Album Rating: 3.5

If there is one word to describe this album, it would be 'safe'. Not too much experimentation, and it mostly reiterates what they've already done (hence why ive seen so many compare certain tracks to the sound of a different album, like Celebrate Empty Howls to Vulgar, and Utafumi to Arche). I agree with Simon, would be nice if they tried something new. I think Keigaku no Yoku and Zetsuentai were a step in the right direction, but if they continue making tracks like Ningen wo Kaburu, I feel like their sound will quickly became stale. What was great about the Uroboros-Arche era was how distinct each album sounded, all while still maintaining that familiar Dir en Grey touch. This album could honestly have been much better if the band had a bit more time to fully cultivate the ideas brought forth on this album. There is lots of powerful energy and excitement throughout this album that I find particularly interesting, and I feel like this energy has poured over into their live sets recently as well (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqbcMLr9wZk for example). Over the past year my opinion on this album has been all over the place, at times I've loved it, others I've thought it a disappointing mess (as you can probably see if you search through the sea of comments for this album over the past year). Now im just at peace with the album as it is. It isn't Uroboros, and will never be Uroboros. But its still a worthwhile effort in my eyes, and now that the disappointment I felt when it first came out has all but faded away, I'm more pleased with this record than I ever was to begin with.

Album Rating: 2.0

There are a handful of good songs here (Aka is one), so it's not hopeless. With better production it might be a 3 at a major stretch but as is I doubt I'll revisit it.



I do have some ideas as to what they could do differently next, but they won't happen. One is a chilled out Damnation style album, which is the most plausible. The others are a Japanese folk-influenced equivalent to Mabool or Tengger Cavalry (extremely unlikely, but would be interesting) and a black metal-influenced album (Kyo certainly has the screeches down, but this would require riffs).



A folk-influenced album would be interesting because I recall some people moaning about them "Americanising" their sound, as if they weren't always playing western style music. A consciously Eastern metal record (Kyo throat singing? Mongolian, but an interesting idea) would be a very different approach.

@Irony: I mean compared to 2007-2012. Constant touring, promoting their albums a lot stateside...they wanted a breakthrough in the US and DSS underperformed. To take that along with the dispute with The End Records and problems with their NA team; they're not actively chasing for growth anymore. In fact, I thought they abandoned NA completely until this tour got announced. Also, I wouldn't call this a tour for TIW, it's for the new single and for being away for ages.

Album Rating: 3.5

As an emerging fan back when DSS dropped, it was sad to see DSS in my local record shop, hearing a new album being announced (Arche), and seeing that it wasn't offered anywhere and finding out that they were done with The End Records, and I was back to square one in terms of acquiring their albums.

Album Rating: 3.0

@Uzumaki: I remember very well The End Records going back & forth whether will they/won't they release Arche for months leading up to it before they finally admitted "Yeah DEG has left the label" Shortly afterwards The End got bought by Sony BMG and as far as whether they're still an active label is debatable. Luckily I jumped on the chance of acquiring the ltd. deluxe edition of Arche and it paid off cause that was an amazing album.



It's about time I revisit this (TIW) album though cause I think I let enough time to pass for me to try it again. IDK if my current score will reflect how I'll feel about it now in 2019: could get bumped up, could get bumped lower, could stay the same IDK.

Album Rating: 3.5

they may not be readily available in US record stores anymore but it ain't too bad getting the Euro pressings for relatively cheap

Album Rating: 3.5

Yeah, Amazon has relatively decent deals for DEG, based on which buyer you go through, but outside of some larger "indie" record stores, you can't/won't find DEG readily.

I was able to find some singles and another copy of WTD at a store called The Exclusive Co., but these instances are few and far inbetween.

Album Rating: 4.5

I’m looking forward to the new single, their long songs are usually great.

Album Rating: 3.5

Fingers crossed...

Album Rating: 2.0

@Calc How much of a breakthrough were they expecting, though? A band playing their crazy style of music and not speaking English well wasn't exactly going to be mainstream popular. DSS sold a fair number of copies for the kind of album it was.

I don't know but I imagine better selling than Uroboros, which it didn't.

Album Rating: 2.0

It didn't, but it's not hard to see why. DSS is a fair bit less accessible than Uroboros is, and they must have known that at the time. The English language singles they did for Uroboros probably helped promote that album as well, even though I greatly prefer the Japanese versions.



If I released an album anything like DSS I wouldn't expect to be able to make minimum wage off it.

Album Rating: 3.5

The English language singles they did for Uroboros probably helped promote that album as well, even though I greatly prefer the Japanese versions. [2]



It was funny, I had replaced Uroboros with the R&E edition on my iPod, and I went to listen to it a couple weeks ago and "Glass Skin" and "Dozing Green" played in Japanese and I was like "What the?...."

Album Rating: 2.0

Those songs are so much better without the lyrics sounding like someone singing a foreign language off a teleprompter.

Album Rating: 3.0

english glass skin and dozing green are disasters imo, it's japanese ver. or gtfo

Album Rating: 2.0

[2]. Always hated Kyo's English. It's so painfully obvious he can't speak the language properly and is just guessing at the pronunciation. Makes me wonder how seriously they ever really took the US market if they couldn't be bothered to learn English to a reasonable level; I get the impression they were always far more comfortable at home. The ideal situation for them would probably have been to keep the lyrics mostly Japanese but have at least one of them speak fluent enough English to make YouTube videos and do interviews.



@Calc was saying that they thought that DSS underperformed, whereas I think it performed pretty well given the crazy nature of that album's music, the language barrier they didn't work hard enough to surmount, their sometimes obnoxious fanbase being repulsive to newcomers, etc.

The English versions of their songs is something we all regret.

@Irony: Definitely agree with you that it did good sales wise for what it was, the Japanese music industry has a different measuring stick and perspective unfortunately.

Album Rating: 3.5

“The English versions of their songs is something we all regret.”

I would only disagree with this with Glass Skin and Dozing Green, but then again those were the versions I “grew up” with, and therefore associate with the most; the Japanese versions I’m still aurally getting used to, so I don’t care for them as highly as the English versions. Given time, I know I’ll enjoy them equally.

Album Rating: 3.5

Pretty much all the tracks on Marrow have English, and even though it makes no sense, i still love that album for what it is

Album Rating: 3.5

More like... Ingrish, yes?