App News: Dir En Grey release official iPhone app

It's been a busy few weeks for Dir En Grey. They've released their new album 'Dum Spiro Spero', started a world tour in support of the album in Germany at the Wacken Open Air festival last week and are due to play at the Camden Koko in London this coming Friday (providing certain troubles in London don't say otherwise). Now they are reaching out to their fanbase further with the introduction of an official iPhone application!

The 'Dir En Grey - OUROBOROS' app is based on their previous album 'OUROBOROS' released back in 2008. (A somewhat odd choice to me personally seeing as the new album has just been released, but then again it is potentially the album that most UK fans are familiar with.) It features photos from their two concerts at the Budokan Hall in Tokyo that was later released on CD/DVD along with slide shows, access to setlists from concerts and app exclusive extras to customise your handset with.
Below is the official information for the app -

"The app features live photos from the 2 DAYS show at NIPPON BUDOKAN in January 2010. On top of that, the app offers live photos from their domestic and overseas tour including shots from their appearance at music festivals. Carefully selected photos from the official photo book for sale only by mail order in Japan and unreleased photos are presented in realistic, sensational and uplifting feelings of DIR EN GREY’s live.
When you tap on a photo, you will be able to view the set list of each show. You also have the option to view photos as a slideshow and have access to checking out some band interview. The app also comes with DIR EN GREY icons and skin to customize your iPhone with. With so many features including the ability to watch video previews, the app is user-friendly and simple to use."

The app is available to purchase through the iTunes app store HERE for the price of £3.99

Review - Dir En Grey @ Wacken Open Air, Germany

On August 6th Dir En Grey kicked off their 'Paradox Of Retaliation' European tour with a performance at the Wacken Open Air Festival in Germany.

With their latest album 'Dum Spiro Spero' being released just a few days earlier it was a chance to catch the bands new material while still fresh to the senses. This performance at Wacken was also streamed online and viewable to millions of fans around the globe. I watched this performance on that very stream.

Having seen Dir En Grey during their last European tour twice, at Sonisphere in Knebworth and at the Koko in London, I had seen two very different experiences of a Dir En Grey show. One to a relatively unknown crowd and the other to passionate fans of the Japanese outfit. On this occasion it was likely to be a performance to the former but interestingly despite it appearing to be a lot of people unfamiliar to the band they got into the music and were very respectful to what they were hearing. (With the festival being a heavy metal festival, Dir En grey fit right in when it came to how heavy they could be.)

The band themselves were on good form. With this being the first date of the tour everyone looked fresh and ready to go. Kicking off with a few recent songs including their last single 'Lotus', the band launched into what would be a predominantly heavy set of numbers from their back catalogue. Playing 'Red Soil' and 'HAGESHISA TO, KONO MUNE NO NAKA DE KARAMITSUITA SHAKUNETSU NO YAMI' (the single prior to 'Lotus') it came across to me there was an issue of some kind on stage. Be it a technical fault or not, Kyo (vocalist)looked to be distracted by something so much so it caused him to miss certain lyrics of 'HAGESHISA...'. From what I could tell, which keep in mind wasn't a lot as I watching a time delayed internet stream, it appeared to be a foldback problem. (Foldback is the speaker at the front of the stage facing the various band members so they can hear what's being played by each other.) He was beginning to sing off key at some points during this early portion of the set and it looked be annoying him as he glared back to his road crew while singing as best he could. No doubt trying to motion there was a problem that needed to be attended to.

After a minute or two to have some water and the crew to attend to whatever the issue was the problem appeared to be sorted. Kyo was getting into his singing a lot more and band felt more cohesive because of it. The energy level picked up tenfold and they roared through such songs as 'Different Sense' & 'RASETSUKOKU' from the new album along with favourites 'Dozing Green' & 'Obscure'. This proved why you should catch them live if at all possible. The ferocity of their music is something special and I can vouch from personal experience it's a whole different kettle of fish when you are there in person.

