Dir en grey are one of the newer generation of "visual-kei" bands, and a leading contender to be the first to break internationally in a major way. The band formed in February 1997 from the ashes of a band called La:Sadies. The group has a five piece, all male cast (in case you are not sure from the photos), who all go by single word stage names. Their real names are kept secret, but fans have dug them up, although some are disputed. The members are Kyo (Toru Nishimura), vocalist, lyricist...

Dir en grey are one of the newer generation of "visual-kei" bands, and a leading contender to be the first to break internationally in a major way. The band formed in February 1997 from the ashes of a band called La:Sadies. The group has a five piece, all male cast (in case you are not sure from the photos), who all go by single word stage names. Their real names are kept secret, but fans have dug them up, although some are disputed. The members are Kyo (Toru Nishimura), vocalist, lyricist and poet; Kaoru (Kaoru Niikura), guitarist, oldest member, the leader of the group and main composer; Die (Daisuke Ando) guitar; Toshiya (Toshimasa Hara) bassist, his playing one of the most distinctive parts of Dir en grey's sound, and Shinya (Shinya Terauchi) drummer, the most girlish of the bunch, who is said to be shy and love dearly his dog Miyu. All of the members come from different cities, but how they came together is not part of their official history. The band's name, another mystery, is thought by some to be derived from Latin for "grey or silver coin", but seems more likely a pun on Oscar Wilde's character Dorian Grey. The group made their recorded debut in July 1997, with a mini-album titled MISSA, released on their own Free Will Records. The release that put them on the pop music map however was December 1998's single "I'll" which went to #7 in the Oricon singles chart - a rare level of accomplishment for an indie label band. Among those who took notice was X drummer and music entrepreneur Yoshiki, who soon took them under his wing and produced their first full album, GAUZE. Released in July 1999, the album generated three top ten singles. Riding this success, the band toured extensively and released their first video. Dir en grey followed up in 2000 with MACABRE. The related tour was subject to delays due to problems with Kyo's ears, which their English language website called "sudden deafness". However the band soldiered on, and on April 27, 2001 played the hallowed hall of Budokan. In August 2001 they released the remix album kai, and followed in January with kisou (both titles appear on cover art written in kanji). In April 2001 Dir en grey began expanding their horizons by playing shows in Shanghai, Hong Kong and Korea, some of which were greeted with near hysteria. In July 2002 they released six UGLY, and in October 2003, VULGAR. Both albums received mixed reactions, some fans feeling that the work was more accomplished and a step forward, and others that the sound was "too American", "too metal", and/or too much of a departure from their previous sound. Around this time Dir en grey also decided to tone down the more over-the-top visual aspects of the group's look. The band's lyrics mostly in Japanese, however remain quite disturbing, even to parents who grew up listening to Alice Cooper or Marilyn Manson. Reoccurring themes include murder, suicide, rape, abortion, insanity, sorrow, despair, Sid Vicious, Stalin and room 304, with little or no comic relief. There are odd bits of historical references mixed in, and some interesting word play, but overall pretty grim stuff. The band seem to have a good sense for elaborating their lyrics into images, as they do a roaring business in DVDs, books and other merchandise. They also manage to come up with unique and unusual concepts to keep fans interested, such as having a show in November 2004 for females only, followed by one the next day for males only, followed a few days later by a couples-only evening. While certainly a major cult band in Japan, Dir en grey are not yet a mainstream success. However their fan base is intense and growing. Devotees have already created fan websites in the US, China, France and Germany. In March 2005 Dir en grey released Withering to death, and made plans to play in Europe. The band has already played in Germany, where they were featured at a large festival with the likes of Slipknot, Papa Roach and Prodigy, and sold out a 3,500 seat hall on their own. The band will be playing Belgium and France later this summer.