Dir en grey - THE UNRAVELING

[relentless 254]

It's clear Zess doesn't understand what "melody" is; that or we didn't listen to the same album.

 

 

Dir en grey's heightened attention to melody is one of the driving forces of the album. Every track contains melodic passages that string the more overwhelmingly heavy parts together. There is also the change in song structure for the band, where they have pulled away from the typical "Rock" format and have embraced a more unique style of progressive. Dir en grey, the band, is far better than they have ever been.

 

The main problem I have is there are two remakes in particular that don't measure up to their original counterparts (kasumi and Bottom of the Death Valley). It's not that they're BAD (they're not), it's that the remakes don't measure up to the originals. The rest of the tracks are very solid, which leads to a great release and one worth looking into if only for the unique sound the band has crafted through typical elements. It's the contrast of lighter pop elements with crushing metal as well as the incredible mind for song writing which makes this release stand out.

[platanity 99]

It's clear Zess doesn't understand what "melody" is; that or we didn't listen to the same album.

 

 

Dir en grey's heightened attention to melody is one of the driving forces of the album. Every track contains melodic passages that string the more overwhelmingly heavy parts together. There is also the change in song structure for the band, where they have pulled away from the typical "Rock" format and have embraced a more unique style of progressive. Dir en grey, the band, is far better than they have ever been.

 

The main problem I have is there are two remakes in particular that don't measure up to their original counterparts (kasumi and Bottom of the Death Valley). It's not that they're BAD (they're not), it's that the remakes don't measure up to the originals. The rest of the tracks are very solid, which leads to a great release and one worth looking into if only for the unique sound the band has crafted through typical elements. It's the contrast of lighter pop elements with crushing metal as well as the incredible mind for song writing which makes this release stand out.

 

 

i think this is the most intellectual and systematical review by far ive seen in this page .

 

i tend to lurk around and see people's opinions pretty often and recoil myself from writing such opinions

because ill end up throwing comments that would potentially trigger controversies but whatevs .

 

bottom line is , tho i do acknowledge the fact that we are living in a speech freedom phase but

i keep on wondering what are the standards of being 'progressive', 'bland', and "generic" ,

and most of the people wouldnt 'move on' , but what do i know .

 

but i think there is a big difference between a perspective from who actually plays music and listens to them -

as being a person of the former category , id like to appreciate the fact that the band dir en grey

did sound 'sequential' for the past 3 big portion materials (including this one), but as far as im concerned ,

it's the instrumental 'sound' that makes such resemblance but the whole concept and ambience is

far different from each albums . tho they seemed to have heavily influenced by 'western' sound since 

'uroboros' (especially when i found toshiya started using slap-bass almost all the time, and

both side guitars are using palm mutes more than the previous albums), but the core of the sound

itself have became some sort of 'archtype' to many japanese bands and music (i noticeably recall

the gazette altho not many will agree). 

 

this album , like 'relentless' has mentioned, i think the band experimented a lot with the song structuring .

ive noticed heavily when i listened to "unraveling" and "karasu". the tempo and the way intentionally

misplaced/mixed/added few phrases in their song, it was just more than clever and eccentric -

but i do agree that they did heavily lose the 'easier-to-hum/sing-a long-type' melody from

predecessors , but they have matured since that period like every bands out there should/would do .

the best key track id easily say is "the final(unplugged ver.)". ive got a long reason behind this but

long story short , the subtle way they played the emotional groove in a rather 'raw' way is

done very 'professional' (cause i really despise those sparkling bullsht type pop songs) .

 

therefore - 4/5

 

ps : and no i am not that kind of person who irrationally worship dir en grey . i lost the love once kyo

started doing the mouth-scractch-i have blood in my face thing . i think that's too much heh .

tho i didnt mind the fake vomiting and egg splatter performance , :/

[DeithX252 1266]

hmmm I am not good at reviewing, though I almost forget their old song because my old diru collection has deleted lol

 

So far I enjoy kasumi and THE FINAL, the others is just boring and forgettable

 

ugh, I think the composition of the song is really weird, I can't stand it. They must change their sound, enough of DSS leftover sound. Or maybe my music taste is growing, so I can't enjoy this album.

