History Music / DirEnGrey

-> ''"[[WidgetSeries Japanese]] [[OurZombiesAreDifferent Zombie]] [[XtremeKoolLetterz Heroez]]"''

** "pink killer" from ''Kisō'' ends with what sounds like Kyo being brutally tortured.

* OneWomanSong: "JESSICA", "audrey", possibly "Amber" though this may refer to the jewel, and even a one woman ''EP'' in ''MISSA''.

* ''KISOU'' (2002)

Website/{{Wikipedia}} has a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dir_En_Grey_discography complete and comprehensive list of all their material]]

* AnimatedMusicVideo: The [=PVs=] for "[[DerangedAnimation Agitated Screams of Maggots]]" and "[[{{Hentai}} Different]] [[AllAnimeIsNaughtyTentacles Sense]]" [[note]]The PV uses clips from the {{Hentai}} series Mahou Shoujo Ai alongside some traditional cinematography. The results are [[NightmareFuel terrifying]].[[/note]].
* AteHisGun: Implied to be how the protagonist of "The Final" committed suicide.

* BadassLongcoat: Kyo in "Yurameki," complete with a fur collar.
* CaptainObvious: They have a song with a title that translates to "[[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment I Will Die in Loneliness,]] [[ShapedLikeItself Because I'm Lonely]]."
** They also have one named "No Happiness Coming Tomorrow; Tomorrow the Dead Call Laughing." The second half pretty much implies the first.

** Toshiya often plays the bass vertically between his thighs, with his body contorted in a slightly awkward, serpentine fashion. Also, on the song "Obscure," he has a habit of swinging his bass while spinning.

** "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgljKTzq-rA Lie Buried with a Vengeance]]" provides a particularly JustForFun/{{egregious}} example at the end of the song.
** Also, prevalent in "The Domestic Fucker Family" from ''Kisou''.

* EpicRocking: Many songs. Stand-out examples include "Mazohyst of Decadence" (9:22), "Akuro no Oka" (9:42; note, however, that this includes the hidden track "Gauze -Mode of Eve-" and the song itself is actually 8:34, which still definitely qualifies), "MACABRE -Sanagi no Yume wa Ageha no Hane-" (10:50, and its remake simply titled "MACABRE" featured on ''THE UNRAVELING'' EP which is even longer at 16:18), "Zakuro" (8:37), "G.D.S." (7:47), "Vinushka" (9:37) and "Diabolos" (9:52; symphonic version is even longer at 10:10). Some of their remixes also climb into this; the Narasaki remix of "Decayed Crow" is a particularly noteworthy example at 9:15.

* FunSize: Kyo. He's only around 5'2"/5'3"

** In a ''Kerrang!'' interview, Kaoru once stated that, while they were still Music/LaSadies, they were more of an unlistenable noise band than anything else, justifying the aforementioned statement. Indeed, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__jEoDDAAsE as La:Sadie''s]] they had such a weird sound that they can only be vaguely described as "experimental/alternative melodic noise rock." Some songs from the new album, ''Arche'', even throw in short segments of PowerMetal and NoiseRock.

* GratuitousForeignLanguage: the band name itself, ''Dir en grey', and a WordSaladTitle at that: it is a combination of German "dir", French "en" and English "grey", and is supposed to mean "Grey Silver Coin" according to one interview[[https://vk.gy/artists/dir-en-grey/]]. In reality it's closer to something like "to you in grey".
** GratuitousGreek: The title of their ninth album, ''ARCHE'', translates to "the origin." ''PHALARIS'' counts, too.
** GratuitousLatin: ''DUM SPIRO SPERO'', which translates to "While I Breathe, I Hope" in Latin. Also, "VANITAS," [[note]]"Emptiness"[[/note]] a song from the album.
* GratuitousRape: The lyrics and video of "OBSCURE," "Agitated Screams of Maggots," and "Different Sense," the latter two of which featured tentacle rape. The lyrics of "Tsumi to Batsu," which is an entire song about rape. "Different Sense" ''could'' be parabolic (the TEPCO nuclear disaster being equated to a rape of the world) and RapeAsDrama, but it's still a very close call as to whether the footage from '''Mahou Shoujo Ai''' was necessary for the symbolism.
* HateSink: The narrator of ''Tsumi To Batsu'' is a heinous child molester and kidnapper who gleefully describes raping a 14-year old girl.
* IncrediblyLongNote: Kyo does this often, with one of the crowning examples being the LastNoteNightmare of "The Final" at Tabula Rasa 12-13.

