Vulgar

Vulgar, 2003 (Sony Japan)
Dir en Grey
$55.49 on Amazon.com

As far as metal goes, I tend to enjoy the genre thoroughly, drawing out every last drop of technical prowess and musical greatness from the wonderful guitar work, double bass drumming, and variety of primal vocal styles. It does something to me that no other style can.

And then there’s that force-fed, regurgitated, carbon-copy, emasculated, soulless, scene, rock blasphemy that doesn’t slay the listener, but the genre as a whole. This music must be avoided at all costs, and should only be preserved as a dire warning to future generations to take good care of their musical movements.

This album, however, is different. Much different. Vulgar finds Dir En Grey at the pinnacle of their macabre persona, seamlessly marrying Japan’s Visual Kei movement with the melancholy horror of a disenfranchised generation that fell in love with the theatrics of Slipknot and Marilyn Manson. Or at least the American generation that did so. Forced to search for the band’s albums on Ebay and KaZaa, U. S. fans of Dir En Grey’s special formula of J-rock had been held back at arm’s length until the band began touring in the U.S. last year. They’ve released their last two albums, Withering to Death and The Marrow of a Bone, on stateside Freewill America and Warcon records. Vulgar is the last of the Japan-exclusive Dir En Grey masterpieces, and was my introduction to the band in 2003. I picked up my copy this week for a steal of 13.99 at ear-X-tacy in Louisville, KY.

The opening track, “Audience Killer Loop,” is playfully atmospheric for the first fifteen seconds, until Kyo’s signature gut-wrenching scream signals the arrival of a rock groove straight from the Edo period. The album continues with “The IIID Empire”, almost a venture into rapcore, and “Increase Blue”, a swing/metal chimera that leaves you wondering how on earth you’re going to classify this band in iTunes. The chorus in “Kasumi” soars, and “Child Prey” is a frantic punk track rivaled only by “Obscure”’s insanity. Androgynous drummer Shinya (the androgynous drummer is a hallmark of Visual Kei) comes out heavy in the mix, as do Kyo’s wonderfully sloppy crooning and occasional, unintelligible English.

Maybe I’ve been desensitized to the kind of highly aggressive chaos-core of bands like Dir En Grey. Maybe I’ve lost the ability to think objectively about how this kind of thing would come across to the average Top 40 listener. Or maybe I’m just working out my own frustrations in life and living vicariously through a fishnet-clad, gorilla-armed, diminutive musical visionary. Whatever it is, I love this album, and I love this band.