Customer Reviews

The Marrow of a Bone

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Dir en grey have always been a band of extremes. Over the course of their career they've taken the concepts of rock and metal and stretched them out into such attenuated brilliance that fans of all types have warmed to their goth-opera-metal-pop-punk combination. And as for Marrow of a Bone, well, I don't remember the last time an album prompted so many violent spasms upon first listen. It seriously made me weak in the knees. My friend Aaron and I just sat in stoned shock for fifty minutes, taking every available break to gasp and reach for a cigarette.

Yes, it's their heaviest album to date, but don't mistake such a quality for laziness or an attempt to comply with mainstream values. There is nothing predictable about Marrow of a Bone - it bounces around between song styles in such a head-spinning frenzy you'd think you were switching records in between. What sounds like metal at first often springs back upon itself into a major-chord pop chorus. The melodies are that much more affecting because they burst out of nowhere.

The fact that the band opens such a crazy album as Marrow with the looping balladry of Conceived Sorrow is so brave as to be called impetuous. Here, four musicians renowned for their crunchifying brashness accompany Kyo's swooping, melodious vocal with acoustic guitar picking and a piano part. Um, what? But just listen - it SOARS. It's better than anything on Macabre. It's a gorgeous piece of work - one that is immediately followed with a slab of death metal that packs the punch of a throbbing fist: Lie Buried with a Vengeance. The titles of these songs should give some idea as to their general atmosphere: The Deeper Vileness, Repitition of Hatred. Yikes.

Of course, this album also contains the track Namamekashiki Ansoku, Tomadoi Ni Hohoemi, which is utterly beautiful and sounds like nothing on previous albums. It has a wailing melody like a chorus of monks. It is heartbreaking, elegaic, and divine in execution. You'd never guess that this could fall into the same collection of songs as Agitated Screams of Maggots, which, if it were any more punk, would promptly expire from extreme awesomeness, or Grief, a wailing conglomeration of apocalyptic screams, tribal beats, and sinister whispers.

Ryoujoku no Ame manages to be pretty and intense at the same time... it moves like rain dripping down your car windows. The Fatal Believer is the kind of song that headbanging was invented for. And Rotting Root is a gorgeous little piece of weirdness that showcases whimpering, shouting, growling, sinewy guitars, and perfect harmonies interspersed with explosions of something that's supposed to be swearing in English but sounds more like Pig Latin. Gotta love Kyo-grish.

I was also going to write something about Disabled Complexes, but all my note says is `I just got too wrapped up in this song to review it.'

What was always extreme has become even more so. The hard songs are harder. The soft songs are softer. The guitars saw like serated knives. And Kyo can accomplish just about anything vocally, from demon voice to girly scream.

Not an album for priests or soccer moms. Everyone else needs to snatch up a copy, sit back, and bathe in its sexy glory. Just be sure to have a cigarette handy.

I had doubts when I found that this album could be purchased at my local FYE, and it was compounded even more when I heard that one of the songs was entirely in English. My only previous experience with this band was from their last album, which at first I thought sucked, but then grew into a beautiful masterpiece after many, many listenings (which seems to be a common occurrence with their albums). So, I was intrigued by the thought of a new Dir en Grey record, but I had my suspicions that American music companies had somehow convinced them to write music aimed more at American audiences. Fortunately, this is not the case.

First off, yes, this album is much heavier than the last one. I read reviews where people complained that all the songs sounded too similar and were too heavy and there was no direction and so on and so forth. But this is not entirely a bad thing.

This album is a world unto itself, swelling and instilling disturbing imagery, crushing angst, and a general sense of unease in the listener. This is the world that we all inevitably feel the need to visit from time to time. A place where we can just soak in our own disdain, crawl into a dark pit and scream at nothing or everything. There are ups and downs, oppression and freedom. There are songs that make you want to tear things apart and songs that make you want to cry. There are songs that make you feel okay with the world, and others that make you wish for the eternal black abyss to suck everything into it. Okay, now I'm starting to get a little overdramatic, so I'll get down to it.