** "Dozing Green" is probably the worst offender; [[spoiler:what sounds like a song fading out is suddenly interrupted by Kyo [[ScreamsLikeALittleGirl screaming like a horrified girl]]]].

** "pink killer" from ''KISOU'' ends with what sounds like Kyo being brutally tortured.

* LyricalDissonance: Kyo makes a point never to write happy lyrics. This has done nothing to prevent Kaoru and Die from giving him some pretty bouncy material to sing over. "JESSICA," "audrey," "Youkan," and Shinya's "Umbrella" are particularly notable examples.
** LyricalShoehorn: "Agitated Screams of Maggots." The first line in the track mentions something about a fly, but that's all there is to it. [[note]]"Agitated Screams of Kyo" would have been a better title.[[/note]]

* MindScrew: From their overall concept, material, sound, and lyrical themes, the group is this trope incarnate. ''Even their name'' as a band is a MindScrew in itself -- it means absolutely nothing and was apparently chosen for no reason aside from sounding [[RuleOfCool "cool."]]

** Subverted with ''The MARROW OF A BONE'': while mostly appearing matte black, it actually hides [[http://i.imgur.com/Ib277a1.jpg a photo by Russian photographer Creator/DmitriBaltermants called "Grief."]]

** Kyo would suddenly throw [[CarefulWiththatAxe screaming fits]] on seemingly "normal" songs. Take for example, "Obscure," which starts off as an ambient tune but shifts rapidly into {{Deathcore}} once the screams kick in. Also, [[spoiler: the LastNoteNightmare in "Dozing Green."]]
** A very unsettling example is the 4th disc of the DVD box set "Blitz 5 Days." The VERY depressing, mostly acoustic ballad "Mushi" (which ends with Kyo performing self-harm acts) is followed by the uncharacteristically upbeat (by Dir standards) "Umbrella".
* NewSoundAlbum: Dir En Grey makes it a point to become increasingly heavier and abstract with each album, though not at the cost of their experimental roots.
** ''MACABRE'' saw their transition from seemingly random AlternativeRock to full-on AlternativeMetal, a trend they continued up until ''KISOU''.

* OminousMusicBoxTune: The intro to "Cage."
* OneWomanSong: "JESSICA," "audrey," possibly "Amber" though this may refer to the jewel, and even a one woman ''EP'' in ''MISSA''.

* OurZombiesAreDifferent: Their band slogan appears to be "Japanese Zombie [[XtremeKoolLetterz Heroez]]," which is ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7IXmV6A6Bk as shown in this video]]. It also appears on some of Kaoru's guitars, picks, and straps, as well as some of the band's official merch.

** ''GAUZE'' has "MASK", about general authoritarianism, and "Mazohyst of Decadence", which is about Japan's frequent use of abortion over comprehensive sex education and contraceptive.

** ''VULGAR'' has "OBSCURE", frequently interpreted to be about abortion in a similar vein to "Mazohyst of Decadence"
** ''UROBOROS'' has "Vinushka", which is about Japan's imperialistic past, the bombing of the country, and the general denial of wartime atrocities in the nation.
* RearrangeTheSong: While the band has been adept at remixing their own songs and re-arranging them for live performances, the single for "Hageshisa to [...]" was the moment they began releasing re-recordings of their older songs. ''THE UNRAVELING'' is almost entirely re-recorded songs.

* StartMyOwn: Kyo recently formed a side project called "Sukekiyo." It's apparently a {{Retraux}} of ''MACABRE''-era Diru.
* TextlessAlbumCover: ''The MARROW OF A BONE'' was this by a misprint in its initial U.S release. [[MinimalisticCoverArt The cover was completely black with nothing on it.]] It has since been fixed but you can occasionally find it with the solid black cover.

