Dir en grey - Dozing Green

The title track had a sample that did nothing impressive, and that's because it was the lame chorus. The rest of the song is really nice; I really loved the parts where there were those gorgeous background vocals. Kyo's not really what I pay attention to for most of the song, though the shrieks at the end are really awesome. It's.. for once, Die. His playing was actually expressive this time around, and really fit the mood of the rest of the music. I'm not really impressed by Shinya or Toshiya here, but, with them all together it's great. I can't wait to see what they do when they remake it.

Hydra -666- is a strange.. 'remake'..thing. Kyo does some awesome vocals here (he sure does them growls and squeals), and Shinya does some extended double bassing which is cool. Die is his normal self here, though. I listen to the Kaoru parts more than the Die ones. Something generally just sounds rather.. VK about this song. The riffing, the timing, all that reminds me (ironically) of Diru copying bands. Not that this is a bad thing. I love it. It has a general atmosphere that will most likely be very much improved on.

The live recording of Agitated Screams of Maggots is pretty good. And by pretty good I mean 'The best I've heard Kyo sound on a CD'. He doesn't fail at the screaming or skip 1000 words, he actually pulls it off, and that's what's impressive. Bad thing is his and Toshiya's vocals are way too quiet. I guess it was just a little error with the sound crew. Definately impressive.

So I'd say that this is the best single Dir en grey has released since... Oh screw it. Ever. Most singles had one song, maybe a remix, and some live stuff. But usually the live stuff sucked. But here, it's good for all three tracks instead of just one. Definately a great release.

Stay tuned later this week or next week for VK Fashion, an unusually untreaded section where I express my opinion on bands' current visuals. See you next time!