Dir en grey

[Kelrya 145]

Is it just me or are comments moving around and disappearing and reappearing?

[Puriwate 28]

1 minute ago, Kelrya said:

Is it just me or are comments moving around and disappearing and reappearing?

Some comments Don't fit the topic of the thread and get moved by mods

[Rosner 35]

6 hours ago, kuyashii said:

https://youtu.be/3AvGJgpRj9s?t=1m24s

LOVE that moment! Same kind of harmony happens in 'Dreambox' at around 03:16. It's really subtle, but very effective: DSS has amazing production and arrangements overall!

[Saishu 1589]

DSS has my favorite production out of all DEG’s albums. Everything sounds really tight and I like the “dry” texture of everything. 

Edited September 17, 2018 by Saishu

[Nowhere Girl 189]

9 hours ago, Saishu said:

DSS has my favorite production out of all DEG’s albums. Everything sounds really tight and I like the “dry” texture of everything. 

Isn't it the opposite? DSS is sopping wet with reverb, which imo is one of its problems. DSS, UROBOROS (remastered), The Unraveling, and to a lesser extent ARCHE all sound so similar because of Tue Madsen's inability to mix an album that doesn't sound like it was recorded at the back end of a cave.

 

For me, it's probably among the weakest DEG albums. That's not to say it's bad. I very much enjoy it for the most part (Akatsuki is still blah, demo version is miles better). It's just that the rest of the catalogue is so damned good. To be honest, DEG albums are like pizza toppings. Depends what I fancy at the time. Occasionally, I'll get a craving for DSS flavour.

 

The album mostly translates poorly live. It sounds empty due to the aforementioned huge amounts of layering in the studio. That said, DSS at Budokan is incredible, showcasing the material at its best.

 

While they're not part of the main album, the 'symphonic' versions are unbelievably horrible. They sound so fake. I guess they couldn't afford hiring an orchestra for one day.

[Dyingmoments 19]

I actually prefer the symp versions to the standard versions...I thought they were going for that "fake black metal dimmu borgir symphonic blast" thing

Edited September 18, 2018 by Dyingmoments

[Tokage 5930]

That weird symphonic phase was indeed just blah and I'm kind of happy they seem to have dropped it.

 

I actually kind of like Arche's weird reverb thing, dunno, it kinda gives me some shoegaze-without-being-shoegaze vibes

[Saishu 1589]

3 hours ago, Nowhere Girl said:

Isn't it the opposite? DSS is sopping wet with reverb, which imo is one of its problems. DSS, UROBOROS (remastered), The Unraveling, and to a lesser extent ARCHE all sound so similar because of Tue Madsen's inability to mix an album that doesn't sound like it was recorded at the back end of a cave.

DSS has the least amount of reverb out of all of the Madsen albums. Maybe what I’m really focusing on is how Shinya’s drums sound, and in Unraveling and Arche he sounds like he’s playing at the bottom of a well. 

[Seelentau 884]

I'm happy they dropped the remixes, at least for the upcoming album. I'll take a new rendition of an old song or a live song over some shitty remix 10/10 times. Although the lives on NoK were shit, I'm looking forward to the ones on TIW.

Edited September 18, 2018 by Seelentau

[Saishu 1589]

I think live tracks are mostly useless too, especially since one of the best things about DEG shows specifically is the visual aspect of it. Hearing Kyo freak out has little impact compared to actually witnessing it. 

[Seelentau 884]

That's true, but I don't want to pull up the video on my second monitor all the time, especially not when I'm playing vidya and can't watch it anyway.

[geist 227]

I’m flipping through the Dir en grey Player’s Book right now and had no idea Die was a huge wrestling fan. A bunch of his guitars had WCW stickers on the back including a Goldberg sticker, Sting sticker, and nWo sticker. 

 

 

[ghost 2687]

Here's a novel idea. What if they just released one version with no bonus anything? 9/10 times I prefer the original studio recording over a crappy remix or a crappy live recording. Their extra content always feels tacked on to justify charging a limited or deluxe edition price, and it never feels worth it. (The Uroboros/DSS deluxe editions are an exception because of how well they packaged a vinyl and CD/DVD set together. Macabre and Gauze also had some classy LE packaging.)