* TheUnintelligible: Some of Kyo's more inhuman sounds and his [[JapaneseRanguage English]] tend to be this. Honestly, listen to "Dozing Green" from ''UROBOROS''. Would you believe every word of that song is in [[GratuitousEnglish English]]? There is also a Japanese version of "Dozing Green," but it's hard to tell the difference. [[FromBadToWorse Even worse]] than "Dozing Green" is "Glass Skin" from the same album. It's sung in completely unintelligible English.

* WholesomeCrossdresser: The band sported this look prior to ''KISOU''.

** The translated lyrics to some songs end up as sounding awkward and incoherent at times.

* LongTitle: There are several examples of this when their titles are translated into English, including "Room 304, Cherry Blossoms of White Death", "Tragedy Is the Sweet Melancholy That Lowers Your Eyelids", "I Will Die in Loneliness, Because I'm Lonely", "MACABRE -The Chrysalis' Dream Is the Swallowtail's Wings-", "No Happiness Coming Tomorrow; Tomorrow the Dead Call Laughing", "A Charming Repose, a Faltering Smile", and "Victory, the Place Where Silence Sleeps", but the crown no doubt falls to one of two different tracks on ''DUM SPIRO SPERO''. The first is the album's lead single, "The Violence and the Darkness of the Burning Heat Entwine in My Heart"[[note]]or, alternately, "The Scorching Darkness That Is Violently Wrapped Around My Heart". Note that what appears to be the official English translation of the title, "The Violence and the Darkness of the Burning Heat Entwine'''s''' in My Heart", is grammatically incorrect due to subject-verb agreement problems; the subjects of the title are "violence" and "darkness", not "heat", which is part of a dependent clause. Given that the Japanese language does not even distinguish between singular and plural nouns, it probably isn't surprising that a sentence this complex could pose translation problems to native Japanese speakers.[[/note]]. The Japanese title? "Hageshisa to, Kono Mune no Naka De, Karamitsuita Shakunetsu no Yami." Also from ''DUM SPIRO SPERO'' is "'Nesting Within the Dreambox', or Cold Rain and the Philosophy of the Mature", or in Japanese, "'Yokusō ni Dreambox' Aruiwa Seijuku no Rinen to Tsumetai Ame". Some of their album titles also qualify for this trope (e.g., ''Uroboros -With the Proof in the Name of Living...- at Nippon Budokan'').

Wiki/{{Wikipedia}} has a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dir_En_Grey_discography complete and comprehensive list of all their material]]

* IconicLogo: The name of the band, stylized in all caps and in big, bold letters. As of 2013, they have adopted a sleeker, more modern typeface similar to Music/TheGazette and (coincidentally) to Music/{{Khanate}}'s respective logos, as seen in ''THE UNRAVELING''.

* NiceHat: The band loves hats. Every member has worn at least one awesome hat at some point. Kyo is particularly notable for having [[UnlimitedWardrobe lots of these]].

* GenreBusting: The band challenges all the conventions of Japanese rock/metal by being [[UpToEleven a cut above]] the established tropes.

* MetalScream: Kyo does these very often, and takes his vocal work [[UpToEleven to inhuman levels]].

Dir en grey (DIR EN GREY/Dir en grey) is a [[UsefulNotes/{{Japan}} Japanese]] five-piece AvantGardeMetal band. They formed in 1996=7 as a VisualKei band, but have gone in a more contemporary, post-Visual Kei direction as far as appearance. Musically, Dir en grey encompasses HardRock, HeavyMetal, NuMetal, GothicMetal, etc. They first gained attention in 1997 with two independently produced singles. Subsequently, they caught the eye of [[Music/YoshikiHayashi Yoshiki]] from X Japan, who helped [[MentorArchetype arrange and produce]] the singles of Dir en grey's first studio album, and subsequently signed them to Creator/ExtasyRecords. Later on, they would switch labels to Music/DynamiteTommy's Creator/FreeWillRecords, and then sign to both Gan-Shin for their European releases and The End Records for their [[UsefulNotes/TheUnitedStates American]] releases. Their material is released by Firewall Div, a sub-division of Free-Will Records, Since their inception, the quintet has released eleven full-length studio albums, three [=EP=]s, and loads of other material, including singles, live videos, and music video compilations.

