Dir en Grey | Artist
Dir en Grey is a Japanese progressive metal band formed 1997 in Osaka by Kyo (vocals), Kaoru (guitar), Die (guitar) and Shinya (drums). They play Progressive/Avant Garde Metal based on a distorted twin guitar attack with driving rhythm section and other worldly screaming from singer Kyo, Dir en Grey is one of the first Japanese metal bands to break through in the West. Initially associated with visual kei movement, drawing on Western glam metal, including heavy make-up, elaborate hair styles, flamboyant costumes, and an androgynous look, they later opted for more subtle attire, but have continued to maintain a dramatic image on stage. The band's songs are sung in Japanese but they have a significant following outside of Japan. One reviewer described their excellent debut album Gauze as the "perfect balance between pop, metal, gothic rock, alternative, and their indie visual kei style fully fleshed out with the help of Yoshiki on production." In later albums the band moved away from their alternative rock roots towards a heavier metal sound. These albums feature complex song structures and guitar work, longer track lengths, and a broader variety of particularly western influences, such as death metal, deathcore and groove metal. The band's hardcore experimental approach ha created controversy in Japan as some of their music videos have been banned from television for "abrasive visuals including baby-eating, murder, and gore." Similarly, stations refused to play the video for 2008's "Vinushka" which included stock footage of WWII and newspaper headlines following the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. As for their musical influences, Kyo cited Bauhaus' Press the Eject and Give me the Tape, and David Sylvian's Secrets of the Beehive as his favourite albums. Kaoru listed Japanese metal band X's Blue Blood, Pantera's Vulgar Display of Power, and Nine Inch Nails' The Downward Spiral as his favourites, and Die's inspirations include Japanese visual kei bands D'erlanger and Ziggy. To-date the band has release Eleven consistently excellent studio albums, plus two collections presenting their best material: Decade 1998-2002 and Decade 2003-2007, both released in 2007. Outstanding albums include their debut Gauze (1999), plus Vulgar (2003), Withering to Death (2005), Uroboros (2008), Dum Spiro Spero (2011), The Unravelling (2013), and Arche (2014). The band name Dir en Grey was chosen as they wanted to convey a musical image that was neither black nor white, so they picked grey.
Artist Website: direngrey.co.jp/lang_en/
Featured Albums: Dir en Grey
Related Artists: Kyo, Sukekiyo
