Reacting To Dir En Grey - Vinushka - Is It Worth The Hype?

[@GoufinAround_]

Kyo is genuinely the most underrated vocalist on Earth. He is genuinely one of the best vocalists of all time and they've been at it since the late 90's

[@Sayu_Rika]

I just remembered Dir en Grey again and came to this video somehow. They were my absolute favourite band in my teens starting around 12 or 13. Tbh I didnt have a great childhood and there was trauma. Something I always loved about DEG is the emotion. Never have I heard music that feels so .. deep? Whatever lyrics of any song, nothing ever compared to the emotional rollercoaster of DEG songs. Pain surely plays a role in that. I think when you hit rock bottom and lose yourself somewhere between emptiness and despair, this music hits different and can represent it. Not all songs, but many. Some sound more like hope and power, raising from the ashes. I am aware that might sound edgy, but thats what DEG is for me. Music that feels just like my soul does in dark times, but also touches it in a healing empowering way. Also I had a teen crush on Kyo 😂

[@meatharbor]

Kyo's an... Interesting character. He never had any "official" vocal training and it kinda shows. He's had edema of larynx twice, vocal nodule dysphonia and tonsillitis. You can really see the impact all that damage has had on his live performances over the years. He's also partially deaf in his left ear, has knocked himself out cold on stage, I believe, twice (there's a video floating around of him bouncing his skull off the stage after hopping off a speaker cab), and, though he hasn't done it in quite a while, he used to do the whole "fishhooking" thing pretty much constantly. He really doesn't strike one as a happy dude and he has a talent for making damn sure anyone who listens to him feels just as miserable as he does. I remember seeing "Agitated Screams of Maggots (unplugged)" live for the first time and thinking, "Oh. So this is what 'psychic damage' from Pokemon feels like." Their music is the only music I've heard that I can say legitimately *hurts*, but that's just one of the many things that makes Kyo best shriek goblin.

[@galaxyjams]

Thank you for this interesting trivia and insight!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@rockidol852]

@@galaxyjams.l. before speaking and reacting to an artist, investigate a little.. ignorants

[@galaxyjams]

@@rockidol852 Thank you so much for your input, Gestion! We really will take what you are saying into consideration. We love you. Hold me.

[@smward87]

Don't forget the time he performed despite having a fever so high he should have been hospitalized and he literally fell unconscious at the end of the set from the fatigue.

[@TheLikeButtonLMAO]

Thankfully, he's gotten way better over the years, but yeah, he fucked himself up a few times lmao

[@goochymaul]

Thank you for reacting to Dir En Grey ❤️ The lead singer, Kyo, is by far my favorite vocalist and definitely better live. I know you are just getting into them, so definitely look at other comments for suggestions, like this song, Vinushka, is a great introduction. After you get an understanding of Dir En Grey, Kyo has two other projects with many big names in Japanese music: Sukekiyo and Petit Brabancon. Both are pretty different from Dir En Grey, but they are just as good a listen too. Hopefully you enjoy your journey with at least Dir En Grey, they are definitely worth it!

[@galaxyjams]

No problem :) Thank you so much for the reccomendations

[@goochymaul]

@@galaxyjams anytime 😁

[@anitastafford6617]

Yeah, the comments were kind of cringe honestly. Comparing them to Tool? Really? You guys lost so much musical cred with that. I don't know if you can come back from it? Just because a genre isn't your style doesn't mean you aren't supposed to listen with real understanding and discernment.

[@penguindrum264]

The singer was 42 when this live video was recorded (song is from 2008 though) and has been singing like this for 20+ years. Though you guys never heard of them until recently, they were popular in metal forums in the 2000s even amongst people who hated Japanese music loved them. They used to tour with metalcore bands when they came to the west and people on those forums used to say they would only go to see Dir En Grey.

[@galaxyjams]

Wow!!!!!!!!!! This is epic

[@Mars-ee5tp]

Dir En Grey is awesome !! all of their songs are amazing and they just released a new album!!

