My problems with writing music

So I write music in my spare time. It's probably not going to change the world, but I'm happy with it and I definitely think that some of them are really very good.

It's all in Japanese (except for a few), and it ranges from J-pop to progressive death metal. I've written about 24 songs but now I'm starting to encounter problems...

Problem 1: I'm writing too many slow/soft songs

This was great at first when I had no songs written down. However it seems to be all I can write (the only consolation is that they are all completely different). Don't get me wrong, I'm immensely proud of some of the riffs and melodies I have come up with, but it's stating to become the only thing I can play when I touch a guitar.

Problem 2: When I try to write heavy songs, I can only play deathcore

The title says it all really. Maybe it's because I'm 'trying' and not letting it come naturally. Whenever I kick on the distortion the only things I can play are either the riff from 'The Final' by DIR EN GREY or Nu-metal/Deathcore. I don't even like the last two genres of music. This is really annoying, as so far I have only written one heavy song I am happy with, and that took influence from Kabuki music.

Problem 3: All my lyrics are too similar

All. My. Lyrics. Are. About. Love. All of them. Whether its breakups, falling in love, killing your ex, stalking, ANYTHING to do with love, I've written a song about it. I just can't write anything else! Well actually that's a lie, I've written TWO songs about 'being yourself'. I am happy with these lyrics, and I think they have deep meanings behind them (they're not pop music style lyrics about love, but I want to move away from this...

Well that's it, and this is the end of probably one of the most pointless posts I have ever written. :D

DIR EN GREY Rinkaku Review.

1: Rinkaku

2: Kiri To Mayu (Remake)

3: Rinkaku Remix

Now, I know it's not out yet, but I downloaded the single because I could not wait. Don't worry though, I ALWAYS buy my music afterwards, I own every DIR EN GREY release as of this single. However, I can't really prove it to you, so judge away...

This is probably one of the strongest singles I've heard from DIR EN GREY, on par with my favourite single 'Hageshisa to...'; all three tracks are great. 

Rinkaku

I'm sure most of you have heard the endless previews of the title track 'Rinkaku', but these were only the edited version. The full version has an extra verse and an exquisite piano bridge, as well as extended intros, etc.  'Rinkaku' is an extremely atmospheric song, aided in a large part by Kyo's haunting falsetto singing. This song is very much a cross between 'Wari, Yami Tote' and their 'Dum Spiro Spero' material, mixing heavy instrumentation with clean singing. I have a strong mental image in my head of 'Rinkaku' being akin to a puzzle, with each part slotting in perfectly at the right moment. 

As I said in a previous short review of the preview, the production is immense and Shinya's drumming has never sounded better. The guitars sound amazing in this song and do not sound too overproduced. They successfully create a blissful wall of sound, which isn't too in-your-face either. Toshiya is slapping again, which adds a driving motion to the song which would probably otherwise be static.

If this is the direction DIR EN GREY are going in, I have no complaints.

Kiri To Mayu

Fans wanting to see 'heavy' DIR EN GREY do not despair, as 'Kiri To Mayu' delivers exactly that. However it is a different 'heavy' to that of 'Dum Spiro Spero', and I feel slightly indifferent to it. 

Kyo can obviously still scream. He's actually sounding better than he did. The only problem I have with his 'new' screaming (I don't know if this is because of his accident or the production), is that it is very much like Suicide Silence and other contemporary American deathcore bands. It's hard to describe without listening to the song, but I've always thought American deathcore singers have a very 'cloudy' scream, and this is the sound I'm getting from Kyo. 

I think a few more clean vocals would have been nice, the only part using cleans being the chorus (I think it's the chorus?). This song is very in-your-face, but less so than say, remakes of 'Zan' and 'Rasetsukoku'; the atmosphere from 'Rinkaku' continues very much into this song and is reminiscent of the inside of a church (for me). 

You can tell the song is 'Kiri To Mayu', as it uses the same intro riff, just heavier. It's very much like the remake of 'Zan'; HEAVY HEAVY HEAVY. Each riff ends on a note that threatens to change into a breakdown, which is sort of frustrating, but also a reminder of how full of surprises DIR EN GREY are. The solo mid-song is VERY Americanized, but also strangely very DIR EN GREY, making for an interesting listen. I was disappointed with this song at first listen, but with every listen I am becoming more and more attached to it. 