Dir en grey (DIR EN GREY/Dir en grey) is a [[UsefulNotes/{{Japan}} Japanese]] five-piece AvantGardeMetal band. They formed around 1996 as a VisualKei band, but have gone in a more contemporary, post-Visual Kei direction as far as appearance. Musically, Dir en grey encompasses HardRock, HeavyMetal, NuMetal, GothicMetal, etc. They first gained attention in 1998 with two independently produced singles. Subsequently, they caught the eye of [[Music/YoshikiHayashi Yoshiki]] from X Japan, who helped [[MentorArchetype arrange and produce]] the singles of Dir en grey's first studio album, and subsequently signed them to Creator/ExtasyRecords. Later on, they would switch labels to Music/DynamiteTommy's Creator/FreeWillRecords, and then sign to both Gan-Shin for their European releases and The End Records for their [[UsefulNotes/TheUnitedStates American]] releases. Their material is released by Firewall Div, a sub-division of Free-Will Records, Since their inception, the quintet has released eight full-length studio albums, three [=EP=]s, and loads of other material, including singles, live videos, and music video compilations.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dir_en_grey_jrock_news_2018.jpg]]

* CaptainObvious: They have a song called "[[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment I Will Die in Loneliness,]] [[ShapedLikeItself Because I'm Lonely]]."
** They also have one called "No Happiness Coming Tomorrow; Tomorrow the Dead Call Laughing." The second half pretty much implies the first.

* ClusterFBomb: Some of the songs with English lyrics from ''The Marrow of a Bone'' have this.

* CostumePorn: During their early days as a VK band. Downplayed to the point of aversion in recent years, though Toshiya and Shinya look noticeably more visual than the rest of the band in most photoshoots. The band brought back visuals since the ''UROBOROS'' era, however, they've put more emphasis on contemporary styles, darker colors, and NightmareFuel elements.

* MoodWhiplash: ''THE MARROW OF A BONE'' starts off with a soft power ballad, is followed by several ultra-aggressive metal songs, and while the album does soften ''slightly'' from "Agitated Screams of Maggots" onward, it never has another ballad again. The transition can be very unsettling and startling to the unsuspecting listener.

** A very unsettling example is the 4th disc of the DVD box set "Blitz 5 Days." The VERY depressing, mostly acoustic ballad "Mushi" (which ends with Kyo performing self-harm acts) is followed by the uncharacteristically upbeat-for-DeG-standards "Umbrella."
* NewSoundAlbum: Dir en grey has made a trend of becoming increasingly heavier with each album, though not at the cost of their experimental roots.

** ''Withering to death.'' plays up the heaviness further, with more screaming and heavier riffs than ever before. Remnants of their past style are still audible though.
** ''MARROW OF A BONE'' takes heavy influence from {{Metalcore}}, featuring some of the band's most ferocious tracks up to that point. There is still plenty of variety, such as an acoustic flamenco ballad and a couple of heavy rock tracks.
** ''UROBOROS'' proves to be the bands most experimental album and is a good example of AvantGardeMetal and {{Progressive Metal}}. The album features several tracks that exceed seven minutes with a variety of instrumentation and many changes in mood.

** ''The Insulated World'' is a modernized, brutal take on the sounds that Diru explored during the likes of ''THE MARROW OF A BONE'' and ''Withering to death.'' Par for the course, they manage to cover unfamiliar territory, namely when it comes to the {{Black Metal}}[=-influenced=] tremolo picking heard on "Downfall". On top of that, the whole album boasts a "live performance" air.

* ProtestSong: Several examples, although the lyrics are rarely any more comprehensible than their normal material.

* SpiritualSuccessor: They are literally this to Kuroyume, having had taken their predecessors' DarkerAndEdgier approach to Visual Kei and ''running off with it'' so that they can popularize AvantGardeMetal in the scene. And that's not mentioning the fact that they have a vocalist that is both a near-perfect double for ''and'' has very good relations with Kuroyume frontman Kiyoharu.

** ''The Insulated World'' provides a straighter example.

* WidgetSeries: By far one of the best examples of Japanese {{Postmodernism}}.

