Dir En Grey was formed in 1997 by vocalist Kyo, guitarists Kaoru and Die, bassist Toshiya, and drummer Shinya. Some of their first singles were produced by Yoshiki Hayashi from X-Japan, one of visual kei’s precursors and inspirations. Although they have considerably changed their style throughout the years to the point that they are not considered visual kei anymore, they are an excellent example of a visual kei band evolving and managing to stay relevant.
Dir En Grey in their visual kei era:
Dir En Grey’s current image:
They have released 8 studio albums, and all of them have been featured in the Oricon chart, starting with their single Jealous from 1998. Their music style has also changed, going through pop, rock, metal, and nu-metal phases. They have toured Asia, Europe, South and North America, and have performed alongside bands such as Korn, Slayer, and Apocalyptica. Their concerts in the United States have all sold out.
The following video was released in 1999, for a song featured in their first full-length album, Gauze. It illustrative of their transition from a more traditional visual kei band towards an era of eroguro (erotic-grotesque) that they would keep for several albums. The lyrics also touch on the common visual kei theme of violence and sexual deviance, and the video uses the common imagery of sado-masochism also visible in other bands’ videos, such as Malice Mizer’s Illuminati from 1998.
Official website: http://www.direngrey.co.jp/
WARNING: THE VIDEO CONTAINS NUDITY AND VIOLENT IMAGES
Raison d’être (Reason for Existence)
愛しすぎていたねあの頃の僕はいつでも
でももう見飽きたよ
腕に別の人がいるね
すぐに愛せなくなり憎しみが込み上げるよ
叩き壊したくなる
僕の我がままも好きかい
言葉よりももっと求めていた
体だけを求めていたよ
鏡の前でただ1人演じきったピエロが
そっと僕の前に寄り言うのさ
君を苦しめるのは僕かそれとも彼女か
1人の僕が囁くのさ
気付く頃には傷つけていた
解り合えない僕がいるよ
最後はこんな形なんて気が遠くなるほどに痛くて
目の前で君が笑い叫ぶ赤いカミソリ見つめながら
Back then, I always loved you too much
but I already grew tired of looking.
There is another in my arms.
I immediately stopped loving, the hatred wells up
I want to tear it down, do you also love my egoism?
I was pursuing much more than words
I was only pursuing a body
A Pierrot performing in front of the mirror
says to me softly:
‘The one inflicting pain on you, is it me, or is it her?’
I am muttering to myself
When I realized it, I was hurting you
There is a side of me that will not have mutual understanding
That the end would have such form as to hurt to the point of losing consciousness…
You scream with laughter in front of my eyes as you stare at the red razor
-Javi
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