 

The collector in me just wants the main album and the option to pay for nicer packging. MAYBE a bonus DVD if it doesn't cost too much extra and if the content is interesting/substantial. But honestly, I could do without that too.

 

Different audio mediums would be a more interesting approach in my opinion. I know the vkei industry's consumer base are not typically also retro audio hobbyists, so releasing something on cassette or vinyl is most likely not of interest to most fans.

 

P.S. I wish they'd stop re-recording old songs!

Edited September 18, 2018 by ghost

[Saishu 1589]

The multi-type release thing specifically feels like a bit of a rip off with DEG because they rarely offer anything you haven’t heard before. It was shocking that Arche actually had two extra tracks that were original compositions. The rest of that shit where they just plaster Kyo’s vocal track over a remix or what have you needs to stop. It’s so lazy. 

 

That unplugged version of The Final on Unraveling pisses me off. The instrumental sounds like it belongs in a Tim Burton movie. 

[Kelrya 145]

I actually really like that version of The Final. I do agree that most of those remixes are garbage though. Like that awful Inconvenient Ideal organ remix that butchers one of their most beautiful songs.

[Dyingmoments 19]

On 9/18/2018 at 6:16 PM, ghost said:

Here's a novel idea. What if they just released one version with no bonus anything?

How dare you. 

[Envelion 14]

I honestly love -most- of the rerecordings of their new songs, bit the remixes usually miss me. The folklore version of Vanitas is nice though because it's so different. 

Edited September 22, 2018 by Envelion

[Seelentau 884]

Another random interview:

https://okmusic.jp/news/292989?f=fb

 

While repeating construction and destruction, DIR EN GREY keeps on walking forward.

[AverageS 19]

On 9/18/2018 at 8:51 PM, Saishu said:

The multi-type release thing specifically feels like a bit of a rip off with DEG because they rarely offer anything you haven’t heard before. It was shocking that Arche actually had two extra tracks that were original compositions. The rest of that shit where they just plaster Kyo’s vocal track over a remix or what have you needs to stop. It’s so lazy. 

 

That unplugged version of The Final on Unraveling pisses me off. The instrumental sounds like it belongs in a Tim Burton movie. 

It still baffles me that and Zero and Tefu Tefu are only bonus tracks...

[Saishu 1589]

12 minutes ago, AverageS said:

It still baffles me that and Zero and Tefu Tefu are only bonus tracks...

They both could have fit without breaking the 80 minute limit, but I guess they thought 18 tracks would be overkill. And they’re obviously not throwaway tracks because they’ve played them live. 

[Seelentau 884]

I mean we can all agree that and Zero is the perfect opening track, right? They even use it as an opener during concerts sometimes, but na, better make it a deluxe track.

[Saishu 1589]

When I rearranged the track order for Arche I put And Zero in the middle, but I was going for an old school LP vibe with a distinct side A and side B. I used And Zero to represent the break. 

 

Otherwise, And Zero should have openened the album followed by Vacant Image. 

[AverageS 19]

I actually thought and Zero transitioned really well into Tefu Tefu, however rearranging the album like that breaks the Zero Un Deux sequence which may be sort of a bummer.

[EvilHippy 142]

4 minutes ago, Saishu said:

When I rearranged the track order for Arche I put And Zero in the middle, but I was going for an old school LP vibe with a distinct side A and side B. I used And Zero to represent the break. 

 

Otherwise, And Zero should have openened the album followed by Vacant Image. 

Well, during Budokan gigs they kinda did both.
During 1st day And Zero was played between Magayasou and Tefu Tefu (after which came Kaishun).
And they started 2nd day with And Zero, Kukoku and then Behind a Vacant Image.

[LIDL 692]

I would not mind at all for them to do a couple instrumentals like And Zero and place it between sequences on an album the way they did to 3 Shinso SEs on Kisou