Dir en grey - UROBOROS

Only a year-and-a-half after their last album, THE MARROW OF A BONE, Dir en grey is back with their strongest release to date. Void of the raw, briskly-produced sound but still incorporating the heaviness of a solid metal band, UROBOROS promises to be one of the band's definitive releases.

The album's introductory track, SA BIR, sets a strong mood for the whole album in just over two minutes. The track showcases the sounds of an electric sitar with subtle vocal experiments by Kyo and tribal drumming executed by Shinya. The song gives way to the soft opening of VINUSHKA, a nine-minute epic that plays off the successful songs from the band's earlier days. A soft acoustic guitar gives way to slow, deep, distorted electric guitars and a subtle bass. Kyo's singing is spot-on, melodiously weaving through strong drumming and percussion as well as an innocuous flute. What passes for a chorus enters around one-fourth of the way through, and it's then eclipsed by a deep guitar and bass jam where the emotional heaviness of the track comes together. Kaoru and Die battle on guitars, and Shinya has a brief lead with the drums. VINUSHKA also features some shockingly experimental screaming by Kyo. The next shock the vocalist delivers is the ability to do true, low, heavy growls. For the remainder of the track, each style presented varies on and off. Already, UROBOROS starts out strong, with its first solid track going out with a roar.

The third and fourth tracks, RED SOIL and DOUKOKU TO SARINU, are twins in attitude, each offering something different but complementing flawlessly. RED SOIL exposes with a strong guitar riff and a quick, catchy bass line. The track gets chaotic around the half-way mark, picking up with guitars, bass and drums all in ferocious harmony while Kyo delivers a few short chants followed by that terror-inducing growl. A falsetto bridge blends nicely with a harpsichord insert and more of Kyo's frenetic squeals, chirps and growls. The track soon buries itself in a double-bass roll, and the closing sound effect drags you into DOUKOKU TO SARINU. This song is also heavy, entering with a soft but tense jazzed groove. The hook is delivered with more strong screaming and shouting, which is a tendency repeated throughout the song, and it shifts wildly between soft and heavy, but the poise of the track remains. Previous descriptions of this album claim Kyo will lay strong emphasis on his traditional singing abilities, and that is just what he shows consistently throughout the song, exuding skill twisted around a backbone of anger.

UROBOROS's first foray into something ballad-esque comes with TOGURO, which is a mid-tempo, proggy, post-rock crooner. There's more of the electric sitar, accenting the vague exotic feel, and the track builds upon itself, lurching for its own real hook; one finds this lyrical hook in the closing minute with the chorus delivered in a half-yell. Then the electronically distorted falsettos close the track, which will inevitably catch your ear, but before you have time to settle in the track shifts. GLASS SKIN, Dir en grey's September single appears on this album with all of the same instrumentals, but this time you will find the lyrics are all in English. The track is yet another strong ballad with a strong bass groove and mid-nineties guitar styles; it pays homage to the band's own roots. The lyrics, while not very recognizable in pronunciation, seem to suit the track's mood much better. With further effort put on learning English, this track could be a complete A+, but until then, it will fall short of its single mix twin. A chorus of "prease don't go!" begs for English lessons.

Heaviness makes its comeback on the seventh tune, STUCK MAN, which is again a throwback to those early days of Dir en grey, as well as the visual kei movement. The loud, twangy bass line carries into a heavy rhythm overlaid with screaming, making a return to Kyo's death growls. Looking back on the band's catalog, the rapped vocals bear striking resemblance to the track children from the six Ugly EP. STUCK MAN is definitely one of the most outstanding tracks on the CD with an uncontrolled heaviness, sharp squeals of "shut up!" and more unrestrained shouting, babbling and screaming from Kyo. Both Kaoru and Die also go all out on the track from beginning to end, and the transition between STUCK MAN and REIKETSU NARISEBA has virtually no seams, driven as it is by the pair of guitarists. REIKETSU again adds the electric sitar to its arsenal, you can hear it when the song breaks from its heaviness. The assaulting track goes out with a bang, with only lingering shell-shock to be felt.

WARE, YAMI TOTE... is the next ballad on UROBOROS, and it presents itself with pride. It's filled with emotional vocals, smooth, sorrowful acoustic guitars, Toshiya's strong bass playing and delicate drumming. The song expresses the band's maturity and will surely be one of their remembered ballads in the coming years, on par with -mushi-.

The eighth track is the oddly titled BUGABOO. All allusions aside, this track is an expertly brutal metal track. BUGABOO starts off in a misty daze, then Kyo jumps out with more of the developed growling. It's followed by beautiful layering and Kyo's defined, near-falsetto singing, as well as more growling. The relentless thrashing guitars seem to end with the odd intro to GAIKA, CHINMOKU GA NEMURU KORO, but make an unexpected return, with a shift from ballad to a loud, fast, hard rock number. The majority of GAIKA is delivered in screams and growls, singing is interspersed to accent by the former. GAIKA stands aside after a strong presentation for the band's first single off UROBOROS, DOZING GREEN. It appears, like its promotional counterpart, in English. The lyrics in this song are very close to the translation provided when the single was originally released.

The final track of the album is one of the greatest clinchers Dir en grey has released. INCONVENIENT IDEAL starts out dark and slow and picks up momentum as the track endures, ripe with beautiful melodies and a stunning vocal track. The track is noticeably void of screaming and oozes strong composition. While Kaoru and Die blend acoustic and electric guitars to set a heavy mood, the track never becomes overbearing and exhibits well the end of a fantastic composition. The cycle of UROBOROS is complete.

Though the circle is complete, the journey is not over. Depending on your choice of the many editions of this album - foreign or domestic, limited or regular - the release offers more video footage, audio content and even a vinyl release (a first for the band). This is a release sure to capture fans old and new, dedicated and disinterested. Be sure to grab your ideal edition of UROBOROS while it's still convenient to do so.