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Dir En Grey
Biography
Dir en Grey have risen to become the top band of the post-visual kei era, especially for the Western audience -- in the 2000s they were arguably the most successful metal act without English lyrics since Rammstein (though not rivaling the popularity of the Germans). The band began as a visual kei collective, too, but gradually moved to more reserved and darker attires and a separate sound that leaned on gothic rock, death metal, and the likes of Korn and Slipknot.

Dir en Grey was formed in early 1997, essentially being the indie collective La:Sadies with a new bassist -- Toshiya -- and a new name that was supposed to carry no other meaning than to designate the band. They started off with the EP Missa (1997) that failed to stir things up a lot, but soon made themselves the talk of the country's music scene by becoming the first indie band to break into the Oricon singles Top Ten -- and doing it twice, with Jealous and I'll in 1998. That brought them into the right hands: they attracted Yoshiki Hayashi, the drummer of the nation's prime metal act X-Japan and the foster-father of many a J-rock band, thanks to his label Extasy Records. Yoshiki produced all five singles that Dir en Grey released in 1999, and that propelled the band into the big leagues: after these singles were released as their debut album Gauze, Dir en Grey got signed by a major label.
Selected Discography
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