 

score 5/10

[Zeus 7997]

It's clear Zess doesn't understand what "melody" is; that or we didn't listen to the same album.

Or perhaps where you're looking for melody is different from where I'm looking for melody. There is such a thing as having differing opinions and having different expectations for what we want from a release.

But I'm going to delve into why I stated what I did in my review to give a complete perspective of my why my frustration for THE UNRAVELING grows every time I listen to it. It's for the same reason I highlighted in my review:

 

The main portion missing for some of the remakes is melody. A good portion of the songs they've chosen to remake are melodic in their original incarnations, yet here Dir en grey seem fit to turn up the crunch on their guitars.

For as much as Dir en grey claims to experiment, they really do not. All of their songs, new and old, follow the same formula more or less because the band still hasn't gotten out of their TMOAB mindset and are still trying to be metal instead of actually just playing metal (which they can!). There's this insistence on never tuning the guitars out of drop-A if they can help it, even when another tuning (even if it's half a step in either direction) sounds better. There's this insistence on always having demanding vocal lines - growls and shrieks are there because Kyo feels expected to provide growls and shrieks any chance he gets, and his vocal range soars because he's expected to span two to three octaves in every single song. Experimentation is about subverting norms and doing what you want, but since I pretty much just described DUM SPIRO SPERO and most of THE UNRAVELING in a single paragraph how much experimentation is there? Some, but not as much as they would have us believe.

On YouTube there are people who take popular pop songs and rearrange them into death metal pieces. Sometimes they come out good and sometimes they don't. I bring this up because this is proof to me that not everything can be "metallized" - some songs just sound better with influence from other genres. Removing that removes the essence of what made the original song that song. This is the same problem they've had with OBSCURE and RASETSUKOKU and now with Unknown.Despair.Lost. What made Unknown...despair...a lost originally was the driving melody behind the guitar line they shamelessly ripped from LUNA SEA's G. They dropped the tuning of the riff, but at the same time they also lost all the dynamics, the pacing of the original, the polyphony and the prominence of the original riff. This new patchwork they threw together was just awful.

And the thing is: there is no need to relentlessly pursue rhythm over melody in their heavier tracks, but they do it all the fucking time. It's as if Dir en grey is afraid of being both melodic and aggressive so they choose one or the other and stick firmly in that camp. The resulting "black or white" contrast gets old very quickly. As a matter of fact, their whole approach loses it's appeal because you know what's coming before the song is over: if the song is aggressive it won't deviate. Blastbeats and death growls ahoy. If the song is initially melodic, it's not going to deviate.

And then you know what they do? They throw THE FINAL and MACABRE in there just to fuck with my point. THE FINAL is the very definition of what I mean when I describe something as melodic but aggressive. They get this one right but they fuck up Unknown...despair...a lost and Karma? What gives?

Imaginary pressure, that's what. The inconsistency of their approach slays me. Had they done with the other remakes what they've done with the last two tracks, this would be a damn near flawless release. But they didn't, so I can't say that.

So honestly, feel free to like this release however much you want. That's the beauty of personal opinion and I'm not here to crush that. But if you want to know "exactly" what I meant, it's outlined above. I don't just say things because I like blind worship, or because I love to hate everything, or because I like being unpredictable just to be unpredictable. That's what I get from this release.

So the next time you say someone doesn't "understand" melody, remember there's more than one way to approach music.

[relentless 254]

I understand the classic "well it's my opinion" refutation, but that only pertains to taste -- not actual theory. When you say there is a lack of melody, you're not only stating an opinion but making a claim within music theory. It is definable fact that there exists an abundance of melody in this album, but it's up to us whether we like it or not.

I'm not challenging your opinions because that's silly -- I'm challenging arguable claims that can in fact be proven, but are excused for "musical taste". I loved your review, but it was just the wording that I was bringing up.

Sorry for going off topic, ill stop now.

[Ro plz 1290]

I'll start off my saying that The Unraveling is a scary(in a good way) trip down memory lane. A lot of the songs redone are songs that I haven't listened to in ages and for most part, I'm enjoying this EP alot.