[@galaxyjams]

Ooooooooooooooooooooo we might review it next

[@anitastafford6617]

I just love how people that just discovered this band and now know so much. Kyo has been hospitalized more than a few times. They've been together since around 1995-6 in one form or another. This band went pro in 1997. Shinya was still in highschool and had to leave the tour to go to his graduation. It was a cute interview. Their first indies band minus Toshiya the bassist was La: Sadies. Their previous bassist was Kisaki. I have their first Live DVD from Osaka Jo Hall back in 1997. Actually I have all their albums and DVDs. I even have their remix DVD and it is all Japanese club mixes and it is funky! They are a rock band that continues to evolve and progress. They could be called prog metal, but they simply say they play rock. They started as Visual Kei and continue to expand and evolve. The earlier music is less crunchy, but the message is has always been the same. Kyo doesn't write sweet lyrics. They are coming up on their 30 year anniversary if you count their La:Sadies indie years. Man, I can't believe I've been watching these guys since they were teenagers! I've even got Their La:Sadies music 😅

[@passio-735]

First of all: Damn you guys sound neat :) I will try to tune in some Tuesday - it's a bit late at my end but I am sure I will be able to make it some day or at least for a short while! Vinushka is a great introduction track for Dir en grey because it shows so many sides of the band wrapped up in one truely epic song. This was filmed at Yokohama Arena in 2017. Usually Dir en grey play much smaller venues [they do the occational Budokan show which is often used for their DVD releases but actually prefer lengthier tours with smaller venues]. This only came about because they were participating in a collaborative event with another [former] Visual Kei band called Pierrot. They played the venue two days in a row but it's worth mentioning that a lot of the people in the venue might not have been there for Dir en grey [it was a rare opportunity to see Pierrot which had disbanded almost 10 years prior!]. So the reaction from the audience is all the more breathtaking and heart felt. Dir en grey started as a Visual Kei band. One of you guys mentioned that they were missing the 'japanese sound' but the mix of different styles you encountered in this song is very much a trademark of Visual Kei bands. The term does not describe a musical genre but the mix of music and visual elements such as elaborate cloths/fashion, make-up, lightshows and video installations. The term was coined by a journalist who tried to describe the hype around X Japan who mixed western heavy metal with classical songwriting, lengthy ballads with thrash and speed metal presented in very elaborate costumes. [At the time there were two sides to this 'first movement of Japanese heavy music'. The one side tended more towards punk/pop-punk, the other more towards metal but both shared a love for extravagante clothes and hairstyles which was considered quite rebellious in Japan. Because the term was quickly used to describe both 'camps' and because the bands often changed styles from song to song and sung almost exclusively in Japanese they were NOT considered Metal in Japan - which too most journalists was a western phenomenon that had its own branch of english-singing and genre abiding japanese bands like Loudness for example. VK developed but always remained genre-fluid] X Japan were the main inspiration behind Babymetal - from the "We are Babymetal!" battlecries [actually: "WE ARE____X!] to the neck braces as symbols [Yoshiki, X Japan's componser, drummer and pianist had to wear a neck bracelet after repeatedly hurting his neck drumming. He was born with weak bones but never gave a damn and actively perused dying behind the drum-set at one point]. If you guy's ever have the time I highly recommend checking out their song Art of Life which is probably one of the greatest [if no THE greatest] song ever written - it runs for over 30 minutes though. Dir en grey probably weren't an inspiration for Babymetal at any point BUT: They were amongst the first Japanese [singing] bands to tour Europe and America back in 2005/2006. So by the time Babymetal started there was at least somewhat of a marked for Japanese music overseas. As you can see from the lyrics Vinushka does not speak directly of the war but instead focuses on the element of Karma in ones own and one's nations life. The word Vinushka is a neologism that probably derives from the diminutve form of the russian word for "guilt". The suffix used gives the word an undertone of deep, silent sorrow and despair and can be translated as "guilt you have to accept and live with for the rest of your life". At the time of UROBOROS [their 7th LP, 2008, of which Vinushka is the second song following an instrumental intro] the band worked together with the same video director for each of their videos. He would take Kyo's lyrics and put a concrete interpretation on them [his lyrics are often quite open for interpretation, he rarely says anything about them and lets everyone decide for themselves what to take from a specific song]. For Vinushka their director chose WWII as a theme because it did not only fit the sentiment conveyed through the title and lyrics [the bombing of HIroshima and Nagasaki as a consequence for Japan's own war crimes] but as you will have notices the song's structure also perfectly fits into this history - the two bombings with the period of silence inbetween. The video is really extremely well made and a very rare display of the atrocities of war in pop-cluture in japan. So while the song seems to be about WWII that is in fact only one interpretation and most people who cry during the song won't do so because they remember but because the song speaks to them on a more imminent and personal basis - the things we have to live with/accept, things we would like to un-do but cannot. Thank you so much for this awesome reaction! It was really cool seeing so many people react at the same time! 🤘

