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Review Summary: The record just gets rusty after a while, so you need to put some oil on it. That "oil" is pressing the pause button, and taking a break. After two albums of attempting North American appeal, proving that no matter how much the band tries to be mainstream, they could never be. Further down the road, the magnum opus, Uroboros was released. It’s hard to believe Dir en grey is still alive and running. Maybe the band had their best years, but they are that old Impala needing repairs in the shop. Usually you would throw that car out, maybe sell it. Still, somehow, this car runs smoother than all the 2010s cars you have tried. Dir en grey rode out of the repair shop, filled up the gas tank, and cruised on the highway to another album weirder than Doom Metal has been in the past decade.
Yes, Dum Spiro Spero could be classified as Doom Metal, broadly speaking. It’s still Dir en grey, so the record is more Dir en grey than Doom Metal. It’s the slower guitar licks mudded with thick gritty distortion that gives the Doom element. Yet somehow the record still sits next to those trashy metalcore cds in hot topic. Dir en grey hates metalcore. They may have never said it outright, but Marrow of the Bone was a big *** you to metalcore. Dir en grey hates Doom Metal too, ***, Dir en grey hates everything. The constant trashing and downright stealing of the overproduced bland American metal genres prove it. There is nothing worse than music that has no flavor to Dir en grey. They took the worst element of American metal, breakdowns, making them interesting. ***ataru Mourou hits a section of pure open string guitar notes while Kyo spits the oddest vocal lines on several different layers, all being played over each other, and it’s brilliant. You catch yourself headbobbbing like scene kids wearing Attack Attack! shirts. Still, like any style of music, things get bland, or ruined for other matters. Maybe bobbing to this breakdown isn’t a bad thing. It sure isn’t cool, but it’s damn fun.
It’s like that throughout Dum Spiro Spero though. Honestly, the album could have failed with just the music. Sometimes the tracks are just drums and thick guitars. It could sound empty if Kyo didn’t touch the tracks, adding his layers and layers of oddities. Sometimes the tracks contain sounds similar to previous records, still, Kyo’s four octave range, squeels, low death grows, and outright ability to transform his vocal chords into a kaleidoscope of timbres, makes this album work. Kaoru and Die still have some sick licks, proving they are one of the tightest guitar duos in the music scene. The first seven songs still have some damn cool licks. It’s just not a guitar album.
Metal music has fallen victim to guitar kids wanting Van Halen solos, and this feigned technicality, something even Nergal from Behemoth complains about. Dum Spiro Spero is about atmosphere, energy, and craziness.
I could say Diabolos is where the record falls off, a nine minute epic similar to “Vinushka” on Uroboros. Only, it’s not nearly as epic in composition. Diabolos follows the trends of the entire album, pure ADHD. No songs have structure, no songs are composed. It’s like the band took their ideas to the studio, cut and pasted parts together, and it ended up sounding pretty good. You can’t have this for ten minutes though. No, it’s not the song, it’s the fact the record is 67 minutes.
Taking a break at Diabolos is probably the best bet, then coming back to hear the next tracks. Decayed Crow has the coolest Doom lick recorded in the decade. The beyond phenomenal melody line on “Hageshisa” drilled in the middle the insanity of Kyo’s vocals throughout the song. The elegantly composed Vanitas, even showing off a guitar solo half way. Even Rutou No Tou closes well. All the tracks are good, filled with the bat*** crazy Kyo vocal parts and complete disregard for convention. The record just gets rusty after a while, so you need to put some oil on it. That "oil" is pressing the pause button, and taking a break. because Dum Spiro Spero is another excellent addition to the panel of “*** you” metal records Dir en grey has released.
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Album Rating: 5.0
"The record just gets rusty after a while, so you need to put some oil on it. That "oil" is pressing the pause button, and taking a break."
Pussy, this is the best thing ever in a full jam ;)
Jokes aside some of these points are just ridicious, this has little in common with doom. More of a rhythm based style with a dash of Deathcore, a unique blend which still hasn't been imitated since. Futhermore "No songs have structure, no songs are composed." is wrong, just take out this statement all together.
| | | Album Rating: 5.0
When you say Dir en Grey hates Metalcore, Doom etc. you need to give a source of evidence, you can't just say it because you feel like the album is a manifestation of this.
| | | Album Rating: 5.0
This doesn't really read like a 4 rated review, you tend to bash it more than compliment it. And some of the stuff you talk about is just a "what?" moment; like pausing after Diabolos is completely redundant for a review.
What Calc said, this album hardly has Doom influence, it carries elements, but it's more Death metal based than anything else.
"Sometimes the tracks are just drums and thick guitars."
wut?
On a personal note: I don't know what Diabolos track you heard, but that song is near flawless; it's all about atmosphere and it pulling and drawing your emotions in while it builds up to the pay-off at the end.
| | | Album Rating: 5.0
Still, it's not a bad review for a first, man.
