Search - Dir En Grey :: Kisou

Even better than I expected!

Mathew P. Peters | Brier, WA USA | 11/29/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Dir En Grey really is an incredible band. They can diversify themselves so much, and this album really shows that. Ever since Yoshiki stopped producing them, I think they started to get more original. It's not that the Yoshiki produced stuff wasn't also amazing, but it sounded just like your typical visual kei music.
Every member of the band shines in his own light on this album.1. Kigan-Great way to start out an album. Really awesome guitar riff in the beginning, with some slight drumming. Then the drums get heavier and the bass kicks in. Kyo comes in quietly but then explodes and growls and screams on the chorus. I love how the song suddenly changes progression about 2/3 through the song. AMAZING STARTER (9/10)2. Zomboid-Starts out with some distorted drumming by Shinya and then some raw guitars. That's the best word I can use to describe this song, "RAW". Really funky bass line on this one, as well as really perverted lyrics. Awesome chorus! Another great hard track (9/10)3. 24 Ko Cylinder-This is a slower song, but just amazing! Starts out with a simple guitar line, but then builds up in lots of different layers. The chorus in this song is one of the most powerful things I've heard from Dir En Grey. (9.5/10)4. Filth-At first I didn't like this song, but it grew on me. Starts out with some distorted drumming and some weird programming effects. The guitars are a little dull in places, but the bass and drumming are awesome. I just don't like the beginning vocal part. It just sounds like noise. The chorus is awesome though, and that's what got me to like the song. (8/10)5.Bottom of Death Valley-Very soft song at first. Really great bassline. Sounds kinda like a Tool song. Great chorus, with Kyo's growling ^_^. Great song, but runs a little too long (6 mins). (8/10)6.Embryo-Begins with a guitar progression similar to LUNA SEA. I love Kyo's singing on this song. Very soft and sexy. The chorus is just outstanding, and I loved how they got their guitars to sound like violins. This is definately one of the best songs on the album, as well as one of my favorite singles from them. Really harsh and disturbing lyrics though (about incest and rape) (10/10)7.Shinsou-This is the first of the three intrumental tracks on the album. This is pretty much just a filler track, but it's still pretty interesting. Has a cool synthesizer effect and some cool electronic drum beats. Sounds like something you'd hear in a club (7.5/10)8.gyakujyou kanou Keloid Milk-Another one of the best songs on the album. Great vocal work from Kyo in the beginning, and the guitar riff is awesome. The song has a very FULL sound to it, meaning that every member of the band shines on it. (10/10)9.The Domestic F**ker Family-With a title like that, what do you expect? Really hard and raw song, in the same vein as Zomboid. Kyo sounds like he's vomiting in this one; very cool. The song is good for its length, but if were any longer it would have been too repetitive. (7.5/10)10.Undecided-This is my favorite song on the album. It's a very sorrowful song, with mostly accoustic guitars and slight drumming. I love the layering on this song, and the fact that it can be calm but also intense at the same time. The chorus is wonderful, but what really made this song so excellent was the guitar solo about 2 minutes into the song. It really shows how talented Die and Kaoru are. Really beautiful song (10/10)11. Mushi-Starts out in the same vein as Undecided, but quickly changes. I love Kyo's vocals on this song. You can totally feel his emotion in this song. The guitar progression towards the end is awesome also. Another great slow song. (9/10)12. Shinsou-The second and dullest of the intrumental tracks. It's the same thing over and over again for a full minute. This track really wasn't neccessary (2/10)13.Jessica-Alright, we're back again! ^_^ It starts out with Shinya's amazing drumming, and as the guitars build in, it starts to get exciting. Great guitar work on this song from both Die and Kaoru, as they both seem to have different parts and they both flow together perfectly. Toshiya's bass, as always, is very cool too. Extremely upbeat, lyrically beautiful, and just perfect! Shinya's drumming is almost too good here and I'm more than convinced he's one of the best drummers out there today. (10/10)14. karasu-Begins out with some programmed drums to a weird guitar, and slams back with some cool drum work from Shinya and bass work from Toshiya. I thought the song was going to be soft as first, but then the chorus kicks in. It sounds kinda "nu-metal"-ish, like something from Mudvayne. The song is a little annoying and a bit uneven at time, but it all works out in the end. (8/10)15. Pink Killer-Looking at that title, I knew I was in for something hard. And indeed, this song is HARD. I don't think the word "hard" decribes this song well enough. This is simply the fastest, craziest, most hard core song I've ever heard from any band. The best part of the song is Kyo's screaming at the end. It sounds like he's going to pop out of the speakers and attack you. Awesome song, though kinda uneven at places. (8.5/10)16. Shinsou-This is the last and best of the intrumental tracks on the album. It starts out with some programmed drumming and then a piano comes in. It really settles you down after the craziness of Pink Killer. This track is the definition of musical bliss. Pretty much perfect, and an excellent closer to an amazing album. (9.5/10)There you have it, Kisou! One of the best albums I've heard from anyone in 2002. If you're a JRock fan, Dir En Grey fan, or just a rock fan in general, you owe it to yourself to pick this one up."

Great album

Dahlia | Montreal, Canada | 01/03/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"To me Kisou is the perfect balance of hard rock, ballads, and weirdness. As any fan would tell you, Dir en grey is an acquired taste that would require you to listen to their material a few times to really get an idea of what they sound like.



Kisou is no different, it took me a while to really appreciate this album because of it's bizarre distortion whether in vocals or instrument, though eventually it starts making sense.



My picks for this album are "kigan", "24ko cylinder", "Bottom of the death valley", "Keloid milk", "mushi", and "Jessica".



If you're a fan of ballads there's a fair chunk of it that includes: 24ko cylinder, Bottom of the death valley, embryo, undecided (kinda) and mushi.



For the real hardcore lovers there's kigan, Zomboid, Filth, keloid milk, the domestic fxxker family, karasu and pink killer.



And for something different: pop rock. You'll love Jessica.



There are 3 instrumental tracks that I personally don't find worthy to listen to except for the last one, track 16, which is a piano instrumental.



I love the craftmanship of each song, there aren't any songs I don't like, so I find this a pretty solid album. A friend of mine who hasn't heard much of them even told me that Kyo puts a lot of emotions into his singing when I sent her "mushi". So it's a plus to listen to an emotional vocalist who also has range from growling to falsetto."

Kisou! Sugoi!

Dahlia | 04/12/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is one of thier -best- CD's yet! Everyone writes a song (Except Shinya), even Kyo for once! This album has one of the widest ranges of music they've done, and includes everything from punk to piano! Besides, it has pictures inside! In all its a great CD, and you should BUY it! n_n v"