 

The Unraveling: I listened to the Radio rip multiple times once it came out and even before then the preview of the chorus that was leaked before it wasnt grabbing to me one bit. The full song fails to grab me as well. Normally the whole few listens then it'll grow on you thing would work...but nope! Seems like a track the band just did for shits and giggles so they can promote the EP without having to use one of the remakes. Verse is very boring...chorus is...I can't believe Im saying this...bland. The instrumentals and solo's are also on the meh side. i just couldn't get into it. This song is on par with Embryo and Yokan as well as a few other DIR songs that I wish never existed.

 

KARMA: Now this is where it goes down. The intro to the first verse just gives off the false vibe that its probably not gonna be much of anything...THEN BAM. It just smacks you in the face like a pimp demanding his money. I love how compared to KIRU TO MAYU, the hints of the previous version is more evident, which made it even more enjoyable. This remake is my favorite out of the rest.

 

KASUMI: I was surprised that they even did this one. If anything I prefer that they left it alone as is. The chugging in the first verse in this version compared to the power chords Kaoru played in the previous version, just threw things off for me. Screw it, the chugging Kaoru does throughout the song was just annoying. The acoustic part in the beginning was nice but unneccesary. Same with the solo. This remake completely got rid of the nice chill feeling it originally had. I'm pretty disappointed that they even touched this gem. Aie...

 

KARASU: The original version of this song took me quite awhile to get into but when i did, I really digged it. Then it kinda just fell off as one of those rare tracks that you can enjoy once in awhile you know? This new redone version is just amazing and perfectly done. It really didn't stray too much from the original mood wise as well as the general sound of it, despite the fact that the guitar parts changed. I have nothing more to say. My hat goes off to this track.

 

Bottom of The Death Valley: Pretty much the same as Karasu in terms of feel and sound. I never really liked this song to begin with but It also was well done.

 

THE FINAL: I generally LOVE this remake. I love it because its nice to see that they didn't use their 7 strings for this one and went back to using C# (my personal favorite Guitar tuning), and how it too didn't stray away from the original. Also its nice to see that DIE added the extra solos that he's been doing live in this version. Hmm...overall it has that fresh feel to it that just makes you wanna go "ahhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" I hated it I thought the solo was unneccessary...just took away a bit from the song even if it was brief.

 

MACABRE: I'm not even gonna waste time reviewing this song...16 minutes of greatness. Thats it. Perfect. Damn.

 

I left Unknown out because that song is chips.

 

Overall (minus The unraveling and Unknown): 8.5/10

DIr en grey kicked ass yet again.

[Furik 832]

Why is everyone hating Unknown Despair? I think it's better than KARMA on this album.

[greatest_dane 15]

Why is everyone hating Unknown Despair? I think it's better than KARMA on this album.

 

I'm not sure... the song is the best representation on the EP of taking an old song and restructuring it to meet their current style, while maintaining a lot of the original identity.

[Velovelo 18]

Gotta be honest, I really really really disliked MOO. I hated MOAB - and UROBOROS also just had a few good moments for me.

 

By the way, I was drunk while writing this, so excuse me

 

But to me, THE UNRAVELING is the most digestable, rounded, well-composed release since Withering to Death.

 

I am glad that they are going into a more melodic direction right now. But that might be because most of the original songs had plentiful melodies to tinker with.

 

UNRAVELING: It sounds okay. Very similar to their MOAB/WTD stuff with some oriental melodies, if I may add. Good, but not very memorable. This song is missing something outstanding - it's good enough, but could've easily been B-Side material. BUT I appreciate the fact that Kyo stopped growling his intestines out as much. I love melodies. Sadly though, this is not very spectacular.

 

KARMA: Dunno, but I THINK I've heard the original. And if I remember it correctly, it sounded like shit. This is pretty decent. But if you have a mediocre to okay song as a basis, not much is gonna change, is it? Still, it is listenable enough.

 

Kasumi, that's pretty close to the original. It was always a neat song, and they did it just right. I don't know why they remade this, but hey, it sounds adequate. As in, they captured the essence, but made almost the same thing with it. Because I liked the song back then , this is probably a good choice.

