Dir en grey

[PolarizeMe]

New song/lyric video, guys! 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbUQdj0CWZ8&feature=youtu.be

Here's a pair of videos of 10 seconds worth of the whole album! 
Part 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sy8TOoGo87s
Part 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtvnUWIPANY&list=UUYY158T1shyne7i3C9GV-UA

[Obfuscation]

I feel like this album will be more oriented into being basic structure songs in the vein of Sustain the Untruth and Rinkaku like they stated earlier with lots of emphasis on the chorus. As long as they are as good as Sustain and Rinkaku, this should be a solid album. And this new song I like but since its edited, it feels short but I like the sound of it and atmosphere it has.

[PolarizeMe]

I really like the new song, but like you said it's edited and I did feel a bit disappointed when it ended cause I felt it was too short also. I really like the ambiance in the background of the song. I think Kyo's experience with sukekiyo influenced how he approached recording Arche. Maybe I shouldn't judge based on 10 second samples, but while there were definitely a few screams/death growls, the album seems to be slightly more mellower as a whole if I'm making sense. Sustain The Untruth and Rinkaku also appear to have been remixed or rerecorded for the album as well.

Well, Arche will get a European release on Okami Records on December 12. Aside from download and album stream, it'll come in a 2CD version which will have the same contents on the Japanese initial limited 2CD version. It's quite disappointing that they're no longer on The End Records in America and I'm not sure if they even tried getting a new American label but at least we have other ways of getting the album.

[Ultimetalhead]

I'd say it's pretty likely that they picked more accessible sections of the songs for the sampler, but yeah. Very few growls/screams overall. I think I'm okay with that though. Marrow, Uroboros, and Dum Spiro Spero all had a lot of harsh vocals, so I'm okay with a shift to a more clean-oriented album. Everything in the sampler sounded fucking amazing, and it seems we'll still have some faster metal cuts like Cause of Fickleness, Chain Repulsion, and The Inferno.

Also that full song with the lyric video they put up was lovely too. Judging its position in the album (14), I'm guessing it'll be like Vanitas in that it's the calm before the final push of the album.

[Obfuscation]

I understand what both of you are saying and agree with it. I just hope its not too little growls/screams cause I think they were really awesome, especially in DSS, for Kyo not to do more and tickle me fancy with his awesome vocals and experimentation with them. Anyway, I just want this fucking album already.

[Obfuscation]

I just want to say the song they released, just keeps on growing on me and getting stuck in my head. I like that.

[PolarizeMe]

I just want to say the song they released, just keeps on growing on me and getting stuck in my head. I like that.

Agreed. I think by the 3rd or 4th listen, the song began to settle in and now I really enjoy it. The chorus especially (if you can call it one) has been stuck in my head. There's something about that section of the song in particular that sounds humanistic and even feel good sounding that I just love.

[Obfuscation]

I just want to say the song they released, just keeps on growing on me and getting stuck in my head. I like that.

Agreed. I think by the 3rd or 4th listen, the song began to settle in and now I really enjoy it. The chorus especially (if you can call it one) has been stuck in my head. There's something about that section of the song in particular that sounds humanistic and even feel good sounding that I just love.

Yeah that's exactly the part that keeps on playing again and again in my head most of the time. If most of the songs have a chorus like that'll get stuck on me and grow just like it was the case for Sustain the Untruth and Rinkaku. I will be a happy trooper and listen to it nonstop.

[Ultimetalhead]

I understand what both of you are saying and agree with it. I just hope its not too little growls/screams cause I think they were really awesome, especially in DSS, for Kyo not to do more and tickle me fancy with his awesome vocals and experimentation with them. Anyway, I just want this fucking album already.

I get that totally. It's frankly ridiculous not to expect some more mindblowing harsh vocals. Kyo clearly enjoys doing it, judging by the sukekiyo project which is also a bit more clean vocal oriented still having a few moments of awe-inspiring screams.

[Ultimetalhead]

Good god, only 2 more days.

[Zantera]

I'm pretty excited, especially considering I haven't heard anything from it, and details seems pretty tight. I tried getting some song lengths from Wikipedia but that didn't seem like official information yet, so didn't get any info on it. Hopefully this is great.

[Ultimetalhead]

One more temptation for you here, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RbQrfGBSaPY

I'm kind of amazed they're still releasing songs, but this one should pretty handily quell the whole lack of extreme vocals worry.

