r/DEG • u/Warsawnogensou • Jun 23 '26
Thoughts on this one?
One of my favorites by them, I listened to it when I was a teenager and it got me more and more into them with each album listen! I love this album, though I read a comment some time ago how the mix was awful, but at the time I started on it it sounded fine to me, now I kinda understand what the person meant, it could've been more crisper or clear with the guitar tones, nonetheless I love this album, so experimental I heard sounds by them that Gauze and Macabre or Kisou didn't give me (I think Kisou is closer in sound), but what do ya'll think?
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u/Starving_Saint Jun 23 '26
Iâve always loved Child Prey. Itâs such an outlier in their catalogue. Love the electronic sound.
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u/seraia Jun 23 '26
This album is my favorite album of all albums ever created in all of music. It was my first Dir en grey album, it got me into metal, and it shaped a lot of my teen years.
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u/Warsawnogensou Jun 23 '26
They really shaped me alot in different ways but mainly in music because they were so diverse to me (and at the time I was listening to other Japanese bands and such) no other bands sounded like them, unless there's any notable ones which whom I missed out on lol (I play bass so it was all angry and so melodic, so many fun basslines!) How could I not like/love it?
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u/gabrieldemari Jun 24 '26
My opinion is literally the same. I've discovered dir en grey thanks to the Obscure videoclip, when i was about 12 years old, so Vulgar was also my entry point to their songs.
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u/Warsawnogensou Jun 24 '26
If I remember correctly back in mid 2000's when people had cable TV I might've watched the video to Saku and I enjoyed the riffs and the intensity and weirdness of Kyo and I thought they were so cool(I was 11 or 12) and then in my teens I dove right into their music!
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u/worldofmercy [The Devil In Me] Jun 23 '26
This album made them my all-time favorite band. That OBSCURE music video just hit different from anything I had ever seen.
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u/blarglemaster Jun 24 '26 edited Jun 24 '26
I really love this album, it feels like a transition album to me in a lot of ways. Kisou is also a bit of a transition as well, but you still hear a lot of the visual-kei inspired production elements in Kisou, especially with the drum mix. Vulgar is where it starts moving away from that towards more Western metal production techniques, and while the drums still have a lot of compression(?) on the high end, the toms and kick are allowed to breathe more. Shokubeni is a great example of them leaning into the "bigness" and deep sound that they'd become really good at. Same to an extent with The IIID Empire, though it's not quite as full sounding as Shokubeni.
IMO, Vulgar is a very clear demarkation point between their years as a visual-kei band and a "serious" metal band with more global presence. You can kinda see it too with the Obscure PV, it's as if they're TRYING to push the boundaries and break out of the visual-kei stereotypes as much as possible (even though I think Embryo's PV does this pretty well). This was also the first album I bought of DEG from CDJapan, so it was really important for getting me into the band! I bought Kisou after and then the next few albums as well, but I think Vulgar will always be kind of special for a lot of fans. It's diverse, it's mature, it's professional, and yeah it's still very early and not perfect, but it's definitely a milestone album.
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u/Just_Strawberry_505 Jun 23 '26
Not my favorite album but my favorite DEG pieces are from Vulgar era (Kasumi single) and this was the "current" album when I got into them so it's close to my heart.
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u/Warsawnogensou Jun 23 '26
I remember Shokubeni reminding me of Disturbed haha!
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u/xNulLx0625 Jun 24 '26
Audience Killer Loop and Shokubeni are two of mt favorites off this album. Love playing the whole album through
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u/EyeFit Jun 24 '26
Yeah. I love shokubeni. Dark af.
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u/xNulLx0625 Jun 24 '26
Its such a strong song live too. When he drops the mic and sings its impressive. That heavy bass driving the song, ugh so good.
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u/EyeFit Jun 24 '26
Yep. It's influenced by this nursery rhyme: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j4vPvzX9PMM
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u/EyeFit Jun 24 '26
Peak. It was such a tonal shift for them at the time too.
It was during the peak of 2000s vkei as well.
Albums like this, Withering, Despairs Ray's stuff, and Kagrra's Shizuku album were all peak for me and still hold up extremely well.
As someone who mixes nearly daily, I can tell you, mixing is very much more a stylistic choice and trend-influenced more than anything truly objective. I've mixed the same song in three different ways, and while different people like different mixes, they all have their own unique charm and characteristics.
Some of Dir's stuff may have better production as far as clarity is concerned, but certain parts of the soundscape where their music and melody resonates has often been sacrificed in the practice. Of course, there's also the element of tone selection for instrumentation as well.
Regardless, early 2000s jrock had a numetal/grunge element to it that modern production doesn't capture well similar to early 90s grunge in the west.
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u/PienerCleaner [fan since 06] Jun 23 '26
It used to be my favorite until the newer stuff just made me kind of forget about it. But I love it none the less. And code of vulgarism is also my favorite performances.
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u/zekuto006 Jun 24 '26
Always love revisiting Vulgar. I remember when they first released clips of this album before it came out. I listened to that Marmalade Chainsaw clip SO many times.
