Customer Reviews

Uroboros

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

When Japanese Rock group "Dir en grey" started getting their foot in the door of the American market, having stateside tours and cheaper album releases in U.S. stores, it made some of their more finicky fans nervous and think that the band would take on too much of a Western influence and somehow become "ruined" by the American Music industry. With their previous release, Marrow of a Bone, it was very harsh and loud except for the two ballads (Namamekashiki Ansouku and The Pledge) but UROBOROS has a little bit of everything for everyone, even the naysayers. There are dark metal moments, but there are soft melodic bits as well. I'd have to say the 10 best songs from the album are VINUSHKA, DOUKU TO SARINU, TOGURO, STUCK MAN, RED SOIL, WARE YAMI TOTE, GAIKA CHINMOKU GA NEMURU KORO, GLASS SKIN, INCONVENIENT IDEAL and DOZING GREEN. The only thing I didn't care for were the english remakes, I'm okay with Kyo throwing in some "engrish" here and there, but not full on songs, his voice is way too soft when he sings English and the original Japanese versions of Glass Skin and Dozing Green are so much better. I really hope _THOSE_ are the one's they'll be singing at the U.S. concerts as it would kinda confuse the fans who already know the phonetics to the japanese versions (lol, internet).

I'm really happy that Dir en grey hooked up with THE END RECORDS and DAMN! Management, here's to hoping they'll create more varied merchandise and maybe put out a U.S. Tour DVD in the future. The U.S. fanbase would go nuts for a "Best PV's" Collection DVD, especially if it had the uncensored OBSCURE video on it. Youtube is fine and dandy, but a high quality DVD would be so much better.

Dir en grey once again proves how simply amazing they are. The first time I put this album on, I was shocked that the first song (with lyrics), Vinushka, was almost 10 minutes long! And it was amazing. Every song is amazing. I can't think of many adjectives to describe the cd right now, because quite frankly it is AMAZING. Heh... if you're having doubts, if you were turned off by Marrow of a Bone or Withering to Death and like their older stuff better, you will like this cd. It combines the old and the new Dir en grey- literally something for everyone.

And after seeing these guys in concert, and hearing Kyo's new "screams," which are so much less harsher but oh-so-much more interesting, I was pleasantly surprised to hear the insanity he brings to every cd is yet again on this one. This cd is experimental, beautiful, and AMAZING. This is a whole new range of music for them, and my god Kyo has a vocal range that leaves me speechless. I have not listened to anything else, haven't even thought of listening to anything else, since I bought this album.

Hands-down my favorite album of theirs to date!

I was one of the skeptical people when I heard about this album. As a big fan of their old stuff, and even Withering to Death, I was mildly disappointed with Marrow of a Bone and it's "wall of fuzz" sound. All of my worries were laid to rest when I popped this cd in.

In an inexplicable twist, Diru has been able to marry the sound they had on Withering and Vulgar with some of their older stuff to make something heavy, yet melodic. The ballads are there ("Glass Skin"), the heavy songs with screaming are there, and the straight up rock with well placed hooks are back. The one thing I enjoyed the most is that while we still have heavy songs, I can actually hear the guitar chords. On Marrow, the guitar in a majority of the songs was just a palm muted fuzz that made it difficult to discern what was really going on.

Another worry I had about this album was Kyo's voice. I do believe he is the best singer out of any band I've heard from Japan, including both metal and pop/rock. However, with his gut-wrenching screams now in play, I had feared that he may be losing his voice. Not so. Kyo actually sounds better on this cd than any of the previous albums. You will hear Kyo hit notes that just seem impossible (especially noticeable on "Dozing Green"), in addition to keeping his throaty screams and peppering in some rare moments with death metal growls.

Overall, this is an outstanding album. If you liked Vulgar and Withering to Death, you will love this cd. If you liked Marrow, you will probably like this cd, although it's less frantic and more epic. If you liked Gauze and their older stuff, you may also like this, but listen to the singles first.

Also, since there are so many versions of this album being released, I urge you to purchase the special edition with the extra songs. On the NA release, both Glass Skin and Dozing Green are in English. While that's fine, Kyo does sound much better on the Japanese tracks, which can be found on the special edition disc in the NA as bonus tracks.

This album my friends caught me by surprise. after being let down by their previous album "marrow of a bone" i actually almost passed this album up. well im glad i did not! now take into mind that i'm also a huge death metal fan. so me not likeing "marrow" had nothing to do with is heavyness. i just thought the production was horrendous, and the song writeing simply weakened, but this new album "uroboros" is excellent! the music took on a more technical approach more complex arrangements and longer songs (one clocking in at almost 10 mins another just above 7. The songwriting on this album is amzing! Dir En grey uniquely mix their older album's sound with their more recent album's sound. So fans of old and new should both enjoy this album. this album mixes aggression and melody so well its scary. all you'd have to do is listen to the song "Vinushka" to know that. that song is by far one of my fav en grey songs overall. the production this time around is great, and i'd also like to point out that Kyo's vocals are absolutely amazing on this album, and might just be his best performance yet. He goes from melodic blissful vocals to harsh growls and screams so easily! certain points of this album gives me opeth vibes. i can't wait to see these guys live!

