Formed in 1997, Japanese heavy metal band Dir en grey have released an impressively varied discography over the course of their long career and have earned a dedicated international audience. Having released three singles over the past three years and recently finished up a tour, the band appears to be gearing up for the release of their 11th studio album, coinciding with their 25th anniversary. With that in mind, we’re taking the opportunity to look back at each of their 10 albums to this point.
10. The Marrow of a Bone (2007)
For The Marrow of a Bone, Dir en grey drew heavy inspiration from their time touring the U.S. in the major music festival Family Values Tour 2006. While the band had started incorporating more Western sounds into their music since their fantastic 2002 EP six Ugly, the band’s sixth album is perhaps their most derivative, and it serves as a clear transition between Dir en grey’s earlier stylings and their later avant-garde metal. But the band was on the precipice of carving out a new, unique sound all their own.
Must Listen: “Conceived Sorrow,” “Grief,” “Ryoujoku no Ame (Single Version),” “The Pledge”
9. The Insulated World (2018)
From any other band, The Insulated World would have been a resounding success. But following the avant-garde Dum Spiro Spero and magnum opus Arche, this album felt somewhat safe and rote by comparison when it was released in 2018. Ignore this context, however, and you’ll find Dir en grey’s latest album contains a small collection of treasures that stand among the best the band has ever produced.
Must Listen: “Devote My Life,” “Ningen wo Kaburu,” “Aka,” “Ranunculus”
8. Macabre (2000)
With their second album, Dir en grey made one thing clear: They were not your typical visual kei band. The opening song “Deity” melds different melodies derived from Johannes Brahms’ “The Hungarian Dances,” complete with Russian lyrics. “Hydra” finds the band incorporating techno to create an anarchist anthem. “Hotarubi” features a wistful violin that further expands the band’s palette. “[KR] cube” was the first of many tracks to bring the funk. But while these experimentations were welcome, some of the songs feel undercooked. All the same, Macabre features many of the band’s most stunning, shape-shifting ballads. Indeed, the fantastical “ain’t afraid to die” was left off the album and released as a standalone single, as Macabre’s runtime was already pushing the limit.
Must Listen: “Wake,” “[KR] cube,” “Macabre,” “Taiyou no Ao”
7. Vulgar (2003)
It was the early aughts. With the release of Linkin Park’s Hybrid Theory, nu metal was at its peak. It seemed inevitable that Dir en grey, who were increasingly incorporating Western sounds into their music, would take notice. If the fan-favorite opener to Vulgar, “audience KILLER LOOP,” didn’t cue listeners into the band’s new style, its second track likely stunned longtime fans: “The IIID Empire” is an adrenaline-fueled rap metal song that never fails to ignite a live audience. But the band didn’t entirely abandon their roots. “Drain Away” is a wistful pop-rock song dreams are made of. You can almost feel the cherry blossoms circling you as the single reaches its soaring chorus. The album is perhaps best known for the song “Obscure,” in part due to its “scary” and “vile” music video. Not for the faint of heart!
Must Listen: “The IIID Empire,” “Sajou no Uta,” “Marmalade Chainsaw,” “Drain Away”
6. Withering to death. (2005)
This album was the band’s first to be officially released in North America, Europe, and South Korea, signifying their growing international popularity. Picking up where Vulgar left off, the album continues including influences from across the world, this time with more distinct, albeit less consistent, styles. The music video for “-Saku-” begins with a snippet of “Machiavellism,” a more radio-friendly track, before breaking into the more aggressive single, as if to sneer at blatant commercial pursuits. “C” rocks like it was made for the stadium, with lyrics torn from a fiercely guarded private diary. Who knew anthemic choruses could sound so sincere? And we’d be remiss not to mention the career-defining “The Final.” The song was so impactful that when the band first hit American shores the following year, fans organized to hold up red glow sticks during the song’s performance, echoing the memorable music video.
Must Listen: “Merciless Cult,” “-Saku-,” “Itoshisa wa Fuhai ni Tsuki,” “The Final”
5. Gauze (1999)
Talk about an album that overdelivers. Spanning numerous genres, from pop to glam rock to alternative metal, Dir en grey’s debut full-length album is filled with sensational hooks and memorable melodies that easily transcend the language barrier. It doesn’t hurt that five of the songs were produced by the legendary Yoshiki of X Japan. The band shot music videos for each of the 13 tracks, which set the stage for the dark and shocking imagery the group would expand upon throughout their career. Gauze is the only album you won’t find on Spotify at time of writing, but you can listen to many of its highlights on the Vestige of Scratches compilation.