 

Bottom of the death valley: No idea why they remade this. It was one of the better songs off of MOAB. Still, this sounds alright, albeit a little robbed of its old feeling. I don't mind it, as I didn't like the original too much, anyway.

 

THE FINAL, I liked that remake. Instrumentally, I liked it better than the original.. It was good. What ruined it for me were the flat and rather dull vocals during the chorus.
Kyo doesn't show much of determination or passion to sing this, sadly. Other than that, it's definitely not bad. Good effort.

 

MACABRE: Finally getting to the really spicy piece! What can I say? Partially it reminded me of Porcupine Tree, except with that DIR EN GREY-ish guitar sound and the occasionally whimsical vocals. It's really refreshing to hear such a melodically proggy track from them. Easily the best track on the album. Without a doubt. It's definitely not perfect, but it's good enough to warrant a good listen, even several times. Some parts are outstanding enough to be put on repeat.

 

To be short: I hated MOO and most of MOAB with a passion. Uroboros had some alright tracks, but it feels like these guys are, at least in my opinion, FINALLY going into a good, more melodic direction again - dropping most of the death metal/sludge sounds in favour of music with more substance. I can only applaud that effort and recommend a listen to everyone who disliked most of their new stuff, plus the fans of the MOO and Uroboros, as this sounds like a good compromise, somehow.

 

Dir en grey JUST need to infuse these interesting melodic adventures into their future songs, and they'll hit a nerver for everyone!

[Asakusa 95]

Bottom of the death valley: No idea why they remade this. It was one of the better songs off of MOAB. Still, this sounds alright, albeit a little robbed of its old feeling. I don't mind it, as I didn't like the original too much, anyway.

 

 what

[Velovelo 18]

 what

Oooops, sorry, I am an idiot. It was on Kisou, ofc. d'uh.

[Wicked Teletubby 528]

sputnikmusic.com gave it an Excellent. check out their review at .

also a reviewer's nick is awesome.

[Pandabear 414]

Ever since MOAB, there’s a been a divide in the diru fanbase between people who love the bands early material and despise everything they’ve done in the last couple of years. However, I have never been one of those people. I enjoy every album they put out and it’s great to see how much the band has matured as musicians. That being said, Unraveling is the first release I can say I’ve been disappointed by.

 

For me this release was flawed from the start. I have no idea why the band decided to remake songs that were good/awesome to begin with. They put all this effort into redoing their songs and in the end none of them were as good as the originals. That’s not to say they are bad songs, but they don’t have the magic that the originals have. Sure, the songs have more layers, cool guitar work and superior sound production, but however more complex sounding and modern they are, they don’t live up to their former selves. Seriously, diru, if it ain’t broken don’t fix it. And it begs the question, why put all this time into remaking all these songs, when they could have just made a fresh batch?

 

There are several issues that seem to plague the remakes. One of them is melody. In the bands attempt to reflect their current progressive metal style and their maturity as musicians, the more melodic aspects of the songs were lost. And for me, the melodic aspects of their old songs were pretty much the heart and soul of the music. Yes, in terms of music theory melody is there, but it no longer drives the songs. It makes a song like Bottom Of The Death Valley, a song I originally love, sound void and lifeless in a very bad way. 

 

Another issue is that band just seems to be trying too hard with these remakes. You’ve got kyo’s unnecessary vocal wails and unintelligible growls, way too much palm muting in the guitars ( again further stripping melody), and with all these added layers of guitars, vocals and instrumentation the songs lack atmosphere. Compare Macabre and it’s original counter part or even Kasumi. 

 

The only song I feel got close to the magic of the original was The Final. Everything else was fail. As a diru fan and guitar nerd I  appreciate the effort and musicianship that went into the remakes, but they just don’t compare to the originals. And of course, I’m going to compare them to the originals because they are the standard those songs set. I feel the band would have been better off making original songs rather than remakes. The bad part about this is that now they’ll probably play the remake of these songs live rather the original versions. I always wanted to hear the orginal Kasumi and BOTD live, but I guess that won’t happen now. 

 

I really hope they stop with these remakes. Next they’ll mess up Cage.

 

I give it a 7/10.