Rinkaku Remix

This remix screams out 'DOOM DOOM DOOM'. It conjured up many emotions at first listen, even more the second time round, emotions such as despair, grief, sadness, anger, etc. It sounds like it wouldn't go amiss on a Silent Hill soundtrack. It's darker than anything DIR EN GREY could ever do (no hating!). This remix adds an interesting twist to the song in general. Whilst the original is actually quite hope inspiring (for me), the remix is the complete opposite, and compelled me to interpret the lyrics differently as well.

Overall I am very happy with this single and happy that DIR EN GREY are very much back. It's just a shame that more people don't listen to this utterly original, mesmerising, brilliant band.

10/10

DIR EN GREY -THE UNRAVELING- tracklist revealed

Wow. What a surprise. I thought this mini album was going to be 7 new songs; instead it seems as though it's going to be 1 new song followed by 6 remakes. And I'm not upset in the slightest.

As a musician myself, it has always amazed me how a band such as DIR EN GREY, who already churn out classic songs, can remake their own songs so easily and yet retain the overall original feeling of the song. Apart from their remake of 'undecided', I have loved every single one.

Although I understand that they are taking songs from their whole discography, the choice of songs has baffled me a little, as some are not that well known. Also the fact that the songs only go up to the 'WTD' era says to me that a second remake album is a possibility.

The tracklist is as follows:

Disc 1:
1. Unraveling
2. Karma (from 'Kaede -if trans-')
3. Kasumi (from 'Vulgar')
4. Karasu (from 'Kisou')
5. Bottom of the death valley (from 'Kisou')
6. Unknown.Despair.Lost (from 'Jealous' single)
7. THE FINAL (from 'Withering to death')

Disc 2 (bonus):
1: MACABRE (from 'Macabre')
2. Unraveling (Unplugged Ver.)
3. THE FINAL (Unplugged Ver.)

Disc 3 (DVD):
1. THE UNRAVELING (Scenes From Recording)
2. Interview & Documentary Footage

I have ordered the VERY limited edition, which comes with disc 2. I am not a fan of the 'unplugged' version of songs that DIR EN GREY do, but it's DIR EN GREY, so I'm not complaining!

I just hope that they don't mess up 'THE FINAL'...

DIR EN GREY ANNOUNCE NEW MINI ALBUM

This band just do not stop, do they? They'd already made my year with the announcements of 'Rinkaku' and their ESP signature guitars; I'm not complaining though, and with the announcement of their new mini album, my year is definitely completed. (At this rate they'll probably announce something on New Years Eve) :P


The new mini album will be called 'THE UNRAVELING' and promises to show the 'evolution/depth/genuineness of DIR EN GREY). When I read their description of the mini album, I instantly thought that this could mean either a sort-of-return to their old sound (like Withering to death) or a new sound taking ideas from their whole discography (which is probably more likely given that this is what the band is famous for). Regardless of the final outcome, this is very exciting news. 


It's quite a pricey album, with three different versions on offer: a limited deluxe version, a limited version and a normal version ranging from ￥7,350, ￥3,150, ￥2,625 respectively. I will probably buy the limited 
deluxe version, as it comes with two CDs and one DVD, so I'm guessing the extra CD will be either a live album or bonus tracks, which is always exciting. 

The album is out next year 2013/4/3

BIGBANG Wembley Arena 14/12/12 review

Let me just start off by saying I had high expectations of this gig and I was incredibly excited; I had watched so many PVs and Inkigayos that I felt I had seen them live already... and I was not dissapointed.

I was quite near the front standing, so when 'Alive' blasted out, I had to endure a rush forwards (me  included in the rush). They went on to play 'Tonight', which had the whole audience moving and also gave us our firt glimpse of the members of BIGBANG.

Now, the members of BIGBANG. WOW, FANTASTIC BABY. They are so much hotter and cooler in the flesh, its ridiculous. G Dragon was smaller and thinner than I thought, but along with TOP, the two are literally perfect. Taeyang, Seungri and Daesung were as I imagined, but still hotter than on youtube. By the end of the night two things were clear: they can really sing and they can really dance.