Must Listen: “Schwein no Isu,” “Yurameki,” “Cage,” “Akuro no Oka”
4. Uroboros (2008)
The title says it all. Named after the ancient symbol of a serpent consuming its own tail, Uroboros represents the band going back to their origin, exploring their past, while moving forward. The first proper song makes that clear. The band had largely abandoned longer-form songs since Kisou, but “Vinushka” clocks in at 9:37, making it one of the longest compositions in the band’s discography, and “Ware, Yami Tote…” is reminiscent of their earlier ballads.
Elsewhere, the first half of “Red Soil'' sounds like a reimagined take of Gauze’s “Raison Detre” before it morphs midway into the modern metal leanings of the band’s latter discography – perhaps the perfect encapsulation of Uroboros. “Toguro” could easily find a second home on Vulgar, were it not for the electric sitar providing a refreshed sound. Then there’s “Glass Skin,” which rivals “The Final” and “Drain Away” in offering one of the band’s dreamiest pop rock songs. Robert Smith, eat your heart out.
Must Listen: “Vinushka,” “Doukoku to Sarinu,” “Glass Skin,” “Dozing Green”
3. Kisou (2002)
If Macabre’s experiments felt at times unrefined, Kisou sounds like a band revitalized, in full control of their innovations. Raw, psychedelic, ambient, and outright bizarre – Dir en grey’s third album is also their most varied. “Zomboid” is a slimy, smutty, rocking ode to sexual awakening, with inspired vocals to match. “Jessica” reminds listeners Dir en grey can bring the pop better than the top of the charts. The band experiments with acoustic balladry on “undecided” and the heart-rendering “mushi.” An unexpected, calming piano instrumental closes out the album.
Vocalist Kyo really comes into his own here, his timbre richer, his screams fiercer, his gurgles… gurglier. This is where the burgeoning singer set a precedent for his otherworldly performances – whether he was crooning, howling, or gasping, Kyo recorded the best vocals of his early career on Kisou. The band’s fashion also shifted during this era, moving away from the standard visual kei look to styles that were less androgynous and more reflective of the band’s ever-evolving soundscapes.
Must Listen: “kigan,” “FILTH,” “embryo,” “mushi”
2. Dum Spiro Spero (2011)
When the band promoted their then upcoming album with the single “Different Sense,” it was clear we were in for something special. Opening with Kyo’s now fully realized death growl and manic howling, the song suddenly drops to a lone acoustic guitar before picking back up into the momentous chorus, only to be followed by the band's first recorded guitar solo since Kisou. Later, the song finds swagger – before assaulting the listener with pounding guitar riffs and an anthemic, repeated mantra “Live Through This World!,” before finally offering a fully acoustic respite. Yes. This is Dir en grey.
While no song on the album quite reaches the same heights as this unfathomable avant-metal masterpiece, Dum Spiro Spero is filled with songs that sound like nothing else. As critic Thom Jurek put it, “Dir en Grey are a band in their own genre at this point, and Dum Spiro Spero is the farthest-reaching testament to establish that as fact more than opinion.”
Must Listen: “Different Sense,” “Yokusou ni Dreambox' Aruiwa Seijuku no Rinen to Tsumetai Ame,” “Lotus,” “Hageshisa to, Kono Mune no Naka de Karamitsuita Shakunetsu no Yami”
1. Arche (2014)
This is peak Dir en grey. And the band knew it. Where Uroboros saw the band circling back to older sounds and juxtaposing them with their styles of the moment, Arche is a comprehensive, cohesive distillation of everything the band stands for: Kaoru and Die’s guitar duo of jagged, technical, and beautiful chords and riffs; Shinya’s relentless, inimitable drum patterns; Toshiya’s clawing, throbbing basslines (the band’s secret weapon); and of course, Kyo’s masterful melodies, sung in every vocalization style imaginable – falsetto, death growl, operatic – often all within a single song, with an astonishing range. The singer is in a league of his own.
It’s tough to pick a standout when all 16 songs are exceptional. But it’s incontestable that “Shoshaku” has the best chorus ever written. Aching, yearning, and undeniably catchy – it’s what Dir en grey is all about.
Must Listen: “Soshaku,” “Uroko,” “Phenomenon,” “Sustain the Untruth”
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