UROBOROS

Withering to death got endless spins on my CD player as it was a progression from the old Dir En Grey into the new Dir En Grey, more growling and screaming, heavier riffs but still not as heavy and dynamic as I would have liked.

When The Marrow of A Bone Came out in 2007 It had more spin time than any other CD that year for me, it was one of the heaviest brutal and insane albums with Kyo constantly either growling and screaming in high pitches and in crazy rythmatic gibberish.

Now Uroboros is released, my highest anticipated album of the year. I was worried when Kyo and Die said that the album would be a more like the post Withering To Death Material, I am not sure what they ment by that because this album is by far the biggest push forward they have ever taken. Kyo has finally perfected an extremely low brutal growl in the style of Opeth for example. The riffs are relentless and the production is perfect. The album is progressive in every term of the word, one minute the riffs are from the depths of hell with death metal vocals, and instantly changes into a soft mandolin lead with harmonic vocal layers by Kyo.

The album is a perfect blend of clean singing vocals and some of the most genuine aggression filled vocals I have ever heard.

album highlights for me are the near ten minute 'Vinushka', 'Doukoku to Sarinu'. 'Glass Skin', ' Dozing Green', 'Bugaboo' (cheezy name brutal song) and the seven minute song 'Ware, Yam Tote'.

while I'm listing favorite tracks let me just let it be known that not one track on this album is below excellent. it flows like a perfect conceptual piece, every song flowing into each other perfectly.

Dir En Grey has continued to impress me every album getting more mature and taking Metal into a new direction. The middle eastern style chant kyo lets off during Toguro gives me goosebumps.

If your a new fan, pick up 'The Marrow of a Bone' along with 'UROBOROS' for the ultimate progressive metal experience.

A gem among mere rocks.

I had never listened to Dir En Grey prior to this album, although I had heard the name a few times, but never was I all that interested in checking them out. Metal bands that claim to be original are so common now, I can't waste time wading through all the duds such claims end up roping me into. In this album and band's case, however, everything positive you may have heard is true.

The most stand-out feature is of course Kyo, the lead singer/growler/screecher/voice actor of the piece. He instantly put me in mind of Mike Patton during his Mr. Bungle days, although both singers are quite distinct, the only real similarity being in their attitudes and avant-garde approach to the role of vocals. Not only can Kyo sing and growl as good as the next metal guy, he seems capable of doing pretty much anything with his voice if challenged to do so. A real master. He also plays guitars on the album, and provides just as much flare, although not quite as much originality. The two main guitarists of the band most likely pull of the more complex stuff.

The music itself is enjoyable all throughout the album's length. Instrumentation is simpler and more basic in some spots, but for the most part I found myself being surprised more times than other, more generic heavy works would have provided. In fact, I'll get to the comment I made earlier about the guitar playing. It isn't that the playing itself is completely unoriginal, it's just that when compared to his vocals, Kyo seems to take a much more traditional approach to how he approaches the instrument. That being said, I still find his riffs to be intriguing and memorable more often than not. How much of the riffs are actually played by him, however, I am not entirely sure.

Sometimes the album veers in a more J-Pop direction, but never loses the edge or originality despite this. I quite like the stark contrast between the happy, upbeat melody of the pop against the grimy, surrealistic heaviness. While not every song produces this unusual mixture, when it does happen you won't need to hold your ears. These guys knew what they were doing. I found the band's ability to blend traditional rock music with the dark, pumping experimental soundscapes refreshing and worth repeating. This album has already shot up to a frequent listening position on my playlist.

Keep in mind, this is indeed the first and only Dir En Grey album I have yet to experience. I usually try to limit myself in rating single albums in larger discographies under this circumstance, but I felt the need to give my thoughts on this release right now because nobody has really said much about them on here, and I think that's a shame. This band deserves to be listened to and reviewed by members of the site, because I do think there is a lot to love here. Granted, due to my lack of experience with previous Dir En Grey releases, I can only really recommend this single album until I lay ears on the rest.

Apparently, the group hasn't always sounded like and came out of the Visual Kei scene. How what started out as a Glam band has been able to evolve to this point, I can only speculate. But, there it is. The music contained in this release really is fantastic and really is worth your time. Sure, sometimes it can sound like something more familiar to you from the Japanese pop scene, but the next moment the experience will drag into new depths of dark experimentation. You'll find pieces in here that will remind you of the best moments of Opeth right next to other elements that might make you think more about Mr. Bungle or even Henry Cow. Yet at the same time, this album sounds nothing like any of these individually. It's a seamless melting pot of all those experimental ideas meets more traditional pop and metal. All the while being led full charge by Kyo and his amazing, ever-changing voice. A true roller-coaster ride.

As soon as I finished listening to Uroboros for the first time, I felt immediately compelled to listen to it all over again. It really is something I cannot fully describe and give justice to. You just have to hear it for yourself. Please take note, however: not everybody is going to like this. A lot of factors are against it already because of how heavy it is, and how unlike traditional Prog Rock it sounds. But for the more adventurous listener, you should have no problem embracing the music for what it is on its own merits. The softer, melodic moments feel just as valid and frequent as the psychedelic moments or heavy, experimental moments. Just because it's more Metal-oriented in general doesn't make it an album strictly for metal fans. Just try it out. I certainly consider it to be a shining gem hidden among a vast pool of dry, uninteresting rocks in the experimental Metal scene.

Brutal. Eclectic. Beautiful. 4 Stars.

I got this album as a recommendation from a friend. I always trusted his recommendations as he's never let me down in the past, and I do have an open mind, so I thought I'd give this a go. I was blown away by the second track. Really great stuff.

This album excels for many reasons. First of all, it has a very unique sound I've never heard in a band. Then again, I'm not too familiar with Japanese metal so it could be that, but for me it's new. Another thing, something that really gives this album it's edge, is our vocalist, Kyo. Don't let his sort of cliche-sounding Japanese clean vocals fool you. Once he hits harsh, he is one of the absolute most versatile vocalists I have ever heard in my life. He delivers screams, growls, and shrieking vocals so flawlessly and differently it's jaw-dropping. I don't think anyone would be able to tell it's just one guy doing all this without knowing in advance. The musicianship is also solid and the composition for every song is perfect, showing that they put much care into their music, unlike many of these sorts of metal bands.

The only real flaw I can think of is flow. The album doesn't really have much flow to it and I find works much better as a collection of songs than as a whole, but it's really nothing to make a big deal out of.

So really, this is just an amazing metal album, and one of the best recommendations I've gotten. All of the songs are great, "Vinushka", "Reiketsu Nariseba", and "Stuck Man" probably being the highlights. I give this 5 stars without hesitation.