DIR EN GREY released their 10th album "The Insulated World" on September 26, 2018

[LIDL 692]

In that case I need kyo to wear wigs just to snatch it away on some heavy song during live, just for the GIF.

[blacktooth 227]

I need a detailed review of the CD packaging on my desk by the end of the day!

[VESSMIER 873]

27 minutes ago, Saishu said:

Jesus Christ these lyrics are bleak as fuck, but then Ranunculus ends with “Scream alive, I am alive” so maybe he’s cool. 

Agree, some lyrics are really painful to read, especially because they’re so blunt and direct. I still think that despite some darker elements, the cover art has a very hopeful, peaceful and lively vibe. Maybe along with Ranunculus it’s somewhat symbolic of the light at the end of the tunnel that is this album. 😱

Edited September 28, 2018 by VESSMIER

[Kelrya 145]

24 minutes ago, Saishu said:

Jesus Christ these lyrics are bleak as fuck, but then Ranunculus ends with “Scream alive, I am alive” so maybe he’s cool. 

I hope so. I’m not the type to get worried/emotional about celebrities I don’t even know irl but these lyrics really freak me out a bit. His other lyrics have had a poetic feel or just come of as him trying to shock people and be edgy but these seemed way more real. However he did say in a couple interviews that he was very adamant about Keibetsu to Hajimari being the first track and Ranunculus being the final track so it’s a good sign that the album ends with the one somewhat hopeful song.

[geist 227]

46 minutes ago, Saishu said:

Got it ten minutes ago!

Great news!

[Saishu 1589]

Devote My Life in particular pulls no punches. Basically says it’s not his parents’ fault he’s miserable, but he shouldn’t have been born to begin with. I just... don’t understand why those lyrics are in a song so fucking chaotic and abrasive. 

[EzraEroguro 174]

2 hours ago, Seelentau said:

sry for off-topic uwu

Hush, you're a godsend. Thanks for clearing it up.

[Saishu 1589]

Know what sucks?

 

My car doesn’t have a CD player. Like, this is becoming a thing now. 

[EzraEroguro 174]

13 minutes ago, Saishu said:

Devote My Life in particular pulls no punches. Basically says it’s not his parents’ fault he’s miserable, but he shouldn’t have been born to begin with. I just... don’t understand why those lyrics are in a song so fucking chaotic and abrasive. 

I mean...yeah. Even Keigaku no Yoku is pretty descript as far as a funeral procession goes.

[Saishu 1589]

43 minutes ago, blacktooth said:

I need a detailed review of the CD packaging on my desk by the end of the day!

Best part is the text on the spine is in shiny purple foil lettering. 

[Kelrya 145]

I’m still holding out for a vinyl release

I know a lot of people hate the artwork on this but I like it a lot which makes me want it more. I think it conveys the feeling of loneliness and being an outsider without being generic faux-goth like WtD or something.

[Saishu 1589]

10 minutes ago, Kelrya said:

I’m still holding out for a vinyl release

I know a lot of people hate the artwork on this but I like it a lot which makes me want it more. I think it conveys the feeling of loneliness and being an outsider without being generic faux-goth like WtD or something.

If you want it for the artwork that’s fine, but most modern vinyl releases are kind of pointless since the music is recorded digitally and mastered for digital platforms. 

[Kelrya 145]

I know, but it’s not like I’m gonna use the physical CD either, 99% of the time I’ll listen to it digitally so I’d rather have the bigger art and stuff.

[LIDL 692]

5 hours ago, blacktooth said:

I need a detailed review of the CD packaging on my desk by the end of the day!

Hmm, the first press limited one are pretty standard. 2 CDs. Jewel case encased in hard paper cover. Nothing special with it. The booklet are typical. But no band pictures though. Only lyrics and credits.

 

Getting the limited DVD/BluRay would be better of you got the cash or wanted the DVD since it seems also come with extra booklet/photobook? (??)

[LEY 7]

5 hours ago, LIDL said:

In that case I need kyo to wear wigs just to snatch it away on some heavy song during live, just for the GIF.

Ooo the mental visual. This kinda need to happen

[VESSMIER 873]

5 hours ago, LIDL said:

Getting the limited DVD/BluRay would be better of you got the cash or wanted the DVD since it seems also come with extra booklet/photobook? (??)

I thought some pictures had already been posted but here's the contents of the limited deluxe edition (photobook with band pictures in the top right corner).

 

[Nowhere Girl 189]

On initial listen: This is a bad album.

 

I'm that person who praises DEG almost all the time (I still skip audrey, though). I enjoy songs like The inferno and Midwife. However, I simply cannot defend this dumpster-fire.

 

I haven't really ever had a problem with the mix and master on any previous album, with the exception of the poor album version of Hageshisa and the constant torrent of Madsenverb which has plagued the last few releases (which I like but gets stale after hearing it for four albums in a row).