When I first listened to this album, I got about halfway through and thought, "This album is unpleasant to listen to" (Note: My actual quote was much more vulgar and insane, so this is the simplistic, of-sound-mind version). But I knew the rule with this band, and forced myself to stick it out. Still, after one listening, I was not impressed. Where were the instrumental layers and flowing intricacies that I learned to love off of "Withering to Death"? Where was that guy that sung so beautifully and impressed me with original vocal patterns and fiery (yet melodic) intensity?..... Gone! That's where. And that doesn't even make for good grammatical sense, but that's how I felt. All I could hear was a garbled monotonous pile. Overbearing guitars and even more Overbearing vocals. This was terrible.

But I pressed on, I knew this record had secrets hidden in it that only the most adamant of listeners would be privy to, and I was going to find them. So I listened and I listened, and I listened a little more. And then a little more after that. And then finally, after many...many more listens, I found it. The invisible wall collapsed and that good old fashioned "Dir en Grey" Magic took hold. Soon I was running up and down the halls yelling crazily about how great this album was. I was also compelled to chase down and eat several squirrel-like creatures during this time period, but I'm pretty sure these two things had nothing to do with each other.

Anyway, I'll get to the point which I was supposedly getting to several paragraphs ago. This album is good, but not for everyone. Fans of "Withering to Death" may not find it as entertaining. It's grittier and unrelenting. There's less electronicky blips and squeeps and such, with a lot more focus put on the guitar riffs. It feels more basic, more stripped down at first, but this is an illusion. Those that will get this album and listen to it only a couple of times will most likely find it grating and boring and it will fall quickly into the nether regions of their CD collection. But for those of you who have the fortitude and courage strong enough to take a beating from this album again and again until your retinas detach and your head is stomped into the curb while your biting down on it (like that scene in that movie, with the guy...you know the one I mean), well than this album is for you.

You might say Dir en grey has become westernized (They sure aren't playing shamisen, koto and taiko drums dressed in silk kimono, but wouldn't it be cool if they were?) that they've hung around with too many hardcore bands during Family Values.
Dir en grey has always been hardcore, you can hear echoes of it on Gauze (beloved and deified by most of the old school Dir en grey fans) and on Macabre (same thing, it's on a shrine of some sort for them)they have always pushed the envelope and on this album they push it right off the edge.
You got this aggressive yet mellow thick guitar style with these delicious basslines of Toshiya and drum beats. Kyo goes from wailing and screeching like all the demons in hell to softly crooning, and if you get the special edition version, you get to hear acoustic versions of several of the songs that are heartfelt and show that Dir en grey is determined to do what few bands these days do, they are determined to play every single form of rock they can and to cram it all on one album.
Some will complain it's numetal, some qill gripe that the old Dir en grey is no more, but the fact is that Dir en grey has and always will be about change and evolution and playing what they want and what they feel and that is what makes them so good!

Plus, you got to admit, this album is like nothing that is being played on the radio in the US. I can't even think of bands that make songs that are hard and mellow like the Deeper Vileness or Grief.
Whether you love it or not, Dir en grey will not bore you and will suprise and thrill you.
They will also sooth your soul.

Dir en grey have long been well-loved in their native Japan and in much of Asia, but until recently the band was a well-kept secret in the West; now they're headlining tours in America and Europe, being interviewed for Revolver magazine, and being featured on MTV's Headbanger's Ball and Fuse TV's Stephen's Untitled Rock Show. It's about time, I say. Dir en grey defy categorization; their eclectic sound is definably rock music, but it ranges from pop-rock to punk to metal to grunge to rap to... you get the idea. The one thing that can be said about their music is that it is consistently high-quality. Mostly, though, The Marrow of a Bone is a heavy metal album; a less sonically schizophrenic effort than their usual fare, with vocalist Kyo screaming his head off on nearly every song.