 

Despite, not living up to standard, I can’t deny the musicianship and some of the interesting aspects that came out of the “re-imagining.”.  However disappointing this was, it’s still a good release IMO.

 

And on a side note, Shinya’s drumkit does sound a bit off. Some of the snare work and hi hats sound weird.  

[Augie1995 325]

I thought this forum was so that we can review the releases made by the artists, not review the comments left behind by others?

 

 

 

I'm not going to lie, I've only heard at least half of these songs before. I got into Japanese music back in 2010. Therefore, half of these songs are basically new songs to me.

 

I can't exactly say whether they completely destroyed for me the original song with the new remake, I honestly have no problem with any of the songs here. The only thing that really brings me back to DSS is the guitars' effects, but I do feel like Unraveling might be a DSS leftover, even though it's still a good song and I loved DSS. Macabre is a freaking awesome song that I thoroughly enjoyed throughout it's entirety. I've always loved the unplugged versions of songs, so I was very pleased to find out that they did not have a certain "plain" quality to them where I would end up being bored.

 

While I would have preferred a new CD with NEW material, I rather enjoy the remakes here and I am quite satisfied with this for now. 

[sai 868]

I thought this forum was so that we can review the releases made by the artists, not review the comments left behind by others?

 

That is correct. That's why I'd like to take this opportunity to remind everyone to post actual reviews and not only comment on other members' small mistakes (like what track belongs on what album) or point out their argumental 'flaws'. That's what the artist thread is for. All posts that are off-topic from now on will be deleted (pretty much referring to Zess' earlier post).

[miyuu 40]

 

There are several issues that seem to plague the remakes. One of them is melody. In the bands attempt to reflect their current progressive metal style and their maturity as musicians, the more melodic aspects of the songs were lost. And for me, the melodic aspects of their old songs were pretty much the heart and soul of the music. Yes, in terms of music theory melody is there, but it no longer drives the songs. It makes a song like Bottom Of The Death Valley, a song I originally love, sound void and lifeless in a very bad way. 

 

 

 i think also @zess was saying something similar. i have this feeling too. like the old songs maybe had more emotion.

my general impression about most songs:

i think they are good songs/remakes and i can enjoy listening to them!

as long as you don't know the originals/forget the originals .because i think the originals are better.

(and not because always the first are better. i have heard from bands enough remakes that are equal or even better

but i don't feel it here) but  i read randomly another person review and i am gonna quote that's ok life changes.

my main disappointment and what bothers me more of all is just the chorus of final.

and i wasn't gonna write a review but i am dying to say

 

Flame-X, on 03 Apr 2013 - 04:27, said:

I didn't like how Kyo sounded so lifeless during THE FINAL's chorus.

this so much

 

so about the final the melody/rhythm in chorus it's not bad but knowing the lyrics ,the luck of emotion  makes me  sad. i don't know what he was trying to do?. why.?maybe he was trying to be more theatrical but he killed the emotion

leaving a feeling maybe it's too old songs and he doesn't feel the same anymore

the final unplugged it's like i am listening to musical .it's so theatrical.

i think one of the most interesting characteristics of the new dir en grey is that generally is more theatrical and has this atmosperic feeling that can make you feel like you are inside a movie or some place else.(sorry my poor describing expressions but you get what i mean i hope)

my favorite from the first disc is the unraveling . i like it !  but of course it's the same sound as dss

macabre the second part is great as everyone said i agree

random

( i like dss more than uroboros. i mean Vinushka is an epic song probably my most fav from both albums but dss has more songs i like than uroboros in amount.

i don't get why most people seems to like and praise uroboros more is still a mistery to me .i just don't get it)

(i don't see any difference in music since the change they had in uroboros and i don't think they are gonna change a lot for some time.the only difference i see is the feeling they seem to calm down the need of wanting to be

so metal and experimental and hardcore and whatever i don't know how to describe.they seem they calm down and also more ok with their past.which  looks good on them)

[DogManX 179]

I feel like after about 10 listens I should be able to give a personal opinion on it.