However, here, the production, mixing, mastering are unforgivable. I know many bedroom producers who can make a better sounding album than this. Hell, even I  can make something that sounds better than this. The guitar tone in particular is fucking horrendous. The whole thing is so compressed that it actually hurts to listen to. This is probably the worst album I have ever heard in terms of brickwalling. It's so loud that it's completely flat, with no dynamics whatsoever.

 

The first 6 songs on the album are a blur of noise, Kyo screaming nonsensically accompanied by a solid wall of distortion. Aside from the singles, I couldn't hear anything in here which resembled a song. It's exhausting, impenetrable, and boring. From Aka onwards, I somewhat enjoyed what I was hearing. There were a few tracks which sounded very similar to previous ones. I heard a Rinkaku pt2, DREAMBOX pt2, LIE BURIED pt2. Seems lazy, but okay. Just sort of mediocre.

 

Overall, I felt there were no stand-out tracks whatsoever.

 

The worst thing is, song-wise, this is the album I wanted. Something raw, angry, and fun, like MARROW. But I didn't want it to sound like this! Perhaps there are good songs here. It's going to take a while for me to digest what's going on and get over the fact that it sounds so terrible. I really want to like this. Again, I'm the fan who enjoys almost every song from this band with very few exceptions.

 

Since they did such a piss-poor job with this one, from everything about the audio to the packaging (misspellings, missing translations, etc), I predict that we'll see a remaster in the vein of UROBOROS within the next few years.

Edited September 29, 2018 by Nowhere Girl

[Kelrya 145]

I honestly think the exhausting wall of nonsensical screaming noise is the whole point of the first half of the album. It’s basically a concept album about Kyo’s mental state and that’s why it ends with the most hopeful song musically and lyrically. At least that’s how I’ve interpreted it since he said in an interview that the order was deliberate.

 

I agree about the production though.

Edited September 29, 2018 by Kelrya

[Nowhere Girl 189]

1 hour ago, Kelrya said:

I honestly think the exhausting wall of nonsensical screaming noise is the whole point of the first half of the album. It’s basically a concept album about Kyo’s mental state and that’s why it ends with the most hopeful song musically and lyrically. At least that’s how I’ve interpreted it since he said in an interview that the order was deliberate.

No, I get it. My main problem isn't with the songwriting itself but the wall of noise. The fact that there's 6 songs in a row which are nigh-unlistenable due to the poor production is a serious turn-off. Seriously, it sounds like it was mixed on noisy public transport with iPhone earbuds. Like a kid who rushed their homework on the bus on the way to school.

 

I'm going to try listening to this on different devices and headphones until I hopefully find something that sounds passable. Someone else said it was all right on a shitty setup, so maybe I'll try that next.

Edited September 29, 2018 by Nowhere Girl

[Saishu 1589]

Try turning the treble up a bit and the volume down. 

 

Honestly, it doesn’t sound great, but it doesn’t sound as bad as any rock album touched by Rick Rubin. Listen to the original mix of Metallica’s Death Magnetic for one of the worst example of brickwalling. 

[LIDL 692]

OOT:  I don't think even Metallica want to remember that phase in their life, dark past, man! I like some Rubin produced albums though like Licensed to III and Toxicity for examples.

[Bear 1817]

Rick Rubin has tons of fantastic production jobs on his CV. Like, tons (Radio, Raising Hell, Reign in Blood, Licensed to Ill, Electric, Danzig, Tougher Than Leather, Danzig II: Lucifuge, Trouble and Blood Sugar Sex Magik just to mention a few of his works where he truly shines.). There's a reason why his this acclaimed and considered one of the very best producers ever, but it's also his creative side and how he made bands and artists perform their best and make smart choices as where to go next in their career. It's only in "recent times " that he's gone full retard with his productionjobs. His works in the past however. Holy moly!

 

 

Edited September 29, 2018 by Bear

[Saishu 1589]

Oh, yeah! My intention wasn’t to discredit the man’s work with such a sweeping generalization. He’s done some fantastic work in the past, but I’d say for nearly two decades now almost every Rick Rubin project is a wall of noise. Fuck, he even managed to make Billy Corgan’s recent acoustic solo album sound loud as hell. 

 

Blood Sugar Sex Magik sounds awesome. Californication does not. That was actually the first album where I noticed the loudness thing. 

Edited September 29, 2018 by Saishu

[Bear 1817]

I know. It was more a response to the post directly above mine.

 

And yes, his work in the last 20 years has been poor, with Californication, Death Magnetic and 13 as the prime examples on how not to produce an album. It's not much music that's gone to wadte though, as only Californication actually had any good music. But it's completely unlistenable tbh.

[Saishu 1589]

So Dan Lancaster mixed The Insulated World, and looking thru his past works he’s also produced albums for One OK Rock, Blink-182, Crossfaith, Avril Lavigne, and Bring Me The Horizon. He also mixed the Ningen single, so I guess DEG wanted him to mix the entire album since he did such a GREAT JOB with Ningen.