Dir en grey

[Asakusa 95]

Die's look from the vulgar era lulz

[nekkichi 6043]

kyo needs some ripe prunes for that constipated face

[finnthesubhuman 26]

Die cut his hair. This has to be significant.

[God 264]

My bad. I was half asleep, that was the picture, haha. Also, maybe it's just the lighting that's making Kyo look so strange. Die's hair looks dope, though. Even if it's a repeat of an older haircut, I always kinda dug that hair. 

[pingpongdream 34]

 

Kyo looks good in this pic.

[nekkichi 6043]

lbr they all age horribly & only queen shinya's magical shoujo powers are standing up to the ugly traces of passing time

[God 264]

I guess they're all in their late 30s or early 40s now, right? Kyo kinda looks like he'd be an old hermit that lives on a mountain or small, abandoned island with his pet turtle. I don't know. Kaoru looks like he belongs in a metal band, I can't explain it but he just looks like he belongs there. Die is trying to recapture his youth or smth. idk what Toshiya's up to. Shinya doesn't age. It's part of the satanic ritual he learned from Jon Davis of Korn (who has since stopped performing said ritual).

 

For real, though, I'm pretty stoked they're performing in Australia, even though I don't live there or anything. I really think anyone who digs this band should get the opportunity to see them live at least once. The experience is unreal.

[DogManX 179]

Yep that's reality. People are aging.

[Crube 585]

Karou comes off like a Japanese version of Tony Iommi as far as looks for some reason. Maybe it's the crucifixes he wears from time to time?

[finnthesubhuman 26]

I don't know what you guys are talking about. Shinya looks haggard. Like his skull is sinking downwards and the only thing keeping it in shape is his skin. They all look old, but Die doesn't look that different from how he used to. Maybe a little fatter, more wrinkles, but not much more than expected. Kyo's in a decline and soon he'll be able to pull off the old sage or yakuza look but that's pretty cool anyway. Kaoru is at the moment the only one who looks like he's comfortable with his age and fairly prepared to embrace it like a rocker generally would be expected to.

[Bear 1817]

Kyo's the only that doesn't look stupid nowadays.

[miyuu 40]

i kinda agree.what's wrong with kyo? except the lack of hair meh, that  lol i don't like.
i think he looks hot in these pants and jacket.i think if he had hair people wouldn't comment so much about his age/expression
 

people would never be happy nomatter what.and this goes for myself. i am a nutcase. i spent some year ago much time nagging

why they don't look like the code of vulgarism days more.and now that they wear make up i changed my mind and i miss their t-shirt days.i prefer some older looks when they stopped being vkei.  but at this point whatever i don't really care about what they want to wear.
i like  die there but i am not very fond of blast from the past idea.i like kaoru's clothes.

[Asakusa 95]

well, it's all about the look nowadays, isn't it?

[dannemannen 69]

Kyo looks better with hair

[Peace Heavy mk II 7200]

they look so asian

[relentless 254]

Karou comes off like a Japanese version of Tony Iommi as far as looks for some reason. Maybe it's the crucifixes he wears from time to time?

 

I've felt this way for a long time. The hair, the guitar (the Viper is just an offset SG), the crucifix (and in some cases the clothing choice) just screams "Tony Iommi".

[Ro plz 1290]

^

It all makes sense now...

[Pretsy 1343]

 

Railing off-topic again but I must say that they are definitely nailing "LOTUS" off better than earlier (you could hear vast improvement in vocals as well)

 

>please, let's forget COUNTDOWN JAPAN flopping in Kyo's part (I know, it has been hard on him but seriously)

 

And no matter how much that song is cherished by new wave of DEG fandom (okay okay, I kinda like it too), I think Kyo shouldn't really go that far with highs. I am feeling uneasy every time when I hear that chorus

[greatest_dane 15]

Easily the best performance of LOTUS. Not only is Kyo spot on, but the instrumentals add such a nice layer of depth to the song.

[relentless 254]

Usually, vocalists prefer to stay within their range. Kyo for some reason insists on doing whatever he feels like is necessary for a song, even when the end result is him not being able to reproduce those sounds live. Of all the bands I've followed, Dir en grey is one of the only in which there is a clear difficulty for the band to perform some of their songs (during early DSS tours they would constantly screw up in the same parts in the Different Sense solo). Their songs aren't even that difficult to perform in the first place; but their newer material is in a way technically more demanding.

 

(Which also reminds me, they would alter Garden to make it easier to play)

[DogManX 179]

I've noticed that too. I really don't like if bands play into the studio what they can't reproduce live. If someone came to me and said "hey dude, Nile sucks live, the drummer doesn't get the beat straight in the last songs" I don't give a damn since George Kollias goes beyond human physique with his drumming..but for Dir en grey.. they're really not the technical dudes. With Kyo it's not so bad since it's part of his sophistication to go beyond his limits live and basically not giving a damn if a sounds goes out his mouth at all.

[nekkichi 6043]

does anyone else miss his 2005 flawless range and technical perfection

 

I srsly have so many nostalgic feels about it

[Pretsy 1343]

does anyone else miss his 2005 flawless range and technical perfection

 

I srsly have so many nostalgic feels about it

Sadly enough this is one of the worst DEG livesets ever - not because of the songs, but because of Kyo's performance level (he was truly exhausted, and I can see that in for eg. constant lyric skipping and unintelligible screaming instead of proper one)

 

And to think that "Code of Vulgarism" was one of the best livesets by them EVER, and that was like 1-2 years before the performance above.

Why "one of the best" tho?

 

Most people here pinpointed that DEG aren't technically "brilliant" enough - as the long-time listener of DEG I should say that this is what attracted me the most in the first place, and caught my attention again after a long pause: charm through imperfection. I wouldn't imagine myself listening to them that much if they were, say, very "clean" technique-wise. I mean the hell, what would happen to Zan for instance if it was actually a proper "thrash metal-lish" song? What would happen if Shinya was in sync with bass and guitars? (Bad example, I know, but I am trying to give some insight on this matter) 

 

There wouldn't be any charm in their attempts without this sense of "imperfection". You might find this absurd, but come to think of it - is "very clean performance" something you would be sympathizing for very much? Wouldn't that feel a bit too "dry" ?

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8pCIgyRo_kA

Case in point, "CONCEIVED SORROW" is where Kyo usually couldn't nail his highs - and yet we can hear his struggling in the near end - which gives us fittingly eerie, melancholic vibes. Imagine this same song with highly trained male vocalist. Would you be more pleased with this result?

 

I might have railed back and forth in terms of topics, but you will get it anyway

[Peace Heavy mk II 7200]

Isn't charm through imperfection the entire appeal for older vkei? (1991~2006 or so) At least, that's what it is for me.

[nekkichi 6043]

And to think that "Code of Vulgarism" was one of the best livesets by them EVER, and that was like 1-2 years before the performance above.

idk, watching 2nd DVD of code of vulgarism ruined a lot of things about deg/visual kei for me. I have no idea how much autotune/post-production went into the first disk, but bootlegged/unpolished parts sounded dreadfully.

it was their peak era for many reasons & I still miss that band, but concert wise they're nowhere close to really well sounding vk bands (unsraw, early d'espairs ray or girugamesh for example)