 

First of all, the songs: I think there is nothing much more to say to the style. It goes deeper into the DSS cult-like crazyness. Basically no problem for me. UNRAVELING is a perfect example for that. AKATSUKI meets THE BLOSSOMING BEELZEBUB meets RUTEN NO TOU. Kyo brings up interesting vocal lines, Die and Kaoru provide great tunes. The one problem I have with this song is it sounds like all these fractures of different songs were just thrown together and not elonged.

I didn't really have a negative feeling to the remakes since except for kasumi, macabre and karasu, most originals don't really do it for me. Karma is redone brilliant, and judging from the poor original, they really rescued something here. Unknown..Despair...Lost works similarly. The original is a generic, boring VK song and a Luna Sea-ripoff to that. The remake actually got character. Kasumi and Macabre are pretty much flawless, the new additions work perfectly and make these songs good alternatives to the original ones. I wish I could say the same about Karasu, though. Although the instrumental part is absolutely great, the thing bothering me here is mostly Kyo. His need to put his vocals just EVERYWHERE makes every listen troublesome. It was for this reason i also despised the UNDECIDED remake back in 2007. BOTDV is by far the most interesting remake to me. It's a nearly complete reinvention of the original, and its sludgy, progressing tone is absolutely haunting. THE FINAL is...the final. Nothing big changed. Actually I can enjoy this song now. Kyo's vocals sound better, and Shinya doesn't sound like he used a keyboard to record his drum tracks.

 

Which brings me to the production: It's..weird. An overuse of hall effects, Shinya sounds textured.. I don't understand why they hire world famous producer Tue Madsen to come up with a result every japanese Indie studio can come up with nowadays. But well.. it's Dir en grey.

 

 

Overall: 8/10

[dannemannen 69]

Been a while since a release has disappointed me like this...
First of all the new song has to be one of their most generic to date, nothing that stands out, completely soulless.
Then we have all the remakes which feel pointless and unimpressive. Damn...

Deg were aiming for an easy cash-in?
 

[lichtlune 915]

So far   for me i think

[xxzer0xx 7]

Sorry guys, this is only for true fans, we who hear all changes from Missa to DSS

 

to start ... being a big fan of the band  since its origins, I can make a very objective review,

many songs throughout the band's career did not like, but many other offset to spare.

 

 

Let's begin:

 

Unraveling: This song is very strange, from the beginning I liked very much, but despite being a song addictive, there are some moments that seem as connected fragments of several songs, I feel that this song though to be good,I not feel  deserve to be the song that gives title to the album... 8/10

 

Karma: is a good remake, is as I expected, I never liked the original too... 6/10

 

The Bottom of The Death Valley: I love the original, and I was really desperate to hear the sound of this remake.

The first heard be really confused, did not expect so, I did not like, was quite bitter, I thought ''oh no, they ruined it T_T''

but in the third repetition, I understanding what  was hearing, a slower , melancholic and powerful song, and found that melancholy of the original song, but also found a sense of sadness and fragments identical to the original but perfectly executed and masterfully composed, I love this new version, almost to the height of the version original...    10/10 

 

Kasumi: I love the original version, in this remake encounter very few changes, and I really dont think that is better than the original, except some kyo choir in moments of rhythm guitar, not ruined yet, and still has its beauty... 8/10

 

Karasu: I liked a lot the original version, but was very repetitive ... this version is very faithful to the original and even could say that I like more than the original except the end instrumental / repetitive / disk-striped it very dull note... 8/10

 

Unknown Despair...Lost: I liked the original version, not one of the most memorable in my brain, however, this version is worth repeating many times, THIS ROCKS!!! I like the change of structure at any time you feel the essence of the original, the trouble with this song is just the beginning, the solo of acoustic guitar ... I cant just join the intro to the rest of the song... 9/10

 

The Final: Like everyone here, I love the original version of The Final, I appreciate that they have not changed much the tempo or the original structure, but this remake is not better than the original version.

 

While the synchronized guitar solo is very good, is very short and seems fitted to the force and cant enjoy enough.In the original version was heard'' Theee Finaaaaaal .... ARRRRHGGKAKJDADADJDOIAJ'' (screaming-kyo) that gave more power to the song.(LOV THIS!!)

