"Uroboros" CD by Dir En Grey

by Sonja Angerer (03.11.2008) The title of their seventh album couldn't be more perfect: Uroboros, the snake biting itself in ist tail and devouring itself is a symbol of eternity and continuity. Dir En Grey look back to the time before "Withering to death", and reflect on their past, the present , and the future. Emotions like pain, mourning, anger, alienation, and guilt are their recurring, their central topics. Dir En Grey are still dark, but the roughness has changed. The guitars are still aggressive, and the vocals are still throaty and gravelly, turning into a psychotic hissing from time to time. But now, the arrangements seem to be more elegant than before, the instrumentation is more versatile and experimental, and the vocal parts are often melodic and solemn, too. They emphasise the dramatic side of the songs, yet break open the granite weight of "Marrow of the bone": Dir En Grey have reached the next step in the wheel of life.