[@galaxyjams]

YOU. ARE. THE. BEST! Thankyou for taking the time to take us to school

[@htn831]

W pfp

[@KhajiitMoon]

I'm way late in discovering this particular react, but wanted to say thank you for your dissertation! I'm glad there's more netizens who grasp the concept that the song isn't explicitly about WW11 and the bombings. I've seen some citing that backs the karma thought and links into the weight of the death penalty. Though we do this "justified murder" as retribution/atonement, how can we live with ourselves once we're reduced to the same as that which he have punished: a murderer. More obtusely, war and genocide are a giant death sentence and though humans carry out these actions in the name of righteousness and justice, how can we live with ourselves and these atrocities? Def love going into some background. I always get peeved when people don't do even the briefest of research on material they're covering. Search engines are a beautiful tool ^^;

[@Djroshi01]

It’s still hard to believe at times that Karou (guitarist on our left) is the actual band leader. He has many picks due to a neurological issue with his pointer finger and thumb. So he tends to drop it. In some concerts he has to tape the pick to his fingers. Just a fun tidbit :)

[@galaxyjams]

omg so interesting! Thank you so much!

[@C.M.M.23]

Avant-garde prog metal. That's accurate enough for me. Beyond that, it's all just a one-of-a-kind experience. 🤘

[@galaxyjams]

AGREED!!!

[@kitsune6701]