As I read in several reviews, kyo's voice in the chorus of this remake,sounds so empty, no feelings, no desire to sing The Final ... I dont understand ...  definitely dont like this remake... 5/10

 

Macabre: My God, the best song is in the end, and on the second disc,

is a gem, is the best remake of diru, is the most epic song since Vinushka.

Kyo returns to surprise me with 16 minutes of harmonious moments of epic, brutal and melancholy.

In this song, the melody is perfectly composed and executed, I want to mention a exepcional Toshiya, bass composition is splendid in this song, I also want to emphasize how good sounds shinya here, sounds perfectly integrated into the melody and gives a lot more beauty to the song... 10/10

 

The Unraveling Unplugged Ver. & The Final Unplugged Ver.:  meh...it's ok. 7/10

 

The Unraveling Score: 9/10 <3

 

Apologize for the mistakes, I'm not good at English, and I also had the help of a translator

[miyuu 40]

after a long time i want to correct what i said because it's bugging me. lol this is so long time ago noone cares xD.

(first random but one message i wrote disappeared   )


i think new kasumi is awesome .i think i prefer it from the original
and i know there is no way Unknown.Despair.Lost stayed the same way of singing as 98
i love the new one! but i love the original too

anyway i read a long time ago in an interview with kyo the song that he wanted to change more was the final and the song they did last was macabre
and i find funny that my worst song from the remakes is the final(that he wanted to change) and one of my most favorites the macabre especially for the second new part mostly.

i still don't like the final compared to the original .it's not only the way he sings but the music also.
maybe it has more atmosphere now and less emotion but personally  i prefer the emotions especially in a song with such lyrics.

but i like the unplugged. i think it has more success with the more atmosphere less emotion and it's lovely strange

[Pretsy 1343]

I forgot my take on this, eh:

 

Unraveling - as it was noticed ,the song itself was being worked on during Kyo's "sick leave" back in early 2012, so its "DSS-ish" atmosphere is not that amusing. There are cases in which band tries to do clusterfucking with instrumental layers, but at the same time - it "enriches" the sound. I dig myself the way that bridge flows and the climax - which unfortunately might be an outtake of DREAMBOX (in fact, the whole song itself sounds like a different take on Dreambox). Decent verses, catchy bridge, chorus that leaves a lot to be desired...eh, call it a decent one! 7,5/10

 

Karma - I felt like the intro as a general was totally unnecessary, and holy hell: even though it's nothing more but a honest "nod" to Kiri to Mayu's deathcorefest, we can make one point clear: as a nostalgia freak like me, you cannot HATE it. Even if Chelsea Grin-like cheesy vibes are oozing madly out of this track. Decent-ish, nothing more: 7/10

 

Kasumi - I like the way main melody goes, with 12-string acoustic guitars and some chorus effects. BUT the way Kaoru goes with his reverb chugs makes me feel bad for his bandmates - especially Kyo, when he is trying to "struggle" with his reverb tremolos during chorus. Feeling skeptic about the solo and OOH-OOHing too, say - isn't cheese factor a bit high here (Zess mentioned this too)? The sound in general sounds fresh and balanced - if we learn to pity Kaoru with his effect wanks, ALSO how Kyo pulls it out - you can really hear that he didn't really want to delve back (which leaves the ending to be more passionate, I guess?). Call it a decent one (again) 7/10.

 

Karasu - My biggest favorite out of this bunch - you can hear how all elements are incorporated CORRECTLY. Feels like they finally picked a right, fitting song to be interpreted. Digging the shit out of ambient-like guitars and Kyo's horror-flicky shouts in DEATH EDUCATION-parts. If only DSS really had more "flowing" songs like this (a la Shitataru Mourou-like way). Not so necessary to mention, but the "image" of lyrics here becomes much stronger with this remake imho. Good one 9/10

 

Bottom of the death valley - Zess summed it all up well, and let me give it a small nod: it really sounds like a Borderlands-like rendition of Kisou's most nostalgic dirge (no, it's not Mushi) - you could consider this belonging to both pros and cons. Why? The suicidal, desert-like feeling is conveyed here pretty well, BUT in most cases ends up anemically - say, was it really necessary to take the bass intro out (saying this as a long-time fan)? Also, I don't really think A7X-like guitars here were necessary - if only this were a stoner metal-ish tune (would strengthen the "image" once again), then I won't be criticizing this that much. Decent/Mediocre 6,5/10