They played a lot of my favourite songs, such as 'Hands Up', 'Stupid Liar' and 'Heaven'. I think with every song they changed their outfits, which was impressive in its own right. The band were incredible, as they added things to the songs that weren't present in the studio versions; for example, during Seungri's verse on 'Fantastic Baby', the drums became slower and were hitting every offbeat, which I liked very much.

The stage talks were fun and a nice break, with Taeyang singing a cover of a Chris Brown song whilst having a tissue up his nose to stop the nosebleed he had suffered earlier on. All the members were good at english and I was reminded just why BIGBANG were so popular globally compared to their other asian counterparts.

But not everything was perfect unfortunately. I thought that there was too much stage time given to the member's solo songs. I am not a great fan of these songs, and I can safely say I am only a fan of Seungri's and Daesung's songs. However, G Dragon's 'One of a Kind' did not fail to get me moving, so I can't really complain a lot about this aspect of the concert.

Overall this was an incredible concert, a truly entertaining concert. It was nice to experience a non-metal/rock concert and as a result I was less tired and in less pain. I kind of wish I had bought tickets to go on the next day as well.

10/10

UVERworld <THE ONE> Review

1. THE ONE (SE)
2. 7th Trigger
3. Don't Think. Feel
4. LIMITLESS
5. 25 Word
6. KINJITO (LIVE intro ver.)
7. THE OVER
8. Koko Kara
9. REVERSI
10. Barbell
11. BABY BORN & GO
12. AWAYOKUBA (LIVE intro ver.)
13. NOWHERE boy

UVERworld are a band that many will simply 'brush over' given their accessible form of rock and anime image. Whilst this description is certainly true of their first few albums, their most recent offerings showcase a mature, modern and yet 'old' sound, which shines throughout on this record. This is a strong record, with UVERworld utilizing (almost overusing) aspects such as rapping and saxophones which have made them such a unique band in the Japanese rock scene.

The album starts off on familiar ground with the opener '7th Trigger', which is a good track listing decision, given the explosive effect of the guitars kicking in followed by one of the catchiest choruses ever composed by UVERworld. This song shows what this album is about: catchy songs and the overall chemistry of the band altogether, which has improved since 'Life 6 Sense'. There is much more emphasis on guitar work on most of these songs, with acoustic solos + riffs galore, as well as nu-metal style chugging riffs. The singles ('7th Trigger', 'THE OVER', 'BABY BORN & GO') definitely show this the most, with the guitars governing the direction of the song and whether the song will go heavy or soft.

Standout tracks for me are 'LIMITLESS', '25 Word' and 'REVERSI' (out of the new songs). 'LIMITLESS' has a oddly satisfying fluidity about the whole song, and Takuya's voice is soothing and he uses a brilliant mix of rapping and singing (I think he also has an effect on but I'm not sure). This song is very modern, taking influence from contemporary rap to contemporary rock (the chorus especially). The saxophone is used to great effect here, with a fast paced solo at the start, followed by a beautiful short acoustic interlude. If this is one of the directions UVERworld could go in, I'm absolutely fine with that!

I heard a leaked version of 'REVERSI' before the album came out, and it caught my attention instantly. It has a 'metal' overtone to the song, and is like 'Just Melody', 'Gekidou' and 'THE OVER' mixed with poison; this is a dark track for UVERworld. The drums on this song are great and you hear the drums being hit with a ferocity not heard before. Don't get me wrong, this is still very much UVERworld, and again there is a catchy chorus and the singing is lighter than the music.

'25 Word' is an interesting song, as it has a flute (or similar) in it, laying down the foundation. It has a 'lounge' feel to the song, like something you would listen to on a plane or somewhere relaxing. I absolutely love the vocal melody on this song, and the phonetic emphasis on certain words, especially in the chorus (TENgoku, etc). The outro caught me completely off guard and is almost jazzy, ending the song on a relaxing note.

'NOWHERE boy' and 'Koko Kara' are two songs that I am not really a fan of. I found them hard to get into and they didn't captivate me from the get-go. I feel bad, as I skip them almost instinctively when they appear on shuffle.

Sorry for this short review, but I'm slowly losing time to do this, as I'm about to leave school and there's a lot of work to do.

8/10

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!!!)