History Dir En Grey

1 history

1.1 1997–1999: career
1.2 2000–2004: macabre vulgar
1.3 2005–2006: non-asian touring
1.4 2007–2009: marrow of bone , uroboros
1.5 2010–2013: dum spiro spero , unraveling
1.6 2014–present: arche

history
1997–1999: career

dir en grey preceded independent rock band la:sadie s, included 4 of dir en grey s members before ended activities. disbanded due leader , bassist kisaki not wanting debut felt soon, guitarist kaoru believed ready it. after parting ways kisaki, members kaoru, kyo, die , shinya recruited bassist toshiya , regrouped new band. after playing 1 show @ nagano live house on january 24, decided stay dir en grey on february 2, 1997. released first ep, missa, few months later. according toshiya, name dir en grey chosen because sounded right , composed of words several languages people not able attach specific meaning other band s name itself. however, in interview kaoru said @ time chose band name, had meaning right doesn’t express band anymore, has come not mean specific. chose band name because sounded right, , reflects image doesn’t exist elsewhere.

they first attracted mainstream attention in 1998 entering top ten on oricon music charts still independently produced songs jealous , -i ll- . 5 subsequent singles, arranged , produced x japan co-founder yoshiki hayashi, published during first half of 1999. band s first full-length record, gauze, followed. 1 of shows in support album (filmed @ osaka-jo hall) later become first of several live concerts released on vhs , dvd.

cover of 1999 s dir en grey yarouze, showing visual kei look.


2000–2004: macabre vulgar

in 2000, vocalist kyo hospitalized hearing trouble , several dates of tour in support of dir en grey s then-upcoming album, macabre, had postponed. tour 00 >> 01 macabre took off later same year , concluded @ nippon budokan shortly after release of single ain t afraid die in april 2001. in same year, released single child prey , featured second opening theme of baki grappler anime series, , beginning of fourth album called vulgar.

in following year, along release of third full-length album, kisou, dir en grey gave first performances abroad, touring china, taiwan, , south korea. in japan, last dates of lengthy rettou gekishin angya tour in support band s second ep, 6 ugly. in summer 2003, dir en grey performed @ akasaka blitz 5 evenings in single week, each show (except first) themed after album, last featuring songs yet released vulgar. dvd set, titled blitz 5 days, later released exclusively members of band s official fan club, titled knot . vulgar released in september 2003 , tours in support record last 2004.

2005–2006: non-asian touring

in 2005, dir en grey performed in europe first time. concerts in berlin , paris (as part of withers , withers tour) sold out without promotion save newsletters import record stores , internet-based word of mouth.

kyo performing live @ rock im park in 2006.

the band performed @ 2 major festivals, rock ring , rock im park. becoming more involved international music scene, french band eths opened them @ paris concert , dir en grey invited american musician wednesday 13 , band play @ show in japan. dir en grey appeared @ japanese leg of year s taste of chaos tour.

2005 saw group s first official european releases well, beginning withering death. band s music had been available through means of import , internet file-sharing european fans. album achieved dir en grey s first non-asian chart position, reaching no. 31 in finnish album charts. subsequent single, clever sleazoid , later climbed no. 15 on singles charts in same country. several dir en grey songs featured in soundtrack of 2005 film death trance.

in 2006 touring expanded united states. band performed in austin, texas @ south southwest festival, new york city @ avalon club , los angeles, california @ wiltern theatre, followed north american release of withering death. again, shows sold out within days. after more concerts , festival appearances in germany during summer, singer kyo again hospitalized due inflamed vocal cords. while 2 concert dates in japan had postponed, dir en grey still able join korn s family values tour 2006. in october, band in japan perform @ loudpark festival, along bands such megadeth, slayer , children of bodom. 22nd single agitated screams of maggots released on 15 november during japanese leg of inward scream tour. on 30 december, music video saku voted no. 1 video of year on mtv2 show headbanger s ball.

2007–2009: marrow of bone , uroboros

in february, dir en grey went on first north american headlining tour, visiting sixteen cities sixth full-length album marrow of bone released on february 7 in japan , in united states , europe in following months. may july, group opened deftones on united states tour , afterwards did european tour, included debut shows in denmark, finland, poland, sweden, , united kingdom, several festival performances across continent, including ankkarock, m era luna festival , wacken open air.

the group went on international tour in september named after recent single dozing green , beginning in japan , continuing in europe, including first performance in netherlands , switzerland. in late november, dir en grey opened 2 shows linkin park @ saitama super arena , in december performed japan tour 10 years supporting act. commemorating dir en grey s tenth anniversary band, 2 greatest hits compilations, titled decade 1998–2002 , decade 2003–2007 respectively, released on december 19.

at beginning of 2008, dir en grey announced plans begin recording new studio album. first touring of year in may japan tour conclusion of 3 shows @ shinkiba studio coast, titled death on blindness. between touring, dir en grey performed @ 1 night of two-night hide memorial summit on may 4, alongside x japan, luna sea, , others. second japanese tour, titled tour 08 rose trims again began on september 10, same day release of single glass skin .

on august 1, dir en grey announced release of seventh studio album, uroboros, released on november 11, 2008 in united states. band toured united states , canada in support of album, dates scheduled november , december (overlapping release of uroboros) opening act human abstract. touring fall included series of 4 shows titled bajra, 2 being fan-club exclusive, , single show on december 29 under moniker uroboros -breathing- @ famous osaka-jo hall dir en grey had not performed since december 18, 1999 (as seen on 1999.12.18 osakajo hall).