* ManInAKilt: Toshiya. He seems to have a strange affinity for skirts; he even wore a full [[ElegantGothicLolita Gothic Lolita dress]] [[http://i.imgur.com/BlzYzv7.jpg back when they were VK]]. And while he downplayed, and eventually eschewed, that look as the band matured, [[http://i.imgur.com/cXR5yNa.jpg he has gone back]] to [[http://i.imgur.com/JOfkKIh.jpg wearing his signature bell-shaped skirt]] in recent years.

** ''ARCHE'' is an eclectic encapsulation of the band's older sounds while maintaining the heavier stylings of their more recent works. The album features reverb-heavy production that gives the album a very dreamy vibe during the softer moments.

** Non-VisualKei fans are more than willing to compare them favorably to other AvantGardeMetal bands such as Music/FaithNoMore or and Music/{{Atheist}}.
*** For specific comparisons, their sound from ''GAUZE'' up until ''KISOU'' draws comparisons to Music/MrBungle, ''six Ugly'' to Music/{{Korn}}, ''VULGAR'' to Music/SikTh, ''Withering to death.'' and ''MARROW'' to Music/{{Converge}} and Music/TheDillingerEscapePlan, and the releases starting from ''UROBOROS'' to Music/{{Meshuggah}}, Music/XJapan and Music/{{Atheist}}.

Dir en grey (DIR EN GREY/Dir en grey) is a [[UsefulNotes/{{Japan}} Japanese]] five-piece AvantGardeMetal band. They formed around 1996 as a VisualKei band, but have gone in a more contemporary, post-Visual Kei direction as far as appearance. Musically, Dir en grey encompasses HardRock, HeavyMetal, NuMetal, GothicMetal, [[NeoclassicalPunkZydecoRockabilly etc]]. They first gained attention in 1998 with two independently produced singles. Subsequently, they caught the eye of [[Music/YoshikiHayashi Yoshiki]] from X Japan, who helped [[MentorArchetype arrange and produce]] the singles of Dir en grey's first studio album, and subsequently signed them to Creator/ExtasyRecords. Later on, they would switch labels to Music/DynamiteTommy's Creator/FreeWillRecords, and then sign to both Gan-Shin for their European releases and The End Records for their [[UsefulNotes/TheUnitedStates American]] releases. Their material is released by Firewall Div, a sub-division of Free-Will Records, Since their inception, the quintet has released eight full-length studio albums, three [=EP=]s, and loads of other material, including singles, live videos, and music video compilations.

Considered by some metal fans as the SpiritualSuccessor to the legendary bands Music/FaithNoMore, Music/MrBungle, and Music/XJapan, and even dubbed as "the Japanese Music/MarilynManson", the band has gained international acclaim for their [[GenreBusting unique sound]], [[UncommonTime precise]], [[NeoclassicalPunkZydecoRockabilly dynamic musicianship]], [[NightmareFuel dark]], [[VulgarHumor explicit]] [[{{Gorn}} lyrical]] [[{{Wangst}} themes]], [[IndecipherableLyrics near-incomprehensible songwriting]] and convention-[[MindScrew challenging]] image, and enjoys continuous success as one of Japan's biggest Visual Kei groups. They were part of the Second wave of Visual Kei bands and were one of the bands responsible for re-establishing Visual Kei as a musical movement among Heavy Metal artists.

** In a ''Kerrang!'' interview, Kaoru once stated that, while they were still Music/LaSadies, they were more of an unlistenable noise band than anything else, justifying the aforementioned statement. Indeed, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__jEoDDAAsE as La:Sadie''s]] they had such a weird sound that they can only be vaguely described as [[NeoclassicalPunkZydecoRockabilly "experimental/alternative melodic noise rock."]] Some songs from the new album, ''Arche'', even throw in short segments of PowerMetal and NoiseRock.

* NeoclassicalPunkZydecoRockabilly: Aside form just "metal," it is [[GenreBusting very hard to classify them]]. The band lampshades this trope by suggesting that they prefer not to be classified at all.