For those interested the songlist as according to a post on Setlist.fm was:
-(Intro music) KYOUKOTSU NO NARI
-TSUMI TO KISEI
-LOTUS
-RED SOIL
-HAGESHISA TO, KONO MUNE NO NAKA DE KARAMITSUITA SHAKUNETSU NO YAMI
-OBSCURE
-DIFFERENT SENSE
-CONCEIVED SORROW
-DOZING GREEN
-BUGABOO
-REIKETSU NARISEBA
-Merciless Cult
-Agitated Screams of Maggots
-RASETSUKOKU

Dir En Grey are returning to the Camden Koko next Friday (12th August) in London following their monumental performance in same building last year. If you can get to Camden, I strongly suggest you experience this live!
[Photos in this review captured from Live stream by the ndr.de website]

Jeremy Graves

Details on how to watch Dir En Grey's performance in Germany tomorrow through your PC!

Dir En Grey are set to perform at the legendary 'Wacken Open Air festival' in Germany tomorrow (Saturday 6th August) as part of their current European tour. Thanks to the wonder that is the internet you'll be able to watch their set through your computer!

All you have to do is click HERE and you'll be taken to the page where the Wacken live stream is located, click play in the window located in the centre of the page that loads up and before you know it you'll be watching the stream!

Please note, Dir En Grey will be on stage from 2-3pm (UK time) in Germany but, the performance itself won't be streamed until a few hours later. The time you need to tune into to see their performance is 6.45-7.45pm (UK time).

Expect a mixture of old favourites along with track from their new album 'Dum Spiro Spero' to be played during their 60 minute set.

For more information on the Wacken Open Air festival click HERE.

Music News: Entire new Dir En Grey album available for streaming!

Ahead of the release of their album Dum Spero Spiro, Dir En Grey have made the entire album available for streaming through their myspace site!

You can visit their Myspace page HERE.

The album is due for release this week (August 2nd) so be sure to head over there to hear it in it's entirety!
[There's currently no word on how long you'll be able to stream the album for. So perhaps best to listen sooner rather than later.]

Video: 2 Interview with Dir En Grey talking new album

The good folks over at PunkVideosRock and Metal Assault have conducted an interview with two members of Dir En grey, Karou and Die ahead of the release of the new album 'Dum Spiro Spero' and upcoming touring cycles.

The interviews talk cover topics such as the inspiration for the new album, how the recent disaster affected the writing and recording process of the album, language barriers and more

You can view the entire interview conducted by PunkVideosRock below -




You can view the interview conducted by Metal Assault (also with Karou and Die) below -




Dir En Grey will be returning to the UK on August 12th at the Koko in Camden Town to play what will no doubt am amazing show.
Their new album Dum Spiro Spero is released on August 2nd. You can pre-order the album now at many online retailers including Play and Amazon.

New music videos from J Rock bands

A little video based update on some of favourite bands for you all ahead of the X Japan show tomorrow (June 28th).

X Japan : Jade
First of all, X Japan have released the official promotional video (or simply put 'music video') for their new single Jade ahead of it's release on iTunes and their first ever show in Europe taking place in London tomorrow.

The song is sung entirely in English and is taken from their forthcoming (currently untitled) album. You can view the video below.



As mentioned the song will be available to purchase from iTunes music store in North America, Europe and Latin America tomorrow (June 28th.)

Dir En Grey : Different Sense
Next up is a new video from Dir En Grey ahead of their forthcoming album release 'Dum Spiro Spero' they have released the single 'Different Sense' taken from said album.
The song is very heavy as the recent descriptions of the album by band members in statements and interviews have suggested.
You can view the video HERE.
NOTE -The video of 'Different Sense' contains some graphic imagery that some viewers might not like at all. You have been warned. [The imagery included is the reason why we haven't embedded the video into this post.]
Credit to the Vimeo user 'masamune' for the official video.

However, you can hear the song itself in the video below without the worry of graphic images.


L'arc~en~ciel : Good Luck My Way
And finally, L'arc~en~ciel have released their new single 'Good Luck My Way' and below you watch the video for it.
(Credit to the YouTube user Ibara for the upload)

Music News: Dir En Grey reveal details on new album

In an interview with NME.com Kaoru (guitarist for Dir En Grey) has claimed the upcoming album by Dir En Grey titled 'Dum Spiro Spero' (meaning 'While I breath, I hope' in Latin) will be "more savage" than any album previously released by them. He went on to say that the"record comes from a deeper world and is completely different from any of our past works,".

