DIR EN GREY EUROPE TOUR24 FROM DEPRESSION TO ________ [mode of Withering to death] at Bataclan, Paris

This March, Japanese metal band DIR EN GREY returned to Europe for their EUROPE TOUR24 FROM DEPRESSION TO ________ [mode of Withering to death. & UROBOROS]. Part of the band’s FROM DEPRESSION TO ________ tour series, which focuses the set lists for the shows on one specific nostalgic album, this tour highlighted the band’s fifth and seventh albums, Withering to death and UROBOROS. It featured two back-to-back shows — one for each album — in almost every city the band travelled to. Members of JaME's French team had the chance to attend both shows in Paris. In this article, find their thoughts on the [mode of Withering to death] show.

Lining the street outside the Bataclan, Paris’ most emotionally charged theatre, was a crowd one could hardly miss: black silhouettes huddled together around travel bags. Black eyeliner cut lines across pale skin and industrial chains glinted as they caught the light. Unbeknownst to hustling passersby, who only occasionally tossed a glance their way, this day was nothing short of sacrosanct for most fans in attendance. DIR EN GREY, a Japanese metal act with a cult following akin to Tool and Faith No More, was playing live, a rare occurrence, and a memory that would surely be cherished for years to come.

Formed in Osaka in the late 1990s, DIR EN GREY are agitators in Japan’s metal scene. Unpredictable, enigmatic and loaded with a blend of acrimony, virulence and euphonic genius, they worked their way out of their Far East niche and into the piping system of the global metal scene in the early 2000s, where they have since held their ground as an unlikely, beloved rock oddity.

While they have the ability to sell out arenas back in their home country, they hold the occasional international tour as well. The rarity of their appearance on the Old Continent, coupled with the close and personal atmosphere of a small venue, made the prospect of these two nights all the more special. In the grey spring of 2024, the band chose to play two themed nights in Paris: one was a recreation of their 2005 album Withering to death’s atmosphere, the other of 2008’s UROBOROS.

At the start of the show highlighting their 2005 album Withering to death, five shadows walked onto the stage, unassuming under the cold blue light. Front and centre, the singer — a lithe figure with a penetrating gaze — inspected the crowd for a suspenseful few seconds before his airtight seal seemingly broke. He bent at the waist and, in one breath, produced one of his signature near-inhuman growls as the first chords of Merciless Cult echoed through the room.

The combination of loud riffs, primal screams and fast-paced imagery was almost overwhelming when it first hit. By the time the second song, SAKU, metamorphosed from gruff mumbo-jumbo into melodic bliss, the eye was able to adapt to a completely transfigured energy and realise this was no garden-variety metal band.

In a testament to Japan’s unique concept of visual rock, the audience's eyes feasted on thick layers of red-splattered fabric, sequined silk and painted flesh. DIR EN GREY want to be an experience beyond music — the group also aspires to deliver a sophisticated visual show, held together by five style-conscious, gender-challenging heirs of the visual kei movement.

As sphinx-like guitarist Die threw his impressive mane back and forth, cutting messy shapes through the haze of stage lights, bassist Toshiya sent the audience on a trip down memory lane to the band’s visual kei roots every time he flashed a thigh-high leather boot through the slit of his sequined gown. On rhythm guitar, Kaoru, who doubles as the band’s creative director, was dressed like a rockstar version of Sweeney Todd — a stark contrast to Shinya, the band’s drummer and resident seraph. Even vocalist Kyo’s minimalist bald look felt intentional.

DIR EN GREY’s set oscillated dangerously between brutality and tenderness, between erratic animal force and unspeakable softness. Carried by the steely, well-practiced riffs shared between the two guitars, DIR EN GREY’s sound could have sat comfortably somewhere between the art rock and nu metal shelves. However, they chose not to linger long in that niche. Here and there, they were able to find the listener’s centre of gravity and throw it off. Which part of this has been intentional and which could be chalked up to artistic indecisiveness, one cannot tell.

Just when the audience was able to get comfortable, in the lull of alternative metal created by the likes of Jesus Christ R’n’R, a song like Oboro came in to smash whatever thin film of frost formed on the surface of the ear canal. By the time HIGEKI HA MABUTA WO OROSHITA YASASHIKI UTSU came along, any newcomers in the audience likely no longer knew if they were witnessing a rock performance or a genuine nervous breakdown.

For many fans, the element that takes DIR EN GREY from above-average musicianship to indisputable artistry is likely Kyo, the band’s near-alien singer. Without paying much heed to technique or vocal cleanliness, he toyed with his range just as nonchalantly as he did when the songs were first recorded, showing no signs of fatigue through the challenging set.

Bare-faced and showing no intention of communicating anything that he has not already poured into song, he delivered a raw, temperamental performance that featured random bouts of a capella singing and mic-less screaming into the crowd, as well as hoarse howling, velvet-soft whispers, moving pantomime and angry mic drops. Still, his hysterics appeared to be layered with a surprising level of emotional intelligence. Under normal circumstances, one could describe his stage presence as hostile, but during a show like this it quickly becomes clear that no one in the crowd came to be entertained by a performer — they came to witness an entity.

A long standing argument of non-English speaking acts to support never leaving their cosy little backyard is the language barrier. And yet…riddled with hardly translatable Japanese lyrical genius, and without a word of spoken English to make up for it, DIR EN GREY somehow held two thousand people in the palms of their hands throughout this Paris appearance.