[PolarizeMe]

Kyo's vocals on Revelation of mankind sounds pretty varied in the style of DSS in my opinion. I dig it. 

[PolarizeMe]

Good god, only 2 more days.

Yeah, the wait is killing me. I hope my copy of the album arrives before the holidays so I can listen to it.

[PolarizeMe]

Sorry if I'm spamming this thread but apparently Arche leaked. Reception from those who've heard it so far have been mostly positive. Someone even made a comparison of the song Phenomenon with the Porcupine Tree songs Bonnie The Cat and The Creator Has A Mastertape which I found interesting if unusual. Hearing about these song descriptions is making me even more interested and excited to hear the album.

[Ultimetalhead]

Will be listening in approximately 3 hours. I can't contain myself.

[Zantera]

I'm about halfway through the album and it is gold so far. For the first two songs or so, I thought to myself "Kyo is kinda holding back", but then the explosion happened. Some of these songs probably have the craziest vocals by Kyo so far, and that's saying a lot after the last couple of albums. Best and most versatile vocalist in metal? Mike Patton would give him a run for his money, but I would say so. His screams are mindbogglingly good.

[Ultimetalhead]

I'm about halfway through the album and it is gold so far. For the first two songs or so, I thought to myself "Kyo is kinda holding back", but then the explosion happened. Some of these songs probably have the craziest vocals by Kyo so far, and that's saying a lot after the last couple of albums. Best and most versatile vocalist in metal? Mike Patton would give him a run for his money, but I would say so. His screams are mindbogglingly good.

I must be missing a lot of the craziness, because I'm not hearing nearly as much as on Dum Spiro Spero. I'm on track 6 right now, and I'm loving the shit out of it, of course. The first two tracks have some awesome chorus-like statements. Very catchy. There's some really harrowing atmospheric stuff going on too.

[PolarizeMe]

I'm going through the album right now, and it seems to me at least that some of the songs have hooks that give me a vibe of some of their earlier albums while maintaining the post-Uroboros sound. I'm loving it so far and I agree that the choruses in the songs sound awesome and catchy as f**k. Also agree with the notable increase in atmospheric stuff going on in the background such as the one at the beginning of Tousei and of course the ambiance throughout Kukoku No Kyouon.

I'm not sure if Kyo's growls on Arche will outcrazy his performance on DSS but they're very satisfying to my ears. I absolutely love the clean vocals on this album, technically I'd say it's his best clean vocals so far. I'd also like to add that Toshiya shines a lot on this album IMO. A good chunk of groovy and catchy bass lines.

[Zantera]

Just an initial impression, but I get the feeling this album might be slightly better balanced than Dum Spiro Spero, at least for my taste. Don't get me wrong, Dum Spiro Spero is one of the heaviest albums around, and I love every minute of it. To me that album easily belongs in the 9-9.5 out of 10 range, near perfect overall. If there is one MINOR complaint I have, and it's very minor and doesn't really drag down the album anything for me, but it would be that the album is very heavy-centric, and despite some calmer songs, it goes more into the extreme territory than Uroboros did. Arche (at least after one listen) felt a bit more balanced, and one of their most atmospheric sounding albums. Less heavy, some more clean stuff but overall a nice mix. When they go heavy, they really go heavy and you get blown away.

So while it is too early to judge this album, and how it will stack up to Uroboros and Dum Spiro Spero, I will say that I loved the balance of the album. Heavy, soft, and some really nice new additions to the sound. Also possibly their best artwork in a while, and I love the title of the album. So yeah, time (and more listens) will tell how it stacks up quality-wise, but I do love the dynamics on it. It's like a slightly lighter Uroboros/Dum Spiro Spero hybrid, and I agree with PolarizeMe that it feels like some of the earlier albums had a touch of influence on this one.

[Ultimetalhead]

Yeah, it's a very "complete" sounding album, isn't it? I mean, you get the melodic hooks, the heavy riffing, the batshit crazy vocals, and the soul-crushing atmosphere all within the same hour. Still, one thing I admire a lot is that the songs don't fall under their own weight. Every song has a style that it more or less sticks to without a lot of jarring transitions. I guess you could argue it as being less "progressive" and more song-oriented. There's most definitely no Vinushka-like explosions or transitions into totally different feelings.

Overall, I feel like the translation of the album title (Arche meaning "origin" in Greek) fits it well. It's sort of a nice culmination of how their sound has evolved over the years. I hope they're not done yet though because I still need more.

On a separate note, the vocals in Midwife are FUCKING INSANE. Jesus.