This is both a strength of Marrow and a weakness; it makes for a more cohesive album, sure, but some of the songs start sounding a little alike after awhile (and this doesn't apply only to the hard songs; the three softer songs on the album, Conceived Sorrow, The Pledge, and Namamekashiki Ansoku, Tomadoi Ni Hohoemi, each have a similar feel to them, perhaps due to the sing-song vocals Kyo contributes to each song). Having said this, I can't stop listening to this album- and The Pledge has quickly become one of my favorite Dir en grey songs; the moodiness of it, the beauty of Kyo's voice, everything about it just astounds me. Kyo is an astounding vocalist- he is capable of transitioning from a soothing murmur to screaming bloody murder without a hitch; he growls and shrieks, roars and sings, and all the contortions he manages with his voice provide one of the main pleasures of listening to Dir en grey. Which is not to dismiss the rest of the band at all; everything, from the guitar work to the bass to the drums, is always, always top-notch, incredibly passionate and sincere, and perhaps most importantly, ORIGINAL. I have never, ever heard a band like Dir en grey. The music these guys create together is unbelievable- it will grab you by the throat and it won't let go even after you've stopped listening; the melodies, the agonized screams will continue to echo in your head. Check them out live if you can- there are no words for their live act, none at all- the concert I attended was easily one of the highlights of my life (of course, they ARE my favorite band...)

For those who don't speak Japanese, the language barrier shouldn't be too much of an issue- you don't have to understand the words Kyo's singing to really get the emotional impact of these songs (and he does sing and scream in English sometimes, it's just not usually all that understandable, given his very thick accent). Also, translations of most Dir en grey songs into English and other languages are pretty readily available; English translations are offered in their CD booklets of late, and if trying to read that tiny grey text- on a *black background*- gives you a headache, you can also find them online.

So, if you're adventurous and like various kinds of music- give Dir en grey a try, this album, any album. If you're into metal or hard rock in general, especially if you're looking for something fresh and different, absolutely check out The Marrow of a Bone, and I would also urge you to buy Withering to death. and Vulgar, the band's two previous albums, as both are in a similar vein. You might want to pick up Six Ugly too, as that mini-album fits well into their new sound; going further back to their earlier releases might prove unsatisfying if you're only into hard headbanging music though. Likewise, for Diru fans who loved them up until Vulgar, but resented the direction they took after that album, I wouldn't advise picking up Marrow. It's their heaviest release so far, BY far. I also think it's easily one of their best (it's not like I could ever pick a favorite, ha), and this is coming from someone who doesn't even like most metal.

Admittedly, after hearing the AGITATED SCREAMS OF MAGGOTS single, I was deathly afraid that the entire new album would sound like that: nonsensical screaming with no rhyme or rhytmn whatsoever. Dir en grey's previous album had already introduced a harder and edgier sound, but there was still method to their madness then. MAGGOTS thoroughly scared me.

So you can imagine my relief when I finally heard this album. The first track CONCEIVED SORROW is a beautiful ballad, reminiscent of many of their older styles while adding a number of newer, tragic sounds. The soft and eerie piano completely blew me away and I remembered again how delightfully melodic Kyo's voice can be. Definitely a sharp contrast from their last single. As the album progresses, we're introduced to harder, edgier sounds, but in a way completely different from Withering to death, their previous album. The guitars in this entire album are absolutely amazing. With each new track, I was in awe at how wonderful everything sounded.

Yes, there are quite a few tracks where the main feature is Kyo screaming incessantly in complete and utter angst, but there's a tragic sound that you can appreciate in that. Dir en grey has definitely matured. The raw emotion the music is able to convey amazes me track after track. Additionally, the variety of sounds on this album impressed me, such as the grundge-metal 8th track, ROTTING ROOT, and the soft ballad that is Namamekashiki Ansoku, Tomadoi ni Hohoemi, which employs some very nice sounding acoustics. Kyo's lyrics also seem to be utilizing more and more English (with MAGGOTS being the first song with completely English lyrics), but while his pronunciation is still somewhat mediocre, the emotion definitely transcends the language barrier.