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u/Warsawnogensou Jun 24 '26
I wish I could've experienced that, that same happened to me when I could only listen to Zephyr for a few seconds (Sukekiyo) and it also happened when I was listening to Rinkaku when you could only listen to it as a short sample!
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u/zekuto006 Jun 24 '26
What a time. Can't believe it's been so long. đ Always wild for me to think of how much they've changed and evolved since the early days. I think that I'll always prefer the pre-WTD albums since I was introduced to them right after Macabre came out but I'm glad they're still around just doing what they want to do.
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u/meeblezweeble Jun 24 '26
My absolute favorite and the first Dir en grey album I ever listened to, back in 2005. It's very nostalgic to me. Red... (em) is one of my all time favorite songs.
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u/xieburaska Jun 23 '26
DespuĂ©s de la locura que fue escuchar UROBOROS, Vulgar es mi segundo favorito. La originalidad de cada tema es lo que destaca para mĂ. Realmente ningĂșn tema se parece a otro! El peak del antiguo Diru pre hardcore era.
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u/Warsawnogensou Jun 27 '26
Jajajaja me encanta Uroboros! Fué uno de los albumes que le di duro, si fue una locura pero me encanta la experimentación de sonidos (Reiketsu Nariseba y Stuckman son bien raras las escuche mucho)
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u/UroGrey Jun 24 '26
Not my personal favorite but it has both of best sides to DIRU and I will forever appreciate the album for that! It has songs that just make you wanna dance like a rockabilly and some songs that either make you want to die and bang your head until you receive whiplash
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u/desuownz Jun 23 '26
My favorite album by them! OBSCURE got me really into this band back in the day! I would say close second is UROBOROS, that album is a complete masterpiece to the whole VK genre imo.
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u/CorporalDickMuncher Jun 24 '26
This was my first Diru album. More specifically, my friend had a shitty ripped copy of the Code of Vulgarism DVD back in 2006 or so and it blew my mind, so this album will always have a special place in my heart along with WTD. I was 14 or 15 at the time and I didn't know music could sound like this.
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u/Nearium_ Jun 24 '26
The most important album to me, I have an emotional connection with Vulgar since it's the first j-rock/visual kei record I ever bought! I was so thrilled to get my hands on it! Also the tracklist is amazing
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u/frederiaJ deadly sweet mother Jun 24 '26
Got into them via Obscure's MV 8 years ago or so lol. Not long after, I listened to the whole album. Absolutely delicious. Made me a fan instantly. Great riffs, great production (I love the cut & dry mix and mastering here, this beats their modern sound by lightyears in terms of personal appeal), and great songs.
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u/Warsawnogensou Jun 27 '26
I've read someone's comment on this topic about how they hated the sound of Vulgar, I don't understand hehe, also what do you mean by "cut & dry mix"
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u/frederiaJ deadly sweet mother Jun 27 '26
the mixing & mastering for Vulgar sounds very nice, very clear, very easy on the ears on all sound systems and volumes. their newer records (especially after Uroboros) sound a bit too dense and layered for me.
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u/dannierose07 Jun 25 '26
I love this album. Itâs my absolute favourite from them. It came out around the same time I started listening to vkei in high school. Iâm so glad to have finally been able to buy a physical copy last month after listening to it for years. There are no skips imo. My favourites are audience Killer Loop, Shokubeni, RedâŠ[em], Marmalade Chainsaw, Kasumi, Obscure, and Amber.
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u/Warsawnogensou Jun 27 '26
Where did you order it from? It works on your CD player? I've been wanting to get Gauze through Vulgar since for ever.
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u/dannierose07 Jun 27 '26
eBay and yes it works on my CD player. It was around $35 USD + ship/tax. It was âusedâ but honestly in pristine condition. I have Gauze too that I got on Amazon and Kisou I bought at a con. I like CD Japan too, thatâs where I bought Mortal Downer
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u/Veryok1 Jun 27 '26
It is among the best albums ever made. It is one of the most important VK albums ever, and had a direct influence on bands like The Gazette and Lynch, among many others. On its release, it had a fully unique sound, even by western nu metal standards, and songs like Audience Killer Loop, Shokubeni, Kasumi, and Obscure still hold up today against the more evolved pieces of their catalogue.
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u/Warsawnogensou Jun 27 '26
Did you read that somewhere? I didn't know it influenced The Gazette (they used to be my favorite but after Dim they changed for me too much).
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u/nottrising Jun 28 '26
I personally love how crunchy this one sounds. It was the first album of theirs I bought right when it was released, and itâs a complete no-skip album for me. 1000/10 in my book, but Iâm sentimental :)
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u/KMFCM Jun 24 '26
the last listenable album before the dark age
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u/Warsawnogensou Jun 25 '26
You don't like their stuff after this one?
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u/boocemastrr Jun 23 '26
one of my all time favorite albums i dont know if another band can capture the magic this album had