Bassists Toshiya also commented "We live in a world where we don’t know what is the truth and what we should believe in. I just wanted to put some hope into the music that we create" when questioned about the lyrical inspirations and content of the forthcoming 14 track album.

Other details that have been confirmed regarding the album is that the 14 tracks will include the bands previous 2 singles 'Lotus' and 'Hageshisa To, Kono Mune No Naka De Karamitsuita Shakunetsu No Yami' (that was featured in the a recent 'Saw' movie soundtrack) and forthcoming single 'Different Sense' which is set for release on June 3rd in Japan.

Of course perhaps the most important information for all, the release date. Mark this in your calendars as August 8th is the release date for 'Dum Spiro Spero'. And for those of you who are collectors out there, there will be a special edition that will include a bonus DVD. For thosw who may want something super special though, there will also be a 'Initial Limited Version' (aka a super limited edition version) of the album that will include the album itself along with a bonus audio CD, a DVD and a 2 LP vinyl version of the album!
If you're interested in getting any of the special editions, be warned that they are generally Japanese exclusives. So you might want to visit a site like CD Japan where you can import them.

In a statement of the official website of Dir En Grey, the record company described the release as follows:
"DIR EN GREY will release their 8th studio album "DUM SPIRO SPERO" 2 years and 9 months after "UROBOROS" which garnered overwhelming support as the strongest and the maddest record resonating across the globe.
There are 14 tracks including "Hageshisa To, Kono Mune No Naka De Karamitsuita Shakunetsu No Yami", "LOTUS", "DIFFERENT SENSE" as single-cut tracks in this album.
With the combination of world-noted engineers and the individuality of a Japanese born and bred band. After all, DIR EN GREY is the only artist that can surpass themselves."

Don't forget that Dir En Grey are coming back to the UK in August for a one off show at the Camden Koko! Head over to the official website of Dir En Grey for details!

Dir En Grey to release new single in June!

Japanese metallers Dir En Grey are set to return to the UK in August (see our previous post here) for a one off show as part their '2011 Paradox Of Retaliation' European tour. In preparation for the tour (and release of their forthcoming album due to hit the world in November) they will be giving fans a taster of what to expect as they will release a new single in June!

The single is entitled 'Different Sense' and is described as "Boldness and sensitivity. Complex but straightforward. It leads you into an untrodden, chaotic terrain with a wild mixture of hard core sounds with unique melody, and drastically changing scenes. Prior to the launch of their nearly-finished original album, DIR EN GREY is now ready to release a ferocious and stimulating single" on their website.

This description certainly gives the impression that this single (and possibly some of the forthcoming album) will have a very heavy sound to it. It's also been revealed on their facebook page that the two of the people working with the band on the production side of things are mixing engineer Tue Madsen (who has previously worked with August Burn Red, The Haunted and Suicide Silence) and mastering engineer Alan Douches (who has worked with Hatebreed and Job For A Cowboy). These two names do give me the impression we could be looking at some very heavy sounds from Dir En Grey. Perhaps around the same level as previous single 'Hageshisa to, Kono Mune no Naka de Karamituita Shakunetsu no Yami'. Their recent single 'Lotus' was a vast contrast to "Hageshisa..." being heavy yet a lot slower on top of the vocal portion of the song being clean vocals as oppose to the gutteral sounding scream that Kyo (vocalist) is known for.

The new track will be released as two versions. The standard CD version and the initial limited edition version that is set to contain both the CD and a special DVD.

The single is set for release on June 22nd in Japan. If anyone reading this would like to order the single, CD Japan are now taking pre-orders for both versions.
-Pre-order 'Limited Edition' CD+DVD version here.
-Pre-order regular CD version here.

Podcast - Episode 21 w/ Andrew Partridge from Anime On Demand

This weeks edition of The Anime Chronicle Podcast is available for your listening pleasure!

On this edition of the program, Jeremy and Hugo discuss a few notes from the last few weeks of news and then we bring you an interview with Andrew Partridge from the new UK streaming website 'Anime On Demand' to talk about the concept of the site and much, much more!