 

Unknown.Despair.Lost - Before I sum up my thoughts, I'd like to thank WB for noticing the "flashback" in this remake: not sure if everyone really noticed it, but the acoustic intro is an octave-low rendition of JEALOUS' music box outro (Why did they do that? Find it out for yourself ). I kinda felt like this was a nu metal-like parody of the original - which falls easily in band's "not sure whether to take this seriously or not"-section. I adored the original though, and learned to dig this one too - for pure lulz only. Not recommended for those with serious listening habits - 7,5/10

 

The FINAL - This time, guitars don't feel like trying to make Kyo struggle out of his way (despite the fact that he still sounds bored here, as well). They didn't really change the flow of this song, except the way Kyo "dramatizes" his choruses in the end + solo which doesn't ooze that much cheesiness like, umm, Kasumi's "new" solo. My second favorite out of this mini, maybe. 8/10

 

Won't bother with limited edition reviewing, ehh. Call it a day, and 7,5/10 in overall. A decent mini, showing some improvement after mistakes - but "less is more", as it was used greatly here. No need to go with multilayering if you want to perform the tune greatly on lives as well (saw "Unraveling"' live captions off Cologne (?) - sounds pretty hollow without layers)

 

Oh,... my lack of sleep. 

[StriderSubzero 53]

I feel a lot of what Perez and xxzer0xx said as well.

 

Although I definitely enjoy Dum Spiro Spero and the general vibe and especially the guitar compositions, I have to say that this EP was a little lacking for me. I think it's a little strange for them to be remaking songs from Withering to death and Vulgar so soon already (I did not like what they did to "Obscure" since it is one of my favorite songs from Vulgar, even though it was quite good live at the Baltimore show last weekend)... paradoxically I commend them for remaking "The Final," which was a bold move given its popularity.

 

I'm generally of the mindset that if you're going to remake a song, you might as well take it in a completely different direction and not try to "upgrade" it, which is what I feel that they were attempting to do with "The Final" and "Kasumi," and it fell a bit flat IMO, since these songs were already excellent and nothing good can come of re-recording them. There are some interesting new parts in these songs, but even though I think Kyo is an amazing vocalist, the vocals in the intro of "Kasumi" are wholly unnecessary in a studio recording and honestly kind of ruined it. "Bottom of the death valley" is also one of my favorite DEG songs, and the remake is interesting, but not as compelling as the original. I found the new guitar solo to be unfitting, what with the blues scales in particular.

 

As for "Unknown.Despair.Lost," the acoustic intro is again unfitting, but I'm happy that this song is more recognizable than their botched remake of "Kiri to mayu," also one of my favorite songs by DEG. I also have to say that the vocals in the verses are very cool, and the update to the chorus is well done. "Karasu" was a good song on Kisou if only for the engrossing atmosphere, but I have nothing against the remake and it adds some cool parts. "The Unraveling" is just not that great of a song IMO, and honestly I feel that they could have left this off the EP entirely—it really doesn't do anything particularly engaging, and is overall sort of mediocre. I felt the same way about "Rinkaku" and "Lotus," but I'm sure lots of people disagree with me. "Macabre" is good, but I prefer the original; the remake changed my favorite part (the section in the middle where the clean guitar starts playing the eerie arpeggio riff, after the "chorus").

 

Overall I think this EP was a great idea, but I do feel that DEG has been kind of hit-or-miss with their remakes ("Undecided" was fantastic, "Tsumi to batsu" is odd but cool, "Kiri to mayu" is decent as a new song but IMO not a worthy remake). I like that DEG is finally starting to acknowledge their older material, but hearing some of the songs live made me wish I was listening to them play the original instead. However, given that that is extraordinarily unlikely, I'm okay with these new versions as a compromise. At least it means that I was able to hear "Bottom of the death valley" and "Karasu" at a live show in the US, which is something that I had absolutely no chance of before.