* [[YouGottaHaveBlueHair Impossible Hair Color]]: Every single member of the band, at one point or another. Kyo had gone through more hair color changes than anyone else in the band, ranging from black, brown, blonde, orange, red, and even [[http://i.imgur.com/AKtOpPe.jpg bright pink]].

* ''Kisou'' (2002)

* ''Arche'' (2014)

* ''Missa'' (1997)
* ''Six Ugly'' (2002)
* ''The Unraveling'' (2013, classified as a mini-album but released as an EP)

* EpicRocking: Many songs. Stand-out examples include "Mazohyst of Decadence" (9:22), "Akuro no Oka" (9:42; note, however, that this includes the hidden track "Gauze -Mode of Eve-" and the song itself is actually 8:34, which still definitely qualifies), "Macabre -Sanagi no Yume wa Ageha no Hane-" (10:50, and its remake simply titled "Macabre" featured on ''The Unraveling'' EP which is even longer at 16:18), "Zakuro" (8:37), "G.D.S." (7:47), "Vinushka" (9:37) and "Diabolos" (9:52; symphonic version is even longer at 10:10). Some of their remixes also climb into this; the Narasaki remix of "Decayed Crow" is a particularly noteworthy example at 9:15.

%% * GettingCrapPastThe Radar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.

** GratuitousGreek: The title of their latest album, ''Arche'', translates to "Origin."

* IconicLogo: The name of the band, stylized in all caps and in big, bold letters. As of 2013, they have adopted a sleeker, more modern typeface similar to Music/TheGazette and (coincidentally) to Music/{{Khanate}}'s respective logos, as seen in ''The Unraveling''.

** The title track from ''The Unraveling'' ends with the final measures of the song throwing the instrumentations into utter chaos.
** "pink killer" from ''Kisou'' ends with what sounds like Kyo being brutally tortured.

* LongTitle: There are several examples of this when their titles are translated into English, including "Room 304, Cherry Blossoms of White Death", "Tragedy Is the Sweet Melancholy That Lowers Your Eyelids", "I Will Die in Loneliness, Because I'm Lonely", "Macabre -The Chrysalis' Dream Is the Swallowtail's Wings-", "No Happiness Coming Tomorrow; Tomorrow the Dead Call Laughing", "A Charming Repose, a Faltering Smile", and "Victory, the Place Where Silence Sleeps", but the crown no doubt falls to one of two different tracks on ''Dum spiro spero''. The first is the album's lead single, "The Violence and the Darkness of the Burning Heat Entwine in My Heart"[[note]]or, alternately, "The Scorching Darkness That Is Violently Wrapped Around My Heart". Note that what appears to be the official English translation of the title, "The Violence and the Darkness of the Burning Heat Entwine'''s''' in My Heart", is grammatically incorrect due to subject-verb agreement problems; the subjects of the title are "violence" and "darkness", not "heat", which is part of a dependent clause. Given that the Japanese language does not even distinguish between singular and plural nouns, it probably isn't surprising that a sentence this complex could pose translation problems to native Japanese speakers.[[/note]]. The Japanese title? "Hageshisa to, Kono Mune no Naka De, Karamitsuita Shakunetsu no Yami." Also from ''Dum spiro spero'' is "'Nesting Within the Dreambox', or Cold Rain and the Philosophy of the Mature", or in Japanese, "'Yokusō ni Dreambox' Aruiwa Seijuku no Rinen to Tsumetai Ame". Some of their album titles also qualify for this trope (e.g., ''Uroboros -With the Proof in the Name of Living...- at Nippon Budokan'').

* LoudnessWar: Pretty much all their discography has songs that are brickwalled to an extent, but the original version of ''UROBOROS'' and the 2013 EP ''The Unraveling'' fell prey to atrocious mixing, especially the latter, where the drums sound excessively clipped and the bass drowned out the guitars.

** Standing at a DR of 5, there's also the band's latest full-length ''The Insulated World'', which suffers from very wafer-thin mixing done to the instruments, copious amounts of brickwalling and being heavily clipped.
* LyricalDissonance: Kyo makes a point never to write happy lyrics. This has done nothing to prevent Kaoru and Die from giving him some pretty bouncy material to sing over. "Jessica," "Audrey," "Youkan," and Shinya's "Umbrella" are particularly notable examples.

