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| Don't judge a book by it's cover. |
TRACKLIST:
01. DIFFERENT SENSE
02. Tsumi to Kisei (罪と規制)
03. RED SOIL [LIVE]
[DOWNLOAD LINKS BELOW THE POST]
DIR EN GREY said that their three singles from their upcoming full-length album (their eighth to be exact), “DUM SPIRO SPERO” are the ‘easy listening tracks’ of the album.
Heh, makes me wanna say, “WHAT THE FUCK” (no matter how much I would love to censor it for my über-sensitive readers, I just don’t wanna).
“Hey, no swear words, man!” Whatever… LOSER.
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| Here's what they looked like in the (latter part of the) video.... |
‘LOTUS’ might me a so-called ‘easy listening track’ (though it ain’t that bad, really), but something as intense as ‘Hageshisa to, Kono Mune no Naka de Karamitsuita Shakunetsu no Yami’? Sorry for that über-long title, I just have to say the whole name for my readers who might be lost at this very moment. Well, NO WAY MAN… NO WAY. What’s worse is that “DIFFERENT SENSE” is no better than ‘Hageshisa to…’. That is, if all you’re finding are ‘easy listening tracks’, that is.
Don’t expect something that sounds like “LOTUS”.
Don’t expect something ballad-y.
And most of all, don’t expect silence.
If you think your ears got hurt with “Hageshisa to…” (because it sounds too loud for your own good and NOT because it sounds deathcore-esque because of the breakdown), then you better stop reading right now.
‘DIFFERENT SENSE’ (the song, not the single as a whole) is THE BOMB.
“Whoa… Oh really?” Really. Listen to believe.
Combining death metal sounds with slow chugging riffs a la Meshuggah (as I’ve heard from one YouTube commenter) and smooth singing passages by Kyo (not to mention the guitar solo that screams, ‘sugoi!’), DIR EN GREY has once again made excellence.
Just saying the truth here, nothing else…
With the song starting with some energetic death metal-esque riffs (if not really death metal), the song blasts off with some low-tuned guitars playing crunchy riffs and tremolo pickings, and of course, a dose of intimidation. Kyo’s grunts and banshee wails (as I call it, again) follow suit.
“Geez La:morT, banshee wails!? Are you out of your mind!?” What else to call it then? Try to hear it and call it something better for a change, then.
Then comes the ‘chugging with singing’ part. Yes, the one featured on their first preview (the one without a video). Thinking back to the point when I thought it was very weird for my own good, I now think that it’s not that bad after all (upon hearing the whole song, of course). Especially the transition from ‘slow and chuggy’ to ‘epic win’ (the part featured on the second preview, this time with video teaser). The only part I didn’t like is the transition from death metal-esque music to the ‘slow and chuggy’ part. If only it didn’t sound that forced, then it wouldn’t be this bad.
Dir en Grey - DIFFERENT SENSE [PV] (HD)
After that is the “the guitar solo that screams, ‘sugoi!’” part. Before this, I thought that they don’t know how to create a guitar solo anymore. Wow, I was wrong after all. But first, why did it sound ‘sugoi’ (by the way, it means ‘great’ in Japanese, for those fools who don’t know)? Besides sounding emotional (at least the first half), technical (kind of) and superb, you better take notice at the latter half of the solo and answer this question:
“How many guitars do you hear playing the solo (NOT the rhythm section)?”
Two, right? You usually hear musicians play their solos like this:
Lead guitarist does the solo like there’s no tomorrow.
Rhythm guitarist just does the rhythm.
That alone makes the fact that hearing two guitars doing the solo in harmony is amazing, especially in a live setting.
To make it short, what comes after the solo are the following:
1) Some more death metal-esque music (if you don’t consider it death metal). Nothing much has changed… except the fact that it comes back for vengeance. Oh, and a much better transition for the next part, too, which is...
2) Another ‘singing with chugging’ part. With a much better transition, the part also became longer and better, of course. And most of all, more epic-ness, which ended the song well.
There you have it, a comprehensive description/review of ‘DIFFERENT SENSE’. Next are the b-sides, then.
Oh, ‘Tsumi to Kisei’… the second track off the single…
“Is it like the original? Or even a semblance of it?” Nope, definitely not like the original.
“Why is such, then?” Don’t worry, I’ll tell you why, right… about… now.
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| ...and this is what they look like in real life. |
While the original might sound energetic, fresh (being the new band they were then) and kind of easy on the ears (compared to their sound now), the remake is one hell of a beast, having a sound much like death metal with slices of doom and all. It’s fuckin’ heavy, complete with death growls over the song. I could say, more or less a proper metal song.
Although it might be a death/doom beast compared to the original, oh man…
WHAT A BORING BEAST IT IS!
I might be no doom metal expert, and the fact that I don't have any doom in my music collection as far as I remember made the fact worse, but at least I could say that this song…
…doesn’t make much point at all. You, as a listener, should know that a good doom metal track isn’t good just because it’s über-slow (even I could make that kind, dammit). A doom metal track becomes is because it successfully delivers the feeling it wants to deliver to the listener (although I don’t know what those feelings are).
NEXT.
DIR EN GREY - RED SOIL [Live]
Oh, oh! A live version of “RED SOIL” to follow that mess could certainly make it up. Live versions of their songs really have the feel of the actual concert (though I still think going to an actual concert of theirs is essential). In that live version, the song had much more life, and besides that, it sounded close to the original version. If not, then with some improvements.
Sugoi!
Two things got my attention though. First is the screaming girl before they started the song. Not that it bothers me much; it just got my attention so much, or too much for that matter. Second is the ‘otherworldly backing vocals’ on the song’s chorus. Not that it sounds terrible. In fact, it sounds badass, it’s just that it has that sound of fading in and fading out (in short: kinda creepy). But all that’s well ends well, so I got no more to say.
Not bad for a third single, especially the single itself (did that make sense, guys?). ‘DIFFERENT SENSE’ definitely made me excited for the album that’ll be released at August 2. Oh yeah, baby… You bring chaos, then bring it on!
(just wait for the DUM SPIRO SPERO)