Thankyou so much to react to this amazing band. They are very powerfull lyrics here in this song. In the background you can see the atomic bombing on Japan. The PV video was cencoured, cause there where images painted of survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. They exist since 1997, 25 years in exact the same band formation. They changed visually and musically drastically over the years. They have many fans around the world and are extremely different with each song. There strength are there extreme inversive and intense lyrics, and the ability to show emotions over language barriers so intense during live shows. There lyrics are the key for their succsess and their songs. They always portray something bad, social taboos, human grief, despair, feelings of loosing someone, evil, meaning of life, reason of life, living outside society, being lost and so on. Kyo the singer write all the songs. Sometimes he sing from the perspective of the victim, sometimes from the perpetrators side, sometimes about a situation, sometimes of himself and so on. Songs about loss, rape, depression, social isolation and so on. They never make happy songs. So when you have english subs ( I always recomend it to watch subbed versions), and let it be to sink into the song and feel it, then it is nearly like a trip. But in a good way. Also the singer highlight the lyrics with gestures he make, moves, and intensity of noises. The stage make up of him emphasize it. I mean he look not like something you wanna meet int this video right? He have a very special aura live, almost diabolic. Private he is a very calm, silent chill dude. They are not a ´ quick consuming` band. You have to listen what you hear, feel what you see and let it be. And then you are captured. The videos or lyrics of them got often cencoured. And especially in Japan where talking about issues in generall and as a individual person feels often very lost, this is another topic. They often remade/remaster their own songs of older times. Like T.D.F.F. I showed you down under. Also they are one of the rare bands who are live so much better than on record. The singer Kyo, is may small- 5´2 feet- but he have such a powerfull voice. He is not trying to reach the notes perfetly or sing perfecly. He bring emotions with his voice. A huge different.The other band members are very talented with their instruments. When you once fall in Dir En Grey, you can not get out. It is the best band I heared, read and saw live in my life. I saw them live and it was a blast, forget everything you know, they carry you of on a journey of emotions, deep evil in human soul, pain, grief and human being live and on record and video. I really never experinced a band who touched my heart and soul so much with their lyrics and lives. It´s unbelievable. Saw them live in Japan and my country a few times and it was the best experience I had with a live band. With every song, with every video and with every lyric you will be more fascinated by them and be suprised that they surprise you with something you never expect. I saw many youtubers who just reacted to them and then got really into them after a while or was then so into them then that they visited a live show. I have to say that they evolved so much and especially Kyo got nearly unbelievable in what his singing and voice abilities are over the last ten years. He have one of the best voices so far, and because they are japanese, they are quiet underrated in western countires or unknown. Kyo puts 200% in his live shows. I would say it is not music, it is art. They have ballads, metal songs, poppy songs, rock songs, jazzy songs and so on. They released 14 albums until now: Missa 1997 Gauze 1999 Macabre 2000 Six Ugly 2002 Kisou 2002 (it is their most selling album until today) Vulgar 2003 Withering to death 2005 (since then they toured outside Japan and had extremely succsessfull concerts. Like in Germany their first ever concert was sold out in 3 hours without any promo or commercial for it) The marrow of a bone 2007 (they toured with Korn, Stone Sour etc..) Urobouros 2008 (since then they changed their style again dramastically) Dum Spiro Spero 2011 (since here the singer began too improve so insanely, also the songs was like you travel into a demon, surreal world) The unraveling 2013 Arche 2014 The insulated world 2018 Phalaris 2022 They are in their late 40ies now and have still crazy energy and the crowd in their hand. Kyo have just started his third band recently. Their latest live on video is "the final days of studio coast". Here I have some recommendations with subs to understand them better: The world of Mercy: kzbin.info/www/bejne/l5fJloVoa6d7ndE ( from a perspective from a person who is being bullied) Macabre: kzbin.info/www/bejne/hoisY4OopdN5nZo Ware, Yami Tote: kzbin.info/www/bejne/rqjOdXmAh5Wlmc0 (intense lyrics) Diabolos: kzbin.info/www/bejne/epjKfZpooNFsiLs (intense lyrics) T.D.F.F. (the domestic fucker family) : kzbin.info/www/bejne/iYfdlIuvlKqGq5I Embryo: kzbin.info/www/bejne/rX2VqZiOoqasa7s (very intense lyrics- from a female view, who´s mother died and endure sexual abuse from her father) Inconvenient Ideal: kzbin.info/www/bejne/n2LLdZqka8yBhKs (intense lyrics) and if you want for comparison, how they was earlier, here is one of their first music videos: Here they where a Visual kei band (Kind of subgenre very popular through 80ies and 90ies in Japan) Jealous: kzbin.info/www/bejne/enemZXVqnbuIZqM Ash: kzbin.info/www/bejne/j5O8iZqFfLCDosk from them. This is just a tiny bit of them and it is so diverse. ... They was back in the late 90ies and 2000 in Visual kei-> underscene: Kote Kei, and they characterized this subgenre of music. Then they got more into progressive rock and then in metal. But they are so unique and special you can not describe it. I would be very glad, if you react to them on your channel. I promise you you will experience a journey with them. One or two songs is far not enough to make yourself a picture of this mammoth project Dir En Grey.

[@galaxyjams]

Congratulations! You've just won the award for "best comment on any of our videos EVER"!! Thank you so much for taking us to school

[@kirashi2336]

Thnx for Dir En Grey. They are amazing)

[@galaxyjams]

Our pleasure!

[@theperfumeofsins6622]

Божечки, эта песня существует уже много лет, а реакции появляются только сейчас)) Диры были есть и будут лучшими )) обожаю 💜

[@galaxyjams]

Большое спасибо, что нашли время, чтобы посмотреть наше видео - мы рады, что вам понравилось! Мы надеемся, что заслужили подписку на ваш канал, еще раз спасибо

[@mz5863]