** Subverted with ''The Marrow of a Bone'': while mostly appearing matte black, it actually hides [[http://i.imgur.com/Ib277a1.jpg a photo by Russian photographer Creator/DmitriBaltermants called "Grief."]]
* MoodWhiplash: ''The Marrow of a Bone'' starts off with a soft power ballad, is followed by several ultra-aggressive metal songs, and while the album does soften ''slightly'' from "Agitated Screams of Maggots" onward, it never has another ballad again. The transition can be very unsettling and startling to the unsuspecting listener.

** ''Macabre'' saw their transition from seemingly random AlternativeRock to full-on AlternativeMetal, a trend they continued up until ''Kisou''.
** ''Six Ugly'' has the band ditching their Kuroyume influences in favor of a harsh, noisy, Americanized NuMetal sound.
** ''Vulgar'' continues with the {{Nu Metal}} sound, featuring some very dark and heavy tracks in addition to their more traditional rock songs.
** ''Withering to Death'' plays up the heaviness further, with more screaming and heavy riffs than ever before. Remnants of their past style are still audible though.
** ''Marrow of a Bone'' takes heavy influence from {{Metalcore}}, featuring some of the band's most ferocious tracks up to that point. There is still plenty of variety though, such as an acoustic flamenco ballad and a couple of heavy rock tracks.

** ''Dum Spiro Spero'' sees the band yet again become ever heavier, combining their prog and avant-garde elements with {{Technical Death Metal}}.
** ''Arche'' is an eclectic mix of the band's previous styles while maintaining the heavier production of their more recent works. The album features reverb-heavy production that gives the album a very dreamy vibe during the softer moments.
** Though aesthetically similar to the previous record, ''The Insulated World'' is also a modernized, brutalizing take on the sounds that Diru explored during the likes of ''The Marrow of a Bone'' and ''Withering to death.'' Par for the course, they still manage to cover unfamiliar territory, namely when it comes to the {{Black Metal}}[=-influenced=] riffing found on "Downfall". On top of that, the whole album boasts a "live performance" air about it.

* OlderThanTheyLook: Everyone in the band is in their mid to late-thirties, but appear to be in their late teens or early twenties.

* OneWomanSong: "Jessica," "Audrey," possibly "Amber" though this may refer to the jewel, and even a one woman ''EP'' in ''MISSA''.

** ''GAUZE'' has "Mask", about general authoritarianism, and "Mazohyst of Decadence", which is about Japan's frequent use of abortion over comprehensive sex education and contraceptive.

** ''VULGAR'' has "Obscure", frequently interpreted to be about abortion in a similar vein to "Mazohyst of Decadence"

** They've done so much to their sound that comparing ''Gauze'' to ''UROBOROS'' or ''DUM SPIRO SPERO'' would be like comparing two or more entirely different bands.

*** For specific comparisons, their sound from ''Gauze'' up until ''Kisou'' draws comparisons to Music/MrBungle, ''Six Ugly'' to Music/{{Korn}}, ''VULGAR'' to Music/SikTh, ''Withering to death.'' and ''Marrow'' to Music/{{Converge}} and Music/TheDillingerEscapePlan, and the releases starting from ''UROBOROS'' to Music/{{Meshuggah}}, Music/XJapan and Music/{{Atheist}}.
* StartMyOwn: Kyo recently formed a side project called "Sukekiyo." It's apparently a {{Retraux}} of ''Macabre''-era Diru.
* TextlessAlbumCover: ''The Marrow of a Bone'' was this by a printing accident in its initial U.S release. [[MinimalisticCoverArt The cover was completely black with nothing on it.]] It has since been fixed but you can occasionally find it with the solid black cover.

** As the page image [[note]]It's the photo shoot for their tenth LP ''The Insulated World''[[/note]] shows, they appear to have gotten much more visually oriented than ever before.
* WholesomeCrossdresser: The band sported this look prior to ''Kisou''.

