‘Music’: Dir En Grey in Arche

| Hatchet

Hey bitmunchers!

Today we’ll be talking about what the title says.  Imagine that.

Dir En Grey is a Japanese visual kei band formed in 1997.  They have released 9 full length albums and many special edition live dvds.  Dir En Grey has been incredibly successful with large followings in Europe and America as well as Japan.  Their sound has evolved through every album they have released, and you can hear the group mature throughout the years.  Most of their music is a form of metal, though some of their songs could be classified as pop-rock.  Dir En Grey is comprised of members Kyo (vocals), Kaoru (guitar), Die (guitar), Toshiya (bass), and Shinya (drums, the prettiest).  The members of Dir En Grey (sans Toshiya) were formerly part of La:Sadie’s before recruiting Toshiya and releasing their first mini album Missa in 1997.

Fun fact: you can find all the band members blood types on their website, so if you happen to be a vampire you know which member is safe to drink from.

Arche (the Greek word for origin) is Dir En Grey’s 9th full length ablum and was released in 2014.  The album has also had two special edition releases featuring new tracks and acoustic versions.  Arche is characterized by the theme of pain and everything the band has accomplished since it’s inception.

Track List

  1. Un deux [1 2 (it’s French)]
  2. 咀嚼 (Soshaku) [Mastication (like, to chew.  I had no idea either)]
  3. 鱗 (Uroko) [Fish Scales]
  4. Phenomenon
  5. Cause of fickleness
  6. 濤声 (Tousei) [Voice of Waves]
  7. 輪郭 (Rinkaku) [Contour]
  8. Chain repulsion
  9. Midwife
  10. 禍夜想 (Magayasou) [Calamitous Night Thought]
  11. 懐春 (Kaishun) [?]
  12. Behind a vacant image
  13. Sustain the untruth
  14. 空谷の跫音 (Kukoku no kyouon) [Footsteps in the lonely valley]
  15. The inferno
  16. Revelation of mankind

Favourite tracks include: Un deux, Uroko, Tousei, Rinkaku, and Revelation of Mankind.  It is so hard to narrow it down, I love every song on this album and I’ve been listening to it obsessively for the past week.  If you are into Japanese music, or even just anime, I highly recommend Dir En Grey (though I’d watch their MV’s with caution due to cultural differences and questionable content.  Kind of like Disturbed’s MV’s.  Good music, disturbing MV’s (see what I did there??) All the links here are safe though, I’m looking out for you ;33).

Let me know what you think of this format, it is slightly different than previous album reviews (for reference here is my review of Balance and Composure).

I also wanted to say that my site is mobile friendly if you’re catching up on the go!

This is According to Hatchet,

Thanks for being here x33

 

(I used jisho.org for the translations)

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