Album Rating: 5.0

Utafumi and Ningen wo Kaburu; basically just recycled sounds from the last two albums

Album Rating: 4.5

Ningen is pretty cool, Utafumi is just a Kyo showcase with bland riffs.

Album Rating: 5.0

I dunno, the chorus to Ningen wo Kaburu annoys the fuck out of me because it's just ripping off an amazing chorus from arche lol

Album Rating: 5.0

Utafumi is pretty good as far as heavy, straight forward DEG goes. Energetic enough to feel expressive and fun. NWK just feels stacked together, but I don't have much against the single parts.

Album Rating: 3.0

Don't feel the new singles at all. They way they are produced, the guitar tones, the cheaply appealing songwriting, everything reminds me of predictable and bland Nu Metal tbh.



This one on the other hand gets better with each listening although the direction they go now is already apparent in parts.

Album Rating: 3.5

I dunno why they stripped so many layers of depth from their latest songs and the riffs they are centering their latest songs around..... I mean c'mon is this the same band that came out with that monstrous riff at 4:20 in Vinushka?

Album Rating: 4.5

In a 20+ year career, DEG has covered pretty much every ground that needs to be explored, the only logical thing IMO that they could do at this point is to either regress and revisit an older sound...or just...become derivative and sound like a typical, generic unremarkable J-rock band and potentially destroy all artistic integrity they had by doing so.

Album Rating: 3.5

Nope, still want them to make a black metal record with some jrock choruses and weird chanting shit thrown in.

Album Rating: 4.5

Well...almost everything. Personally, I want them to sack Shinya for one album in favor for the most industrial like drum machine and do their spin on Streetcleaner with Kyo only using spastic gurgling and screams.

Album Rating: 4.5

"become derivative and sound like a typical, generic unremarkable J-rock band and potentially destroy all artistic integrity they had by doing so"



Well, if anything.. these new DeG songs do a good job of drawing out the hyperbolic and elitist Sputnikers.



Jesus H Batman, you can dislike something without whinging about how DeG have suddenly betrayed themselves and you.

Album Rating: 4.5

I’ll give you credit zuzek by admitting that my comments were a bit exaggerated and definitely WAS elitist of me. To your credit, I gave it a few more listens and while I hate to admit it, it has marginally grown on me. The vocal melody’s good, I admit.

I’m still giving this album a chance, I pre-ordered this fucking shit too so if it ends up tanking for me, it’s going to be really hard for me to swallow the commitment I made to have it preordered months ahead. Hard to believe, but I want to like the album, and I want to believe DEG will keep putting numbers on the board w/this album. It’s just that I’ve been so mixed about all the singles so far (but they ended up growing on me many months later), that I sometimes question whether or not they can even deliver. Time well tell I guess and that time’s coming up real soon.

Album Rating: 4.5

I've been listening to the singles again several times for these past few days and I've gotta say that: 1. I'm still not a fan of Utafumi, 2. Ningen wo kaburu is fine but still lacks something, and 3. Ranunculus has grown a lot on me. Like, it's simple and all you want, but the vibe and the melodies are REALLY good. Plus, it's the single edit, so the album version will still have something else to add. And better or worse than previous works, they all still sound unmistakably like DEG to me, so I'm not at all worried, still pumped for the album.

May not be as rich as the past few but I'd like to think it's still gonna be damn good because that's what they've been doing for the past 20 years (of which I've been a fan for 15 already), no reason to think otherwise.

Album Rating: 5.0

tbf, the single edits don't take that much away from the song. you're still getting the bulk of the track bar an interlude or something. I can't see anything from the full cut making it a knockout track.

Album Rating: 4.0

"no reason to think otherwise."



you literally just said you only really like one of the three singles so far though lol



been wanting to say something in this thread for a while now about how it pisses me off that everyone admitting they aren't enjoying the songwriting or general direction of the singles are being told they're "elitist" and accused of "whinging" because they aren't lapping this shit up



all these singles have been so far are "literally any current mainstream Japanese metal outfit" but with Kyo singing. They're dynamically flat, safely composed and offer very little for a band whom listeners have come to expect more from. I don't understand how the perspective of not enjoying these songs is so difficult to see

Album Rating: 5.0

And at people like zuzek, just know I'm not knocking these new songs to sound like an asshole that wants the album to fail. Diru have been one of my favourite bands for nearly 10 years, and have the deluxe edition of the new album on pre-order (hell, I even have a tattoo based on them). I don't want to pay that kind of coin just to have it turn out to be a pile of garbage, but i look at these songs with genuine concern. They lack a LOT of what makes this band so engaging; two derivative singles and a track that is stripped bare and generic it's hard to look st it without worrying. But I've also said several times, you can't judge a DEG album based on its singles: their albums are a journey, and in their context it could still be salvaged.

Album Rating: 5.0

Jas, my man, you nailed it.

Album Rating: 4.5

Well judging from what we've heard so far all I can tell is that it seems they're going for a more stripped down approach this time, but for me that's neither a good or a bad thing, we'll see if it works as a whole. If I am to judge by the quality of the singles (of which I like 2 out of 3) I'd say this might not be among their top work for sure, but neither their worst (that still goes for Macabre and Marrow of a Bone for me). But as you said, it's Diru, you never know exactly what to expect until the album drops. And even if it ends up being a disappointment to some degree it would still say nothing about their next steps because they've always done whatever the fuck they want, so that's why I'm not really worried.



EDIT: And by the way, I just realized I had this at a 4, wtf? Just bumped it to where it should have been all this time.

Album Rating: 4.5

“Diru have been one of my favourite bands for nearly 10 years, and have the deluxe edition of the new album on pre-order (hell, I even have a tattoo based on them). I don't want to pay that kind of coin just to have it turn out to be a pile of garbage, but i look at these songs with genuine concern.”

Thank you Gonzo, you’ve summed up my similar sentiments perfectly.

The way I look at the singles for this album as of right now can be summed up in a series of questions: “Do I like this better than whatever are the ‘mainstream’ trendy J-rock/Metal bands?”, “Do I think the songs are good on its own merits?”, and “Do I like it when compared to the band’s previous 5 singles (Hageshisa To...Lotus, Different Sense, Rinkaku and Sustain the untruth)?” And the answers are: barely, my mileage varies, and definitely not.

Ultimately, I do think that this album can possibly deliver if these songs are presented in a way that leads the listener on a musical journey. It happened with the last 3 albums, so I wouldn’t put it past me if I end up enjoying the album in that context.

Album Rating: 3.5

Hey if you want something in vain of Uroboros/DSS Dir En grey and you havent heard of Sadie, do yourself a favor and check out some of their stuff. Yes they are borderline copycats with more of a mainstream jrock approach but idgaf I dig these songs



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vESPWvWOLF8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kl_ZjcoqVzI

Album Rating: 4.0

do not check Sadie lol