You can stream or download the show at our website here.
or
You can stream or download the show using the links below:

Click here to be taken to download page.

Podcast Powered By Podbean

Enjoy the show~!

Dir En Grey announce one off UK show!

Japanese band 'Dir En Grey' have announced they are set to return to the UK for a one off show this summer!

Following their appearance last year at the Sonisphere Festival and then their show at the Camden Koko just a few days later, they are set to return to the Camden Koko on Friday 12th August as part of their '2011 Paradox Of Retaliation' European tour.

Tickets go on sale this Friday (15th April) at 9am.

Kerrang.com had the opportunity to speak with guitarist Die about the announcement ""I'm thrilled to play in UK again. I personally like Koko very much, it's a very nice venue. The last show in Koko was great, and I'm looking forward to the next one, as we aim to one-up ourselves this time!"

It promises to be another thrilling concert from the band following their quite amazing show at the Koko last summer. Be sure not to miss your opportunity to see them live once again!

MCM Expo Floor Plan, Dir En Grey in session on Radio 1, Durarara episode 12.5!

MCM Expo Update
The MCM Expo is fast approaching, and they've now revealed the preliminary floor plan for the weekend of October 29th-31st!



The first key thing to note (as also noted on the expo website) is that there are a total of 5 stages, with the Anime/Comic village being located in the top right corner of the map.

A fully detailed plan will be available by the time expo begins, but it's abundantly clear that the there's a lot of things happening at the expo this time around. Be it in the form of stalls, or the stages, given the record breaking attendance that the May MCM Expo saw, it looks like they've attempted to help ease the crowds by having (what appears to be) more space in general, and the extra half day on Friday!

A higher quality PDF version of the map can be downloaded from www.LondonExpo.com the official website of the MCM Expo.


Durarara Episode 12.5
On the Anime front, if you're a fan of the series 'Durarara!!' (which Beez Entertainment will be releasing here in the UK beginning in November) you might want to read this!

Included on a recent Japanese DVD release of the series, was an episode known as 'episode 12.5'. This OVA has now been made available by the great folks over at Crunchyroll for free! You can also watch episodes 1-12 of the series there as well! You can visit the dedicated page of the series at Crunchyroll's website here. But, we should also note, you can head over to our friends at www.UK-Anime.net to watch Episode 12.5 there as well!

'Durarara!!' will be released in a subtitle only form here in the UK. Something that Beez Entertainment themselves said is a risk. If you're unsure about purchasing the DVDs, this is the perfect time to check out one of Japan's most popular anime series! The DVD sales alone for the recently released Volume 8 prove it's worth! Coming in at #4 in the weekly sales rankings off the back of 11,582 copies being sold! It should also be noted that DVDs in Japan aren't cheap, and they only contain a few episodes as well!
(Source for DVD rankings/sales figures: ANN)



Dir En Grey Radio 1 session
And the final note of the day is from the world of Japanese music, in that this weeks edition of the BBC Radio 1 Rock Show (that airs every Monday on BBC Radio 1 here in the UK,) featured 3 tracks performed by Dir En Grey that were recorded at the famous Maida Vale studios in London during their recent excursion to the UK!


The three tracks from the session were 'Dozing Green' (taken from the groups most recent 'Uroboros' album), 'The Final' (from their 'Withering To Death' album), and 'Shokubeni' (a b-side included in their recent CD single of 'Hageshisa to, Kono Mune no Naka de Karamituita Shakunetsu no Yami' in Japan). The first two songs aired during the first of hour of the program, with the third track airing closer to the end of the second hour.

The program is available for streaming directly from the BBC Radio 1 website until the the next edition of the Radio 1 Rock Show has been broadcast on Monday 4th October. So be sure to listen to it before it's too late!

If you're not familiar with the band, it's a great opportunity to check them out at their best! Their performances at the Sonisphere Festival and Camden Koko in August were both stunning (I can vouch for this having attended both concerts), and this session doesn't disappoint either!

For more information on Dir En Grey, you can visit their official website at www.DirEnGrey.co.jp (There is an English version built into the site.)