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"Sometimes the tracks are just drums and thick guitars"
I think there's more weight to this statement then you see, Doc
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And I actually agree with most points brought up in the review. Pos'd.
| | | Album Rating: 5.0
"I think there's more weight to this statement then you see, Doc"
No, there is no weight in this statement at all. It's such a shallow view of songs which have much more depth then that statement suggests.
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The depth is measured by the audience. Plenty of fans noted this trait of DDS.
You can literally shuffle around the mid-sections of half the songs on DDS between each other and have the same album. Just don't touch the hooks and vocal melodies which are legitimately strong.
I've had this discussion before, the thing with DEG is they have a pretty diverse catalogue where people of different preferences can find what suits them best. DSS was pretty popular with the crowd who came during Uroboros and wanted Diru to go even more metal then that, which they delivered. I, for one, think DSS suffers from muddled instrumental sections that don't have much of individuality and the saving grace for them is undoubtedly Kyo, who completes the atmosphere and broadens the pallette of each song. But Uroboros, I think, achieved more with the same "let's go more metal" approach. And DDS sometimes feels a bit lost in itself structure-wise - a lot of chugging downtuned riffage and mathematically precise drumming that do create a dark, brooding atmoshpere but get old after a while.
| | | Album Rating: 5.0
"You can literally shuffle around the mid-sections of half the songs on DDS between each other and have the same album. Just don't touch the hooks and vocal melodies which are legitimately strong."
Umm....what? Saying that you'd 'have the same album' shuffling random parts of the middle sections of songs (which I guess means those segements will all sound the same) is again ridiculous. You're saying that the atmosphere of this album gets tiresome after a while, which is fine since it's all personal perference but every single song delievers this atmosphere differently and every single riff and groove on this album are very individual and different, with transistions between them being even more essential. Juuyoku delievers the atmosphere in a mix disorentating grooves which feel off time and aggressive, stop start riffs with pummeling drums, Shitataru Mourou is extremely rhythm based and in the background so Kyo can soar over them as they grow darker in unison, Decayed Crow is much more straight forwards bringing blast beats and alt strumming more....
Main point I'm trying to bring with these examples is yes, Kyo is essential to every song and is a giant piece of the puzzle but the instrumentals here are just as essential and deserve more credit then you're giving. I used to believe this album was a mess of ideas with little cohesion so again I'm fine with the personal opinions that it lacks structure wise and is overbearing in it's atmosphere but to say that the instrumetal section is so one noted and unintresting to say that you'll get the same album shuffling around mid sections is in my eyes wrong.
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I fail to see how The Marrow of a Bone is a "fuck you" to metalcore or how anything they've written is a "fuck you" to any genre.
DrGonzo and CalculatingInfinity have already brought up plenty of the good points though. Somehow I knew they'd be the first to comment haha.
| | | Album Rating: 4.5
Further down the road, the magnum opus, Uroboros was released.
Funnily enough it's the only album of theirs I don't have digitally or otherwise, just never could enjoy it. Slowly working on getting all their LPs on CD, think I have six so far iirc.
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I have seven, I'm only missing their first two but I'm not really in a rush to get them.
Uroboros is my favorite, but Dum Spiro Spero is probably second best.
| | | Album Rating: 5.0
@jester: Hehe I'm flattered.
@Acanthus: I'll admit I've never heard anyone say that Uroboros is their least favorite, unusual.
As for me DSS is easily my favorite by a large margin. I own the massive limited edition of this and regular version of Arche. I may get the Uroboros Remaster one day but that's it, can't get into Diru pre Uroboros.
| | | Album Rating: 4.5
I started out loving Gauze once a friend introduced me and went from there, would love to have this and Unraveling on vinyl for my wall (if they even make them).
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@Acanthus: Dum Spiro Spero is on double LP though you may have to shell out $35-$40 for it. The Unraveling doesn't have a vinyl version according to discogs.com.
@Calc: I've seen the both of you comment on recent Dir en grey than anyone else haha. Sucks that you can't get into their early stuff, though I can understand why. I don't love their first two but I'll jam anything from Kisou onward.
Forgot to count The Unraveling in DEG CDs I own so I actually have eight.
| | | Album Rating: 4.5
Yeah I don't mind the price, thanks for the price tip!
| | | Album Rating: 4.5
Album is stunning.
| | | Album Rating: 5.0
@jester: I can't even get past the first track on Kisou, so bad.
@Acanthus: Make sure you get the limited edition with 2 CD's and the DVD for The Unraveling since it's the only version that has Macabre. Luckly it won't cost as much as the Dum Spiro Spero and Uroboros limited editions (Arche's was a bit cheaper).
| | | Album Rating: 4.0 | Sound Off
Band is ok...
| | | Album Rating: 5.0
"Band is ok..."
Produced a 5 and other high quality albums, very okay band Jas ;)
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