Outstanding diverse metal album with many twists and turns give it a listen!

When Japanese Rock group "Dir en grey" started getting their foot in the door of the American market, having stateside tours and cheaper album releases in U.S. stores, it made some of their more finicky fans nervous and think that the band would take on too much of a Western influence and somehow become "ruined" by the American Music industry. With their previous release, Marrow of a Bone, it was very harsh and loud except for the two ballads (Namamekashiki Ansouku and The Pledge) but UROBOROS has a little bit of everything for everyone, even the naysayers. There are dark metal moments, but there are soft melodic bits as well. I'd have to say the 6 best songs from the album are VINUSHKA, STUCK MAN, RED SOIL, WARE YAMI TOTE, GLASS SKIN and DOZING GREEN. The only thing I didn't care for were the english remakes, I'm okay with Kyo throwing in some "engrish" here and there, but not full on songs, his voice is way too soft when he sings English and the original Japanese versions of Glass Skin and Dozing Green are so much better. I really hope _THOSE_ are the one's they'll be singing at the U.S. concerts as it would kinda confuse the fans who already know the phonetics to the japanese versions (lol, internet).

I'm really happy that Dir en grey hooked up with THE END RECORDS and DAMN! Management, here's to hoping they'll create more varied merchandise and maybe put out a U.S. Tour DVD in the future. The U.S. fanbase would go nuts for a "Best PV's" Collection DVD, especially if it had the uncensored OBSCURE video on it. Youtube is fine and dandy, but a high quality DVD would be so much better.

Dir en Grey's music is across the board amazing. This CD is no exception.

I'm not really a fan of heavy bass centric music, but the first song made me rethink that. It's the only one that's that bass centric. My favorite song on the album is Dozing Green (the Japanese Version) though Vinushka is up there with it.

If you like Dir en Grey, support them by buying this domestic release of their album. You won't regret it. If they receive enough support they'll release more domestic versions of future albums. A legal CD that's not an import and is under $30 ... that rocks.

I was so excited when I found out about Uroboros' release that I preordered it right away. While I loved some of the songs on Marrow of a Bone (like the amazingly haunting Namamekashiki Ansoku, Tamerai Ni Hohoemi) I did not like the overall feel of the album and hoped that Uroboros would not disapoint me as Marrow of a Bone had done. When I got the CD, I listened through several times and was not disappointed! Describing it sound-wise, it is somewhere in between the amount of metal on Withering to Death and Marrow of a Bone. As a fan of Diru's older sound, I am being won over by them and their newer sound. The songs on this album are amazing, I can listen to them all day, especially VINUSHKA, 'Ware, Yami Tote...', Toguro and 'Gaika, Chinmoku Ga Nemuru Koro'.

I have to add that I'm not quite sure which version I have according to Amazon since I got my copy from Japan. However, this seems the best bet given that they're around the same cost and number of disc. Therefore, this version most likely has the same track listing as mine. Disc 1 being the same as stated with the exception of the 14th track and Disc 2 has 3 unplugged tracks: 'Ware, Yami Tote', Inconvenient Ideal and Red Soil. I bought this version because I didn't care for the American extras, I much prefer the 3 unplugged songs on this version's 2nd disc. The only complaint I have about this disc is that Glass Skin is in English, not Japanese. I'd fallen in love with the Japanese version off of the Glass Skin single and was disapointed that it wasn't presented on any version of Uroboros in Japanese.

All in all, this is a great album. Dir en grey's sound has certainly changed since Gauze but Uroboros proves that they are an amazingly talented band. Even if you're not a huge fan of them, you should definitely get this album!

Thank goodness for internet downloads. The twilight of $50 import cds is at hand.
If you are a fan of j-rock, you MUST download this album. You have no excuses.
If you aren't - give Toguro or Doukoku To Sarinu a try. For $2, you will not be dissapointed.
The boys from DeG are back with a vengeance. There are a few hard-rocking screamer tracks like Reiketsu Nariseba, and a few more melodic tracks like Dozing Green.
Dozing Green - I would get the album JUST for this song!

Thank you, Amazon!

Dir en Grey's seventh studio album is one to please. Kyo's vocals range from a deep growl to a sweet soft melody. Karou and Die add power with their heavy rhythems and screaming riffs. Toshiya adds a full rounded sound to bring the guitars and drums together. Shinya lays a drum beat that is quick and amazing. Their sound is something similar to Marrow of a Bone and some of the older Dir en Grey. They have truly out done themselves this time. A beautiful piece of work.

Dir en grey's Uroboros gives sharp evidence to the band's continuing efforts to examine different aspects of their sound. On their current effort, they look to the East and experiment with Progressive Rock.

This is not easy music to listen to. It will require some attention. On the other hand, if you enjoy the instrumentation of bands like Coheed and Cambria, The Mars Volta, and Porcupine Tree, you'll find some common ground here, though not common vocal language. Vocalist Kyo is not a pure instrument, nor does he sing English clearly, but he's definitely impressive in the array of sounds he can produce in serving the songs, both heavy and gently melodic.

High points for new listeners? Toguro and Ware, Yami Tote... are good introductions to this new work.

Dir en grey's an acquired taste, but well worth the attempt.