Japanese rockers Dir en grey have done it again with their fifth album: They have created a masterpiece of sound. After a year-and-a-half after their fourth album, VULGAR, vocalist Kyo, guitarists Kaoru and Die, bassist Toshiya, and drummer Shinya have returned with Withering to death., which can only de described as a rock-n-roll epic.
Kyo is an artist, and it shows with lyrics like "The good old days are so dear/The ashes are like flower petals that rise up to the sky" (from ITOSHISA HA FUHAI NI TSUKI) and "I know it's hard for you to wait for me, so don't cry, go ahead and sleep" (from Spilled Milk), almost making us stop and think about what the meaning behind his songs are.
The album opens with Merciless Cult, one of the album's strongest songs. It shows the wide range of Kyo's voice as he switches from crooning to screaming-out the words at the top of his lungs. As soon as it ends, we're launched into C, one of the catchiest songs on hte album (second only to Machiavellism).
And after C? One word: -saku-. THE hardest rock song on the entire album, and one of the funnest to sing along to. The second single released before the album's release, and one of the best songs on the album. Kyo screeches lyrics that, at one point, seem repetitive ("dick men/fuck off, fuck off/and wipe"), and at the same time deep and meaningful ("People that can't redeem have ash, tears, and taciturnity in both their hands"). One of the album's crowning achievements.
The next two songs, KODOKU NI SHISU, YUENI KODOKU. and ITOSHISA HA FUHAI NI TSUKI go perfectly together. KODOKU starts-out slow and leads into a faster song that leads into a fast chorus, while ITOSHISA remains slow throughout and features some of the best vocals that Kyo performs throughout the entire album. Although more people prefer KODOKU, ITOSHISA is perhaps the better song: Toshiya shines on bass in this song, and Shinya never misses a beat. Kyo's vocals are nothing short of beautiful, and it's one of the songs throughout the band's entire decade-long history that I can continually listen to and never get tired of.
The next two songs, Jesus Christ R'n R (the r's stand for "rock and roll") and GARBAGE serve as stepping-stones to the second half of the album. Both are laced with the English language through them (in fact, GARBAGE is sang almost entirely in English, although most is hard to comprehend through Kyo). While Jesus Christ R'n R is a throw-back to the band's VULGAR days with it's lacings of pop throughout, GARBAGE is a prime example of the band's new sound: Gritty and hard, while being melodic and magnificent at the same time.
The best combination of songs are tracks 8, 9, and 10: Machiavellism, dead tree, and THE FINAL. Like Jesus Christ R'n R and THE FINAL, Machiavellism sounds like a forgotten song from VULGAR and is one of, if not the, catchiest songs that Dir en grey has ever produced. It seems odd, though, that the band would choose such a catchy tune for lyrics that are about suicide (the chorus is full of the line, "HURRY UP! HURRY UP! WRIST-CUT SHOW!"). After Machiavellism, we have dead tree, a slow melody about letting go of the past and instead focusing on the future and what's ahead of you ("Even the child with the red coat swalows her tears as she faces reality"). Just before the chorus of the songs begins, Kyo issues a blood-chilling scream that is actually the highlight of the song.
And then we have THE FINAL. Like -saku-, THE FINAL was first released as a single and was the first belonging to this album (there were only two instead of the band's usual three). THE FINAL, put in one word has to be this: Amazing. From the guitar intro to Kyo's whispering voice in the ending, there is nothing wrong with this song, and it is the essence of the album. The message it delivers is not the most positive (suicide), but the band puts everything they have in this song: Kaoru's constant and magnificent lead guitaring and Die's slow guitar strumming throughout the verses while accompanied by Toshiya's bass, Shinya's amazing drumming through the chorus, and Kyo's breath-taking vocals through the entire song; even his wailing and the two seconds of guttaral screaming he issues are spellbinding.
After THE FINAL, we're treated to the song Beautiful Dirt, a song that can only be described as -saku- mixed with GARBAGE. Unrelenting and constant in it's delivery of guttural howling and fast guitar riffs, Beauiful Dirt is another example of how far Dir en grey has come since the visual kei/pop sound of their first two album, GAUZE and MACABRE. After Dirt comes the song Spilled Milk, probably the most powerful song on the album lyrics-wise. The sound is like a softer version of Beautiful Dirt mixed with Merciless Cult.
And then, sadly, are the last two songs: HIGEKI HA MABUTA WO OROSHITA YASASHIKI UTSU (what a mouthful, huh?) and KODOU. HIGEKI is the slowest song on the album and is about a fan of the band that commited suicide. The song is, to me, the low-point of the album. Not because of the fact that it's slow, but because Kyo's vocals are too soft and the words are too drawn-out. Finally, though, there is KODOU, a perfect song to end the album with. The lyrics are hopeful ("Don't kid yourself and don't wound yourself") and the sound is like that of THE FINAL. The chorus is beautiful, and of course, Kyo gets to scream in it.
All in all, next to GAUZE, this album is tied with VULGAR as my second favorite. One of the only downsides, though, is how short the album is, at barely over 51 minutes long. However, this is the perfect Dir en grey album for American fans to listen to become introduced to this unstopable band from Japan. Their lives shows are insane and full of self-mutilation, and this album is as close as you can get to seeing them in person; you close your eyes, and you can easily picture the band onstage belting-out each of these songs with everything they have.

RECOMMENDED SONGS: Merciless Cult, -saku-, ITOSHISA HA FUHAI NI TSUKI, Machiavellism, dead tree, THE FINAL, KODOU.


MY RATING: 5 out of 5

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