beginning in 2009, dir en grey made first thorough tour of united kingdom , ireland kerrang! s relentless tour 09 alongside mindless self indulgence, bring me horizon, black tide , in case of fire. in february, band announced public release of live dvd, tour 08 rose trims again, switching european record labels newly founded okami records, sister label of former european representation, gan-shin.

during spring of 2009, band began promote uroboros series of nationwide tours under title tour 09 feast of v senses. tour interrupted briefly while in sapporo , sendai, announcement on band s official website, explaining kyo had been diagnosed edema of larynx, , require postponement of 3 shows, rescheduled may.

dir en grey in saarbrücken in 2009.

dir en grey continued feast of v senses tour in europe, mixture of festival performances, headlining shows, , 1 co-headlining show killswitch engage. festival performances included third appearances @ rock ring , rock im park, initial concerts @ download festival, nova rock, , metaltown. among headlining shows, dir en grey making debut concerts in italy , czech republic.

after several shows of late-summer tour, visible things, dir en grey announced next single december, hageshisa to, kono mune no naka de karamitsuita shakunetsu no yami , north american , south american tour under title visible things. new single released on december 2, 2009 , reached number 2 on oricon weekly chart: highest position date band. 2009 tour season ended three-live tour titled dorje. ended long uroboros centered tour doing 2 back performances @ nippon budokan, titled uroboros: proof in name of living…, tickets sold out in 15 minutes.

2010–2013: dum spiro spero , unraveling

it announced on april 7, 2010, band returning united kingdom in august on lineup sonisphere festival in knebworth, playing on bill headlined iron maiden , rammstein. according festival website, uk festival performance during year. regarding announcement, kaoru (on sonisphere uk website) quoted saying: d never have thought play festival of caliber! dream come true playing such great bands @ sonisphere. although we’re not in uk tour, wanted play festival give fans disappointed last year our cancelled finale in london.”

it announced on april 28, 2010 dir en grey playing exclusive club date @ london s koko venue on august 3 part of unwavering fact of tomorrow tour 2010. dir en grey announced later on debut performances in russia adding 1 show in moscow @ tochka club on august 5 , 1 show in st petersburg @ glav club on august 6. dir en grey toured north america on co-headlining tour finnish band apocalyptica special guest of kyo interpreting song bring them light , 1 of tracks of cello-metalers latest record.

in september 2010 band confirmed in interview kerrang! magazine in process of writing new material follow-up uroboros. in addition hageshisa to, kono mune no naka de karamitsuita shakunetsu no yami appearing on soundtrack of american movie saw 3d, participated in december 1, 2010 s romantist - stalin, michiro endo tribute album covering warushawa no gensō in celebration of 60th birthday of stalin s frontman michiro endo. album featured bands such buck-tick, group tamashii, merry, jun togawa, , wagdug futuristic unity.

the single lotus released on january 26, 2011 along new fan-club tour named decomposition of moon, scheduled run may 14 26. band released different sense on june 22. on august 1, 2011, dir en grey released open letter on official facebook accused japanese government of lying people , hiding true danger of radiation levels after nuclear accidents caused 2011 tōhoku earthquake , tsunami. in october, band launched campaign called scream truth, complete website , billboard hanging in times square in new york city, in hopes of stopping alleged misinformation , getting correct numbers. eighth studio album, dum spiro spero, released on august 3. material album showcased on band s south , north american tour age quod agis in november , december 2011.

in february 2012, following doctor s visit, vocalist kyo diagnosed vocal nodule dysphonia, leading dir en grey pulling out of north american still reckless tour consisting of asking alexandria, trivium, motionless in white, , see stars. although kyo had been hospitalized before in 2006 , 2009 vocal inflammation, had not required surgery until time. kyo later stated condition treated medication.

on august 11, 2012, dir en grey won extreme metal olympics organized loudwire.com, beating death in final. band released single rinkaku on december 19 after one-year , half hiatus since previous single release. also, tour titled in situ began on december 25 in tokyo.

on april 3, 2013, released third ep, titled unraveling, 1 new song , 6 re-recordings. couple of days later on april 5, band started supporting tour tabula rasa new ep. in june 2013, band participated in short european tour.

in september 2013, band started ghoul tour, ran september 18 until october 23 in japan , continued on november 3 in north america. band announced 2 back-to-back shows @ nippon budokan march 2014 titled dum spiro spero along new single, sustain untruth , released in january 2014.

2014–present: arche

during month of august in 2014, band celebrated 15th anniversary of debut album, gauze. during time, embarked on japanese tour titled tour14 psychonnect: mode of gauze ?, named after tour held in 1999 in support of album.

on august 5, 2014, announced dir en grey s ninth album, arche, released on december 10, 2014. after release, album accompanied 2014–2015 tour grace of god. tour followed 1 called unstoppable life, in april , may 2015. on 27 june 2015, dir en grey performed @ luna sea s lunatic fest @ makuhari messe. on 5–6 february 2016, dir en grey performed album arche @ nippon budokan june 2016 release date of blu-ray & dvd.

the band released single, utafumi , in july 2016. embarked on various tours based around previous albums called tour16-17 depression ________ [mode of vulgar], tour16-17 depression ________ [mode of dum spiro spero], , tour16-17 depression ________ [mode of 鬼葬] june november 2016.

in 2017, band did further tours themed around previous albums covered easy make, easy mark d erlanger d erlanger tribute album ~stairway heaven~.

their compilation album, vestige of scratches, release on january 2, 2018.