Wooo it's fun seeing people react to them for the first time. I think the Japanese sound is distinctly different and something you have to get used to before ... appreciating fully? I've been thinking about this a lot because when I want to share my love for this band I always have to brace myself for explaining why I think it's beautiful, people don't really seem to get it haha! So...if you listen to traditional Japanese singing, it's nothing like what the the western world considers beautiful. I remember when I started listening to Japanese music, what was being said about Asian vocals in general was that they "couldn't sing" but that is so short sighted because just something isn't something we're culturally used to, doesn't make it any less capable and controlled. Like yodeling... Please get that shit away from my ears but still you can appreciate the craft of someone being able to do that hahahaha I think people would or should feel the same about Kyo. He's such an artist. My respect for him goes beyond this planet; it's the entire package. He belongs in a museum. Preferably next to the works of the Wiener Aktionismus, Hermann Nitsch, Rudolf Schwarzkogler (there seems to be a theme to what I like, huh?). Cathartic seems to be the only fitting word what their music means to me. It transcends language. Also, highest praise for the rest of them; they make up such a good mix of people that Dir en Grey as a whole is this way and why the fanbase is extremely loyal. I am glad they seem a little more... genuine and down to earth lately. They did have a bit of a dark side haha, feeling completely unapproachable. Exactly like a work of art in a museum, with a division line. They've become more human and like that more.

[@nicolemelany1998]

I love this band thanks for react 💖🎸

[@galaxyjams]

Thank you so much for the kind words!!!!!!! let us know your favorite band that you want us to react and review next!!!!

[@CyphersBasement]

You guys make some really RAD music, and your reaction to Vinushka is appreciated. Dir en grey is SUPER underrated, but it's understandable, considering the language barrier and all. Cheers!

[@PaleRiderTCG]

You cannot actually catalogue DeG. Kyo (the singer) is an absolute monster (from the way he sings, screams, growls and writes) and the whole band has done so many different things it's easy to get lost.

[@galaxyjams]

Totally true, we agree!

[@AngelLWJ]

Kyo is a beast🔥🤘🏻

[@galaxyjams]

We agree!

[@gjrloiouyfchicfhhudrgky3470]

Scream teacher for the lead vocalist? He's famously known for being 100% self-taught. Whether it's singing high, to screaming high and growling low. He practiced on his own and did it by himself. Nobody taught him even once. Only once on how to get his voice back when he destroyed his vocal and had a surgery.

[@passio-735]

Just a small correction: According to multiple interviews he never had surgery. He suffered from vocal nodule dysphonia after touring and recording pretty much non-stop for almost 5 years and was hospitalized. He was treated with medication, probably had some vocal training and learned how to take better care of his voice - mostly through shorter tours and days off in between. There were a lot of issues with the management at the time to accommodate the new situation and every band member took the opportunity to create more space for themselves and found new projects outside Dir en grey.

[@gjrloiouyfchicfhhudrgky3470]

@@passio-735 Oh I see. Just way too many articles and comments saying he went through surgery.

[@passio-735]

@@gjrloiouyfchicfhhudrgky3470 I was really confused by this as well. The only explanation I have, and this is just a guess, is that one of the articles might have been mistranslated. I haven't read everything they ever published [and certainly didn't hear everything they ever said in meet-and-greet type interviews] but his treatment with medication was mentioned several times and the only time I read the word surgery was when an interviewer stated something along the lines of "You had been hospitalized before but this time there was a real possibility [or fear] for undergoing surgery, right?" to which Kyo answered that in the end he got through it with medication [he gives little else information to the treatment at this point but talks at length about the feeling of boredom during this period and feeling useless not being able to do anything etc.] That together with the way he sung right after the break makes me quite certain that he never had surgery and fairly certain that he either had some lessons with a medical vocal training or did such training by himself because a lot of his approaches to singing changed right after that as well - of course he threw everything over board again during The Insulated World ^^'

[@galaxyjams]

Epic conversation :)

[@remaining1999]

thank you for reacting to diru's 'vinushka. dir en grey is my favorite band. kyo is a versatile vocalist---he has side bands namely sukekiyo and petit brabancon.

[@xerodelacroix5552]

Tool wishes.

[@galaxyjams]

:D

[@Riveraeon]

On Dir en greys official site, they cite TOOL as influences. It should also be known that with Kisou and Vulger, they were touching upon prog metal without so much knowing the prog scene.

[@afrokid69]

they are influenced by but definitely different, i like both

[@zannebrazeau]

l love their vocalist kyo niimura his vocal range be mad crazy he be a tenor that goes from e1-f7 they also be awesome live l got to see them in 2008 in orlando florida l love the way kyo can go from a sultry whispery purrs to inhuman gutteral grown to high pitched wails

[@coconyt3623]

This was great! DeG are phenomenal.