Dir en grey (DIR EN GREY/Dir en grey) is a [[UsefulNotes/{{Japan}} Japanese]] five-piece AvantGardeMetal band. They formed around 1996 as a VisualKei band, but have gone in a more contemporary, post-Visual Kei direction as far as appearance. Musically, Dir en grey encompasses [[MohsScaleOfRockAndMetalHardness Hard Rock]], HeavyMetal, NuMetal, GothicMetal, [[NeoclassicalPunkZydecoRockabilly etc]]. They first gained attention in 1998 with two independently produced singles. Subsequently, they caught the eye of [[Music/YoshikiHayashi Yoshiki]] from X Japan, who helped [[MentorArchetype arrange and produce]] the singles of Dir en grey's first studio album, and subsequently signed them to Creator/ExtasyRecords. Later on, they would switch labels to Music/DynamiteTommy's Creator/FreeWillRecords, and then sign to both Gan-Shin for their European releases and The End Records for their [[UsefulNotes/TheUnitedStates American]] releases. Their material is released by Firewall Div, a sub-division of Free-Will Records, Since their inception, the quintet has released eight full-length studio albums, three [=EP=]s, and loads of other material, including singles, live videos, and music video compilations.

* MohsScaleOfLyricalHardness: They come in at a ''very hard'' 10, and at ''their tamest'', they are a ''solid'' 9. But most of the time, their lyrics can be so harsh, offensive, or incomprehensible that they often climb [[UpToEleven up to Level 11]].
* MohsScaleOfRockAndMetalHardness: They've covered everything from a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_llwjp60XE 1]] to an [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hysCqjnHHZ4 11]]. However, most of their songs range from a soft 6 ("Dozing Green") to a very hard 9 ("Different Sense,") with their lighter songs typically in the 4-5 range.
** It should probably be pointed out that Dir en Grey are one of the few artists who have managed to hit 11 with purely acoustic instrumentation (in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsjIcKO1HuM the unplugged version of "Agitated Screams of Maggots."]])

* FiveManBand:
** TheBigBad: Kaoru
** TheDragon: Kyo
** TheEvilGenius: Die
** TheBrute: Shinya
** TheDarkChick: Toshiya.

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: "Egnirys Cimredopyh +) an injection" from ''MACABRE'' Read the first part backwards. Japanese law forbids the mention of syringes and needles.
** "Mitsu to Tsuba" from ''GAUZE''. It translates to "Honey and Saliva," but since the kanji (the japanese characters) are printed backwards, it's assumed to be read as "Tsumi to Batsu," which means "crime and punishment."

* GratuitousRape: The lyrics and video of "OBSCURE," "Agitated Screams of Maggots," and "Different Sense," the latter two of which featured tentacle rape. The lyrics of "Tsumi to Batsu," which is an entire song about rape. "Different Sense" ''could'' be argued to be symbolism (the TEPCO nuclear disaster being equated to a rape of the world) and RapeAsDrama, but it still is a very close call as to whether the rape imagery from tentacle hentai was necessary for the symbolism.

* OneWomanSong: "Jessica," "Audrey," possibly "Amber" though this may refer to the jewel, and even a one woman ''album'' in ''MISSA''.

** ''Gauze'' has "Mask", about general authoritarianism, and "Mazohyst of Decadence", which is about Japan's frequent use of abortion over comprehensive sex education and contraceptive.
** ''Six Ugly'' has "Mr.Newsman", about MoralGuardian press coverage of the band for their [[RefugeInAudacity explicit lyrics and stage image.]]
** ''Vulgar'' has "Obscure", which is frequently interpreted to be about abortion in a similar vein to "Mazohyst of Decadence"
** "Ouroboros" has "Vinushka", which is about Japan's imperialistic past, the bombing of the country, and the general denial of wartime atrocities in the nation.

*** For specific comparisons, their sound from ''Gauze'' up until ''Kisou'' draws comparisons to Music/MrBungle, ''Six Ugly'' to Music/{{Korn}}, ''Vulgar'' to Music/SikTh, ''Withering to Death'' and ''Marrow'' to Music/{{Converge}} and Music/TheDillingerEscapePlan, and the releases starting from ''UROBOROS'' to Music/{{Meshuggah}}, Music/XJapan and Music/{{Atheist}}.

* WomanInWhite: The band in the "Yokan" PV, [[WholesomeCrossdresser minus the woman part]].