“(Interview) Dir En Grey: Still aftershock from Family Values Tour”. Skinnie Entertainment Magazine.

It does not take a Masters degree to realize that the majority of Korn fans in the United States do not speak fluent Japanese. When Korn chose Dir En Grey to open at the 2006 Family Values Tour they were making it clear that there is something greater to be sought at a venue than smashing lyrics or the dancing image of the guy in leather on stage: there is a synergy that exists between all elements that make up a performance – even when the audience can not understand a single word.

Speaking to Dir En Grey via an interpreter, they say that their purpose when touring is to “be able to focus on what they want to tell the people”, pointing to the notion that despite the language barrier, they seek to communicate with their audience abroad through feeling the “music in the body” and the “sounds in the atmosphere”. However, even more surprising is their admission that they “don’t care what the fans are feeling” – they are there to speak to the fans, nothing more.

Dir En Grey, formed in 1997, roots itself in Japan’s visual kei movement, baring similarities to bands of the Glam rock movement in the United States and Europe. The band has slowly moved away from this image over the course of releasing six albums and has gained notoriety on more than three continents. Dir En Grey’s music cannot be easily dismissed as a Japanese equivalent of Deftones, Korn and Flyleaf mixed with black lipstick and hairspray – their visuals dramatically infused with ghostly images of isolation, rage, and disturbed apathy. In the case of one of their music videos, the viewer acts like a intoxicated partygoer, leaving consciousness at the sight of Kyo, the band’s lead, to awaken to the sign of a disembodied, live head in a birdcage staring out with stunned eyes. It looks like an 8mm version of the Paris Hilton video seemingly directed by Marilyn Manson.

Dir En Grey says that the biggest difference between their American and Japanese audience is that their American audience is more apt to respond though jumping, dancing, and moving their bodies. This phenomenon hints that an American audience is ready and willing to accept bands such as Dir En Grey from foreign shores: despite the ambiguity of their message – without any idea what is being sung or celebrated.

Dir En Grey is a hellfire puzzle-box waiting to be unlocked by the susceptible fan – a road best not taken by the light at heart or the mentally stable. For example, Kyo, the band’s vocalist is noted for the presence of heavy burns upon his skin and engaging in self-mutilation on stage. While the authenticity of these acts is disputed, this performance suggests an underlying theme throughout there being. They are much more complex than this. Giving them credit, their use of makeup and occasional effeminate self-presentation lends to their visual kei base, while appealing to performance enthusiasts though their dramatic stage presence lends to a fuller understanding of the band as a prophetic dynamo. While imagery such as that espoused by Dir En Grey has been seemingly on a decline in recent years, Korn seems to believe that this workhorse his far from dead. Arguably, Korn understands something huge is coming.