[LieLowTheWantedMan]

Album is awesome. Midwife is insane vocally and Cause of Fickleness is just crazy sounding but awesome.

[PolarizeMe]

Arche definitely is less "progressive" and a bit more simpler and definitely more song oriented yet there's something about the style in each song that makes them sound also complex in their own unique way. I agree with Zantera that Arche is a more balanced album compared to Dum Spiro Spero. DSS was top tier DEG IMO but I do agree it was on the extreme/heavier side for the most part sans Vanitas. Arche definitely sounds like a "complete" DEG album. It's a perfect balance of giving nod to their past work while also striving to continue evolving their sound. And I absolutely agree Ultimetalhead, I seriously hope they continue to make new music and tour (in America again) after Arche as I really want to see them live at least once before they call it a career.

It's too early for me to judge this album and I feel like I'll need to give it a few more listens but I can honestly say that I'm really loving what I'm hearing on Arche. I have a feeling that it'll be a grower on me like it was with DSS (hell when I started out listening to DEG, it took me four listens of Uroboros for it to completely click with me). It's worthy of a 9/10.

[Zantera]

Structure-wise I probably would have liked to see them go down from 16 songs to 12-13 and had 1 or 2 of those songs being a bit longer, over the 7-8 minute mark. Looking back at their longer tracks on earlier albums, they just pull off long songs so well. But with that said, this album is fine as it is. While it might be less progressive in that sense (songs being shorter), I feel like they did a really nice job with balancing the album. In some ways it reminded me of the best parts I love about albums like Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence or The Incident, the songs themselves are not long, but they kinda form this cohesive and consistent album when they are fused together. I don't think Arche was written in the same way as those two albums of course, but I really like how they managed to sprinkle out the heavyness on the album.

[Ultimetalhead]

I don't think I'll ever get over the vocals in Midwife. God Kyo's a beast.

[PolarizeMe]

Yeah Kyo's vocals in Midwife is fucking insane. Definitely one of my favorite songs on Arche.

[Dark Castle]

Finally have the time to listen to this in full today, what I have heard the past few days though I love. Kyo's vocals are phenomenal and each song has it's own rad as frick feel to it.

Phenomenon
Cause of Fickleness is ridiculously awesome, pumps me the fuck up.
Every song so far

[Zantera]

This album may have arrived on the doorstep to 2015, but I think this can crack my top10 for 2014. Totally worth the long wait.

[Obfuscation]

I still need to listen to this album like 108980980 more times just cause I want to but I think I'm in love already.

[PolarizeMe]

I still need to listen to this album like 108980980 more times just cause I want to but I think I'm in love already.

I understand how you're feeling. I feel like I'm in love with this album already but I feel inclined to listen to this album again and again which is something that has never happened with any other band/album before.

[Obfuscation]

Its just that some of these songs have actually many sounds and layers going on for them or really sudden transitions I feel like that you feel like you know the songs already but you actually don't. But I think that's a really good thing since I already like the album but it will just continue to grow on me more and more.

[Ultimetalhead]

At this precise moment in time, I still think Uroboros and Dum Spiro Spero are better, but Dir en grey albums take a long time to sink in for me. Both took months of dedicated listening to reveal their true colors, and I think Arche will be the same way. I find myself enjoying the songs I'd heard prior more than the others (so, Sustain the Untruth, Kukoku No Kyoun, and Rinkaku), which is odd. But, it lends credence to my idea that this album is even more of a grower than their prior efforts.

[Obfuscation]

I think just about all of us are in the same boat of thinking their last 2 albums were better but those were growers as well just like I feel this one is. I actually like that as well because it makes me want to just keep on listening to the album more and more. Although I do think Dum Spiro Spero grew on me pretty quick.

[PolarizeMe]

Arche's middle/high tier DEG for me at the moment. Yeah, I still think Uroboros is their magnum opus and not far behind would be Dum Spiro Spero but I still think Arche will grow on me immensely the more I listen to it. There's a lot going on in the songs, and I feel like it hasn't sunk in with me yet even after 4 listens to it. Kukoku No Kyoun is probably my favorite song on the album at the moment, and for me personally I find myself enjoying the tamer almost power ballad like songs more than the heavier ones.

[Zantera]

Arche is growing on me more and more with each listen. I think it could rank in higher than Dum Spiro Spero for me (which says a lot), but it's harder to say with Uroboros since it's my favorite. Still, what a great album.