Dir en grey

[Saishu 1589]

Maybe. Jens Bogren was probably around during the remastering process and they kept him on board for those three. I keep forgetting who mixed the Vestige remakes. 

[geist 227]

I really love how in keibetsu the main riff has subtle changes between each verse and completely changes by the end of the song. Very similar to The Inferno in that regard. I should just put those two songs on repeat for the rest of my life. 

Edited October 5, 2018 by geist
idk

[Kelrya 145]

A lot of people act like Kaoru’s guitar playing is nothing but hurr durr chugalug brocore riffs but a lot of it is surprisingly clever like that. I do wish he’d done more with the main riff in Downfall though, I like that song a lot but that main riff is way too repetitive.

[DogManX 179]

Not a bad album but noth spectacular either. It starts pretty weak... the obligatory "brutal" song as an opener? Definitely risky in general and it didn't pay out this time.
 

But then it gets better, Ningen wo blablabla is probably the least forgettable of the previous released ones. After that though... I don't know how to describe other wise but it's a constant rollercoaster ride up and down and up again. There's no consistensy for quality here as I see it, one time they blow me away with epic mellow guitar vibes (like Aka) and then they completely destroy it by going full autism on tracks like Downfall or Rubbish Heap.

 

In general what disturbs me on this album more than ever is their conviction to certain structure formulae. May it be this forced contrast between flat, metalcore-esque verse parts and super melodic choruses, or flat first halfs with a melodic conclusion... this comes down to taste of course and people may not agree with me on this... but if you're trying to be an experimental band, the last thing you want is for your music to be predictable is it?

 

Whatever, the conclusion of this album didn't really shine so much either, ranunculus may not be a total failure of a song, but I just feel I've heard this song dozen of times before within other songs. It gets old.

 

So what's left for me is an average record with some of the most awesome works they've done so far, but also a lot of shit on the way. 3/5.

Edited October 5, 2018 by DogManX

[Nowhere Girl 189]

5 hours ago, DogManX said:

In general what disturbs me on this album more than ever is their conviction to certain structure formulae. May it be this forced contrast between flat, metalcore-esque verse parts and super melodic choruses, or flat first halfs with a melodic conclusion... this comes down to taste of course and people may not agree with me on this... but if you're trying to be an experimental band, the last thing you want is for your music to be predictable is it?

Did they ever claim to be an experimental band? They've experimentED with a ton of different modes of writing and producing music, sure. But their music has always been at least relatively digestible structurally since pre-GAUZE. They went a bit experimental with DSS, but even there, songs like DECAYED CROW still have clearly defined verses and choruses.

 

Since ARCHE they've been quite vocal about simplifying the music, presumably because it's tough for them to rehearse and pull off live.

[Saishu 1589]

I think DEG are labeled experimental by the fans that want to keep the band on this extremely high pedestal of untouched creativity. MUCC are notorious genre hoppers, but I don’t recall anyone slapping the experimental label on them. 

[StriderSubzero 53]

So what's the worst DEG song? It's gotta be Berry right?

[nullmoon 784]

Berry is fucking great.

 

Taiyou no Ao, for sure. 

[Kelrya 145]

Probably Foocha.

[Saishu 1589]

Was gonna say S or Erode, but those are forgettable, not necessarily bad. 

 

Foocha Family is awful. 

[WhirlingBlack 1043]

After the Kisou tour I can't say that Domestic Fucker Family is mediocre anymore. Such a great live track. Awesome energy and crowd interaction.

 

Kuukoku no Kyouon is their worst track for me. Goes nowhere and feels nothing. That or Sustain the Untruth like I elaborated on somewhere else. 

[Nowhere Girl 189]

28 minutes ago, WhirlingBlack said:

Kuukoku no Kyouon is their worst track for me. Goes nowhere and feels nothing.

Wat.

Also Taiyou no Ao is fantastic.

 

For me, there are a few songs I often skip. MASK and audrey come to mind immediately. Jesus Christ RnR is kinda fun but pretty stupid, too.

 

Some of the newer singles I just roll my eyes at when they start playing them live. Hageshisa to... was horrendously overplayed for a long time. LOTUS feels boring now. Sustain the Untruth is the same.

 

Tbh, I'd take any bad Dir en grey song over the crap they play on the radio these days.

[ghost 2687]

R to the Core easily takes the cake for me.

[Kelrya 145]

11 hours ago, DogManX said:

they completely destroy it by going full autism on tracks like Downfall or Rubbish Heap.

Full... autism?

[Saishu 1589]

16 minutes ago, ghost said:

R to the Core easily takes the cake for me.

Shit, yeah. That song is a huge stain on Vulgar. 

[Saishu 1589]

58 minutes ago, WhirlingBlack said:

After the Kisou tour I can't say that Domestic Fucker Family is mediocre anymore. Such a great live track. Awesome energy and crowd interaction.

But it’s still a shitty album song!

[mopkins 42]

the worst dir en grey song is aoi tsuki and nothing else even comes close

[DogManX 179]

7 minutes ago, Saishu said:

But it’s still a shitty album song! 

I think it's one of the few songs on that album which actually approved of the very .. rough .. production. And the bass in the main riff just does it for me.

 

I used to hate I'll most and I still think I do in  a way, but Downfall from the new record has such an ANNOYING guitar theme it kinda became a big rival quickly.

[libertine 125]

.

Edited December 12, 2019 by libertine

[mopkins 42]

Pink Killer is like the only song from Kisou I go out of my way to listen to

 

like I'll suddenly think "oh, I haven't heard Pink Killer in a while.  I should fix that"

[StriderSubzero 53]

You all are making me sad. I love Aoi tsuki and Pink KIller

[pingpongdream 34]

｢S｣  and DECAYED CROW.

[Kelrya 145]

Aoi Tsuki is great especially because it’s one of the few songs they have with an odd time signature. Berry is weird because the chorus and verses sound like they belong to completely different songs. A lot of their older songs had this issue but this is one of the worst cases. Decayed Crow is a BANGER. A downright BOP I’ll tell you what. R to the Core’s intro is great but Kyo’s voice is really obnoxious to the point where it sounds like a joke song. The mode of Kisou version of Foocha was a lot better than the album version. I love the ending of Pink Killer but that song and the rest of Kisou have some of Kyo’s worst most edgelord lyrics. Oh yeah and Audrey is pretty boring. That shitty twangy intro is such a buzzkill after the epicness of Macabre.

Edited October 6, 2018 by Kelrya

[Saishu 1589]

I’m going to make a Worst DEG Songs playlist. 

[blacktooth 227]

I wish they didn’t take themselves so seriously and would make a WORST OF album to follow up Vestige of Scratches.