲 interested me the most I think. The rest just washed over me. I think it's the first time one of their albums hasn't immediately grabbed me unfortunately. 
 
I cannot stand the new vocals on 詩踏み, they sound like a half-arsed live version in comparison to the original vocals. I find it akin to the album version of 激しさ. Ew. 
 
Anyone else agree? No? I'll just sit down
 
Glad to see so many people having fun in the lead up to, and the release of, the new album though! Happy listening everyone! ^^
 

If the whole album was like the second half, it would be a masterpiece for me.
I do enjoy some moments on the first half, but those songs are too chaotic, especially first two tracks... so yeah kinda mixed bag

Unpopular opinion: I  think I'm the only person here who isn't blown away by the new album. Maybe it'll take more listens but barely any of the tracks are grabbing me at the moment. On first impressions it's like a bland Dum Spiro Spero, and I'm not a huge fan of that album.
 
Ranunculus is the stand out track to me. 赫, Followers, and 谿壑の欲 interested me the most I think. The rest just washed over me. I think it's the first time one of their albums hasn't immediately grabbed me unfortunately. 
 
I cannot stand the new vocals on 詩踏み, they sound like a half-arsed live version in comparison to the original vocals. I find it akin to the album version of 激しさ. Ew. 
 
Anyone else agree? No? I'll just sit down
 
Glad to see so many people having fun in the lead up to, and the release of, the new album though! Happy listening everyone! ^^
 

Unpopular opinion: I  think I'm the only person here who isn't blown away by the new album. Maybe it'll take more listens but barely any of the tracks are grabbing me at the moment. On first impressions it's like a bland Dum Spiro Spero, and I'm not a huge fan of that album.
 
Ranunculus is the stand out track to me. 赫, Followers, and 谿壑の欲 interested me the most I think. The rest just washed over me. I think it's the first time one of their albums hasn't immediately grabbed me unfortunately. 
 
I cannot stand the new vocals on 詩踏み, they sound like a half-arsed live version in comparison to the original vocals. I find it akin to the album version of 激しさ. Ew. 
 
Anyone else agree? No? I'll just sit down
 
Glad to see so many people having fun in the lead up to, and the release of, the new album though! Happy listening everyone! ^^
 

Just finished giving my first listen, and for me, the second half of the album is stronger starting with 赫 (Aka). The songs that were released in previous singles do fit nicely with the rest of the album so the flow isn't disrupted. 
 
I was so excited for Downfall since the preview really piqued my interest, but it came out to be a completely different kind of song than what I was expecting lol So far my favorite tracks are 赫 (Aka), Followers, and 絶縁体 (Zetsuentai). Did anyone catch that bass line at the beginning of 赫 (Aka)? LOVED IT.

I actually agree. I'm not expecting to be blown away, but 詩踏み set my expectations very low, so I think I'm just really excited 'cause nothing I've heard yet sucks. I think I'm more excited to hear the re-recordings though, so I'm still waiting impatiently over here... *tries to remember how long it took ARCHE DISC 2 to leak*

Unpopular opinion: I  think I'm the only person here who isn't blown away by the new album. Maybe it'll take more listens but barely any of the tracks are grabbing me at the moment. On first impressions it's like a bland Dum Spiro Spero, and I'm not a huge fan of that album.
 
Ranunculus is the stand out track to me. 赫, Followers, and 谿壑の欲 interested me the most I think. The rest just washed over me. I think it's the first time one of their albums hasn't immediately grabbed me unfortunately. 
 
I cannot stand the new vocals on 詩踏み, they sound like a half-arsed live version in comparison to the original vocals. I find it akin to the album version of 激しさ. Ew. 
 
Anyone else agree? No? I'll just sit down
 
Glad to see so many people having fun in the lead up to, and the release of, the new album though! Happy listening everyone! ^^
 

are you familiar with d.i.d.? DIMLIM practically borrow 60 % of sound from them, with another 20 from Deg, and the rest is some sort of self experimentation

From the packaging perspective I wish they'd finally move away from those longboxes. They're nice and very beautiful but overdone at this point. Macabre has got to be my favorite with the etched color case and beads in the spine and Withering to death is one of the nicest slipcase/booklet/triple gatefold products I've seen.

Something tells me that look isn’t coming back any time soon. 

Nah we use romaji around here
shitto o rippu kure!!
shigoto de kikitai!