Dir En Grey
Dum Spiro Spero

First, the introductions. Dir en Grey is an eclectic Japanese band, formed back in 1997. The band falls under the Visual Kei genre, literally "visual style," which is an aesthetic genre rather than a musical one (mind you), indicating musicians who share a tendency for heavy use of stage props and costumes. As for the musical categorization: Dir en Grey started as a Nu Metal group, later settled into the metalcore coordinates, and finally arrived at a progressive metal characterized by a strong hybrid streak.

The album I'm about to review is the band's eighth album, their latest, "Dum Spiro Spero," whose Latin title means "while I breathe, I hope." I'll say right away that this is an album in true Dir en Grey style, which paradoxically is realized in the absence of a defined musical style (sorry for the wordplay). The musicians play everything: Grind/Death (Different Senses), Progressive Metalcore (Diablos), Tool/Meshuggah-style Metal (The Blossoming Beelzebub, Lotus). What strikes me is the extreme dynamism and accessibility of the musical offering, which, although complex, has an immediate impact, thanks also to the voice of singer Kyo, who can skillfully maneuver between growls, screaming, and clean high notes. From a purely instrumental point of view, each musician performs their role, except perhaps with a slightly sacrificial bass: the guitars nimbly sketch death, prog, metalcore, and nu metal riffs, while the drummer enlivens the music with blast beats and rhythm sections, typically prog, making each song enjoyable and distinctive.

The main flaw of the album might be its risk of being excessively derivative for purists and too simplistic compared to the "uncategorizable" European and American offerings (Tool, Between the Buried and Me, Meshuggah above all). However, this does not detract from a captivating album that will delight all lovers of "in-between" sounds.