DIR EN GREY 輪郭 Rinkaku first thoughts

When I logged into my YouTube and saw this, I was extremely excited. I've been longing for this day to come, probably even more so than when the full single is released. I've been waiting to hear how DIR EN GREY have changed.

And I wasn't dissapointed. As I expressed in a previous post, I said how I hoped that DIR EN GREY would not simply go heavier than their sound now; thankfully (for this single at least) this is not the case.

This song sounds like a power ballad, and I instantly thought of their hit song, 'higeki wa mabuta wo oroshita yasashiki utsu' - but a speeded up, slightly more progressive version. Kyo's singing, which is completely falsetto, is beautiful and it adds to the atmospheric sound that they achieved so well on DUM SPIRO SPERO. He actually sounds akin to a whole choir, and he is singing very much like he did on songs like 'Vinushka'.

The guitars sound distorted, complimented by Die or Kaoru's clean guitar (I can't tell at the moment). This adds to the overall texture of the song, which combined with Kyo's singing has a 'building up' feel about the whole song, as if about to explode into a heavier part of the song. I'm quite sure at this moment that this preview may be the pre chorus or chorus, but I may be completely wrong.

It sounds as though Toshiya isn't playing his slap style in the preview and it sounds much more 'UROBOROS' like with slides and he is following the drums more.

Shinya's drumming sounds IMMENSE, and they sound better than ever. I always thought the drums on DUM SPIRO SPERO, especially the snare sounded a little 'distant' and 'flat', but here they are full and warm (the snare actually sounds like a snare!). That's actually a good word to describe this song, 'warm'.

DIR EN GREY have thrown another curve ball, and overall I'm very happy with the potential direction that DIR EN GREY are moving in. I can't wait for the full song and single.

9/10 (I wanted more, not just 12 seconds!!!)

Lynch. LIGHTNING Review

1. LIGHTNING
(I'll only be reviewing the track 'LIGHTNING', not the full single).

This is Lynch's latest offering and the first since their successful album 'INFERIORITY COMPLEX'. There are two things that are clear from this single; Lynch have definitely matured and they may be going 'soft', but given these are only two songs, the latter statement may not be true for subsequent releases (I hope so).

'LIGHTING' puzzled me at first. It had all the trademark Lynch sounds, but it sounded like a standard rock song you would hear on Music Station or HEYHEYHEY. There are no breakdowns, lots of clean guitar and I think one scream in the whole song. Although I love bands like UVERworld and Nightmare, I was a bit dissapointed with this song, given it was coming from Lynch and not a band like the two mentioned just now.

However the more I listened to it, the more it grew on me. Hazuki's vocals seem to have less of a 'visual kei-ness' about them, which is actually quite refreshing to listen to. Unlike 'INFERIORITY COMPLEX', which was loud and in-your-face, this single is a step back from that and has a 'crisp' sound to it; everything is just right, not too loud and not too quiet, although the bass is not as audible as on previous releases.

However I have a few problems with this song. It sounds 'overproduced' and too polished, and for me, Lynch have lost the raw sound that they captured on the previous album. A polished sound and overproduction is what I listen to UVERworld for, not Lynch. Secondly, as I mentioned at the beginning, this is quite a 'soft' offering from Lynch. I just hope they haven't ditched the heavy sound that they do so well.

8.5/10