Dir en Grey
- Withering to Death

Overall: 7,5/10, because Kyo really should learn simplicity, now that he learnt screaming.

I have a big problem with this Dir en Grey album... which explains why this review comes so late! Problem because this album is good, but...the famous "little something" is missing here, I don't know why, I can't manage to really "get into it".

At first sight, I would say some it lacks some sensitivity, even though I'm not really sure that's the good reason... but, as I decided to write a review, I have to find an explanation! I mean it's full of effects, Kyo is better than ever at yelling, he's probably yelling too much actually (why screaming so often? I often feel like it's no use, the song(s) would "earn" a lot if he used a calmer voice...), guitars are loud and strong, following various and well-found rythms, but... Usually, when you listen to an album of Dir en Grey, you go through a lot of emotions within one little hour, while here this album barely manages to make you reach one or two states of mind, in most songs... And, Dir en Grey members being far from the best technicians on Earth, going from one emotion to another has always been one of their strength: if you suddenly can't make it anymore, you can't help feeling like "a little something" is missing!

In the end, I believe they wanted to do too much in this album, they used too many effects and such, which is really sad because they're never better than when they play slightly-aggremented-simplicity (RVGRK, The Final, all the "typically rock'n'roll" riffs they play here or there in several songs (Dead Tree for example),...). Don't get me wrong though: I don't mean this album is a bad album, it's actually very far from "bad", it's only that... I consider it as "usual", I can't help feeling it could have been so much better with a little more simplicity-sensitivity! It's a "good, but..." album, to sum up...
(I also think that all of these songs are some of these that take their real "dimension" live, but I refuse to use it as an "excuse" for Japanese bands, contrary to what I always do for other bands: contrary to these other bands, I'll never be able to check it with my own eyes/ears!)

Track-list:

01- Merciless Cult
02- C
03- saku
04- Kodoku ni shisu, yue ni kodoku.
05- Itoshisa wa fuhai nitsuki
06- Jesus Christ R'n R
07- Garbage
08- Machiavellism
09- Dead Tree
10- The Final
11- Beautiful Dirt
12- Spilled Milk
13- Higeki wa mabuta o oroshita yasashiki utsu
14- Kodou

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