[@androgynousmaggot9389]

It's funny how this song It's not specifically about war, it's more about the notion of "evil and good" Kyo likes to explore the darkest themes not openly talked in Japan or in society anywhere! He often goes offkey because interpretation is more important for him! It's hard to describe it in my poor English 30 years of creativity. He has 2 other bands where he explores/expresses himself even more!

[@tooru2837]

Amazing reaction!

[@galaxyjams]

Thank you so much!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :) Hi

[@kent3072]

nice！　　thank you☺️

[@galaxyjams]

Thank you too!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@reyacastle6456]

I think it might be helpful to know that Kyo has had vocal chord surgery on multiple occasions, he did sound different before this. He isn’t professionally trained of course but he can sound straight up angelic, just depends on his health I think. Anyway thank you for reviewing their song, they’re a great band.

[@canisinumbra]

That is not correct: he never had surgery. He recovered without. Surgery was in the room but I don’t know why overseas media didn’t get it straight.

[@コロコロの遊び場]

He has no vocal teacher of any kind. He's famously known for being 100% self taught.

[@galaxyjams]

Great to know! Thank you! If you haven't ... make sure you have hit that subscribe button and notification bell, everyone helps keep the channel going and reaching our goals.

[@Viiniciws]

Babymetal has some of the most important songwriters in the Japanese alternative metal scene. Like "Yuyoyuppe", one of the creators of "vocaloid metal", Takeshi Ueda of the industrial metal band "The Mad Capsule Markets", Narasaki of the band Coaltar of the Deepers, etc. This explains why they have that alternative/pop unique sound. If i have to point some direct influence, wouldn't be Dir en Grey, because they always were in the avant garte/extreme side of the scene, the more logical influence would be the trance metal, vocaloid and idol rock scene. A cool fact is that some Japanese critics compared the first babymetal album to Maximum the Hormone's Yoshu Fukushu (probably because of the pop sections of that one)

[@galaxyjams]

Omg.... epic!!!!

[@uroboros5532]

awesome reaction, you should react to Dir En Grey decayed crow live English subs one of their most heavy songs and I'm subscribing 🤘

[@galaxyjams]

thankyou!!

[@makokoro9073]

Why, people ask for Decayed crow? I would prefer Macabre, Hydra666,

[@uroboros5532]

@@makokoro9073 I was going for macabre but my heart choose decayed crow

[@makokoro9073]

@@uroboros5532 oh! I guess cause is not one of my favorites, it always makes me wonder why others like to suggest it.

[@uroboros5532]

@@makokoro9073 I'm into more heavy music macabre is great song have it in my Spotify Playlist but it was up to soft but little heavy or just heavy and crazy cause macabre is not all soft

[@andyrios6064]

Sorry but the correct tittle Is Vinushka by Dir En Grey!!!The dopest band EVER!!! 🤘🤘🤘

[@galaxyjams]

ROCK ON!!!

[@C.M.M.23]

There was no scream teacher. HAHAHA THERE WAS *N O* SCREAM TEACHER 😱

[@galaxyjams]

Lol!

[@EIN91]

Noice

[@galaxyjams]

TOIGHT

[@daniel-yeshua]

React to Kaishun, please!

[@galaxyjams]

Thank you so much for the suggestion

[@ONvoyage868]

React to ZAN live Androgynous DIR EN GREY

[@galaxyjams]

Please hit that subscribe button, it helps our algorithm and keeps us showing up for more people. Plus you will be in the know when we drop a new video.

[@Magdinka26]

Sorry, but Marlyin Manson could wasch Kyo's feet in each matter😂

[@JOEMACHIN3030]

Thinks it’s like baby metal because they’re both Japanese?

[@galaxyjams]

Everyone has an opinion, thank you so much for sharing yours!

[@oiulti6900]

Dir En Grey by Vinushka 😂

[@diegoanthonyherrera9952]

the best metal band vocalist... words of Metallica leader. research..

[@justicar5]

Dir en Grey...for people who think Tool are to simple, and NIN are to main stream

[@galaxyjams]

We totally agree, thank you so much for checking out our video! We hope we've earned your channel sub - it really helps us to reach our goals :) Thank you for your comment

[@blubeagle55]

Fun fact: Kaoru (guitarist ) loves NIN.