Dir En Grey

Uroboros

[4/5]

The uroboros is a mythical snake eating its own tail, hardly an appropriate symbol for Dir En Grey’s latest album, which finds the band progressing further down the deep, dark tunnel that is their aesthetic instead of simply rehashing their past musical accomplishments. Overconfident in some ways (the album passes the one-hour mark with ease), the band do make a few concessions to a growing U.S. fanbase on Uroboros, singing in English on “Glass Skin” and “Dozing Green.” It’d be hard to tell, of course, without reading the lyric booklet-vocalist Kyo’s accent and expressionistic delivery translate all languages into Kyo-ese. Good thing the post-punk-meets-hardcore guitars, thunderous drums, and depressive, hallucinatory ballads work on universal levels. If you’ve ever worn black or cried tears of rage (never mind both at the same time), Uroboros could score your year. (THE END; theendrecords.com) Phil Freeman