Reviews written by muja
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MACABRE (Japan Ver.)
1 people found the following helpful
September 5, 2005 fantasticFor those who are fans of dir en grey's new metal sound, this album may or may not appeal to you, because their music has evolved so drastically over the years. However, i highly recommend this album simply because their music here manages to balance the unabashedly bizarre with the undeniably beautiful. Whilst Kisou carries my favourite sound and Vulgar, the most catchy songs, MACABRE is undeniably their best album as a whole, with the most original and experimental sound that still touches deeply, being dark, furious and full of pathos all at the same time. It smashes in with the harder sounds of Deity and Myaku, ensuring that one's attention is fully dragged into the harsh drums, slamming guitars, and Kyo's wildly unpredictable, unique voice, submerging the listener in dark chaos. This energy is then channeled into something less outwardly angry and more defeatist in the following track, Riyuu. The band, however, refuses to give you a break, and scratches it up again with the incredibly weird fluctuating guitars and strong bass line of egnirys cimredopyh +) an injection, and follows up with the hypnotic, anarchaic chanting of Hydra, its rhythm unexpectedly broken and then picked up again to ensure that your attention never wavers. It softens suddenly, with the poignant violin and toned-down guitars of Hotarubi, another quiet reprieve that doesn't last long, for [KR]cube picks up where Hydra left off, with a fun, edgy tune that is echoed in the next track, Berry, a darkly disturbing piece in its forced cheeriness. It is the piece de resistance MACABRE that comes into play next, an 11-minute long wonder that focuses on the instrumental talents of the band. Some will find it boring, but if you can appreciate the flow and atmosphere of the song, so much the better, cos it reminds you exactly why Dir en grey is so special. The solos here simply rock. Audrey shakes you out of your reverie with its cool, stylish guitars and bouncy chorus, one of the most listener-friendly tracks on the album, and then knocks you right on your rear with the heaviest track, Rasetsoku, that manages to be noisy without being cacophonic. The tempo drops once more, with the lengthy, distressed Zakuro, which conveys its pathos partly through Kyo's anguished vocals and partly through the hollow sound, created by minimal use of bass and guitars and driven mostly by the beat of Shinya's drums, and then descends into chaos. What follows is the incandescently beautiful and poignant Taiyo no Ao, probably the poppiest of all the MACABRE songs. It is soft but not terribly so, and carries a sweet finality that brings the album to a satisfactory close, and providing a touch of tenderness and hope at the end of your long journey through their MACABRE exploration of death and dying. Did you find this review helpful? Yes (Report This)
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