DIR EN GREY's New Album Finally Complete After 3 Years 10 Months: Shinya on "Presence and Experience"
This interview was originally published in Japanese on barks.jp. Translated by VK Chronicle.
DIR EN GREY Interview: New Album MORTAL DOWNER Finally Complete
After nearly three years and ten months since 2022’s PHALARIS, DIR EN GREY’s new album MORTAL DOWNER has been completed. With each album release, DIR EN GREY has expanded their one-of-a-kind territory, and this work marks another step deeper into their solitary path.
The album opens with the heavy noise of “ISOLATION,” then charges forward with the solid guitar riffs of “灰燼に帰す” and “蜿蜒,” includes the speed tune “There’s nothing else,” brings a fresh spatial sound with “歪と雨,” and offers tracks like “Bloodline” and “Void” where you can fully savor Kyō’s lyrical sensibility. Of course, nothing here is straightforward. The riffs, rhythms, and melodies all bear DIR EN GREY’s unique coloring, and everything is rendered with greater power and density. Compared to PHALARIS’s complex and weighty worldview, the solidly pared-down arrangements make each song’s individuality stand out more distinctly.
This work, which clearly shows the mark of a long maturation period, raises the question of how it came together. We spoke with Shinya, who supports DIR EN GREY’s music with his dazzling yet original rhythmic work, about the long journey to album completion and his approach to drumming.
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“I was conscious of creating without thinking about anything”
Q: The long-awaited new album has finally been completed. I heard that originally you were supposed to release it last year and tour with the album in tow.
Shinya: Yeah, that’s right. I think it got delayed by about a year from our original plan.
Q: Looking back, where did you spend the most time?
Shinya: There were an insane number of songs. We worked on dozens and dozens of demos, so in the end we had barely any time at all.
Q: So it’s not that songs weren’t being made—it’s that too many were being made.
Shinya: Exactly. After the PHALARIS tour ended, we first released the single “The Devil In Me.” Then we were about to start moving toward the album when the song selection meeting date got set. We’d each bring songs we’d written to the selection meeting, and after those were chosen we’d start gradually adding arrangements. But then another selection meeting would be scheduled. And another one after that. Songs just kept piling up.
Q: Was the aim to make even better songs, or to expand the range of material? Or did it just take time to narrow things down for an album?
Shinya: I’m not really sure what the purpose was. I was bringing several songs to each selection meeting myself, so I kept wondering, “Why am I making so many songs?” (laughs). The result was we had way too many songs—so many that I didn’t know where to even start. As for Kyō, he was adding melodies to every single demo.
Q: So rather than saying “Let’s polish these 10 songs,” you were in a situation where the goal was invisible while individual members kept working?
Shinya: Right. There was basically no conversation between band members for months—everyone was just working on arrangements for different songs.
Q: Has it always been like that with past albums?
Shinya: No, not really. We’d usually narrow things down to about three songs, record those, then record the next three, and so on. This time we also did about five songs early last year, and up to that point it was like before. But then it kind of stalled.
Q: Like there was an air of uncertainty about where things were heading.
Shinya: Yeah.
Q: When did the complete picture start to come into view?
Shinya: Honestly, not until late last year. We only had the recording schedule fixed because of the release date—like “if we don’t record now, we’re in trouble”—but which songs would actually be on it wasn’t decided until the day before drum recording. So it was pretty rough for me. The songs got decided the day before, and I had rough phrase ideas prepared, but I had zero time to memorize anything. So I recorded while reading sheet music bit by bit.
Q: That’s pretty intense. Did all 14 tracks come together by year-end?
Shinya: Early this year, maybe.
Q: Early this year! So you finally saw the finish line?
Shinya: Not really—there was no time to feel relieved. It all got wrapped up in a chaotic rush. It feels like we just recorded it recently.
Q: The new songs you performed on tour last year—did you record those last year too?
Shinya: Yeah. That recording session was pretty hectic too, so we actually adjusted quite a few phrases from what we recorded to fit the live version. The recorded version basically became the live version before it was even released.
Q: That’s a rare pattern (laughs). How did you feel about performing unreleased new songs live?
Shinya: I wasn’t nervous at all. It was just tough to memorize, but there was nothing special about the experience.
Q: So the full picture of the album still wasn’t visible while you were touring last year.
Shinya: It was more like “we recorded 5 songs but who knows what’ll happen?” kind of state.
Q: Did you feel any pressure or anxiety?
Shinya: Not at all. It would’ve been fine if nothing came out.
Q: So within the band, there’s no sense that you absolutely must keep making new songs and albums?
Shinya: I can’t speak for the other members, but that’s how I feel. There’s no sense that we have to release something regularly. If nothing came out, I’d be fine with that forever.
Q: Well, I’m glad it was completed safely (laughs). Looking at the actual creative process—is there a set order to how you add arrangements to the demos?
Shinya: The melody always comes first. Kyō’s melody gets sent to all of us at once on the demo, and I adjust it to my own drum phrase and send it back. After that, it’s just waiting.
Q: So the vocal goes in first—that’s a characteristic of DIR EN GREY. Does the melody become a key point when you’re programming drums?
Shinya: Yeah, it’s a pretty key point. I can tell which parts have vocals and which don’t, and I think about adding cymbals that match the vocal rhythm, and all kinds of things.
Q: When something comes back from the other members, does it sometimes change completely?
Shinya: It does. Rather than the rhythm or phrases changing, it’s more like the second half of the song gets completed or new sections get added. Then I go in and program phrases for those new parts. Sometimes there are songs where no one adds anything at all either. A song with just vocals and drums from the demo, where the guitar and bass never get added and it just disappears.
Q: So Kyō and you pretty much think through everything.
Shinya: Yeah, when a demo comes in I think about it each time. Even without being conscious of it, ideas just come to me naturally, so I’ve never had trouble coming up with phrases. My actual work is super smooth—most of the production period is just me waiting and watching.
Q: Do you ever tell them “I want you to work on this song,” or think “I came up with something good but it’s not being used”?
Shinya: Never. Any song is fine with me.
Q: So you only actually play the drums during recording?
Shinya: Right.
Q: I’ve heard stories about programmed data creating drum phrases that can’t actually be played by a human.
Shinya: That happens a lot when other people do the programming, but I always fix it all properly. On the flip side, I’m never told “just play it as is” for something someone else programmed.
Q: It’s really an artist-like way of making music—where everyone has to be satisfied before it’s done. By the way, did you compose any of the original songs this time?
Shinya: “Bloodline” is one. When I made it, I didn’t have any particular confidence or sense that it would work. Actually, it wasn’t even selected at first. But Kyō accidentally started working on a vocal melody, and apparently he really liked the melody he came up with. After that, it got pushed through and ended up on the album.
Q: Really. Did you have an image in mind when you wrote it?
Shinya: Actually, I was conscious of “creating without thinking about anything.” I made some songs that seemed like they’d work with a melody, some that didn’t seem like they would, and just brought whatever I came up with.