The singles Ryoujoku no ame and CLEVER SLEAZOID were rerecorded for this album and the newer versions are definitely worth hearing. CLEVER SLEAZOID especially sounds almost like a completely new song. Kyo's polished up his English skills on a few of the lyrics and the mood of the track in general sounds harder and angrier.

All in all, I was incredibly pleased with this album. It ISN'T just mindless screaming. There is even more method to this madness. Honestly, every time I listen to this album, it just sounds better and better.

Of course, like most people, when I first heard Agitated Screams of Maggots I was a little scared.I didn't know what to think about Dir En Grey's new sound. To tell the truth, at first it was upsetting because I thought that Diru was going go into the more thrash type of music. But, Clever Sleazoid made me think twice. Clever Sleazoid does have some screams, but the chorus is so overpowering, that I was mesmerized by it. So in the end, I decided that "hey, $12.99 is a great price!" I pop the CD in and listen to it from start to finish. I actually began to love Agitated Screams of Maggots due to the fact the guitaring is amazing, as well as the drums; vocals come second. Grief is another great hit from the album that completely surprised me. I loved it when Kyo hit that high pitched note that leaves you in awe. This CD is a must buy, for it shows a more mature Dir En Grey, and their amazing ability to let their rage fuel their songs, and actually make it sound good in the end. I personally am NOT a hardcore fan, but this album is THE ONLY exception, pick it up RIGHT NOW!

I like to keep my reviews short.
-Americanized/Simplified (good or bad up to you)
-Generic but Kyo still stands out no matter what
-Death metal grooves with sped-up stoner heavy metal deep note riffs

-IMO BEST SONGS ON THIS ALBUM
RYOUJOKU NO AME (LIKE THEIR EARLIER STYLE)
CLEVER SLEAZOID (YES IT'S ENGRISH)
REPETITION OF HATRED(THEIR GATEWAY TO THE NORTH AMERICAN MARKET)

If this album doesn't rattle your brain because you think it lacks depth, you must listen to the album after this. "UROBOROS"

So many people have compared Uroboros to Marrow of a Bone, saying that MoaB pales in comparison and is a horrid album.
I simply can't understand it. Yes, I love Uroboros to pieces, but every second of Marrow is equally epic, from the screaming, wrenching pain of 'Maggots' to the rage and sorrow of 'Grief'... This is the album that brought us 'Ryoujoku no Ame', for goodness sake!
When you throw in grooves like in the tracks 'Rotting Root' and 'The Pledge' and top it off with 'Clever Sleazoid', my mind turns to glorious mush. Sleazoid is in English? That's a novel laugh, but the only one I get from this album. (Kyo please, stick to Japanese, we love it)
I'm not ashamed to admit my play count on this album is well over 100.
Audible gold, every note.

I've been a fan of Dir en Grey since 2003 and have yet to be disappointed or bored with them. Each album has its own sound while still consistently delivering excellent music and vocals. I have to admit, when I first heard the 30 second previews for The Marrow of a Bone, I was a bit worried that the entire album was just Kyo screeching and little else. However, upon listening to the songs in full, I found that just like every other Dir en Grey album, the previews really didn't do the album justice. The elements that I always have loved- Kyo's mixing of melodic emotion-filled vocals with growling and screaming- are still there and musically the band still excels with interesting riffs and bass lines. Overall, I was very impressed by the album and very glad that I gave it a chance. Highly recommended.

I've just listened to this album two straight times start to finish and it's currently playing through its third go around as I write this review. Like past albums, this is an incredibly addictive record. (their last album Withering To Death still sounds very fresh to me) Upon initial listens some may be dissapointed the diversity of past albums does not seem to show, as I feel the band has opted for a more cohesive and heavier sound. The band has progressively gotten heavier over the years and I feel this shift in their sound has been perfected on this album. Brutal and relentless, beautiful and haunting, Dir En Grey has done it again...