![DIR EN GREY—Kisou [鬼葬] (2002)](https://en-core.rocks/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/dir-en-grey_kisou_2002_2.jpg)
A Thing That Died With Time: Introduction
Let’s go back in time 23 years to 2002. The world then knew nothing of YouTube, Spotify, Apple Music, TikTok, or any other streaming or social networking systems.
![DIR EN GREY—Kisou [鬼葬] (2002)](https://en-core.rocks/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/dir-en-grey_kisou_2002_2-768x768.jpg)
2002.01.30
01. kigan [鬼眼-kigan-]
02. ZOMBOID
03. 24-ko cylinder [24個シリンダー]
04. FILTH
05. Bottom of the death valley
06. embryo
07. Shinsou [「深葬」]
08. Gyakujou Tannou Keloid Milk [逆上堪能ケロイドミルク]
09. The Domestic Fucker Family
10. undecided
11. mushi [蟲-mushi-]
12. Shinsou [「芯葬」]
13. JESSICA
14. karasu [鴉-karasu-]
15. PINK KILLER [ピンクキラー]
16. Shinsou [「神葬」]
Imagine, you’re sitting in your room listening to the new Slipknot album, Iowa. It was released only a few months ago. You were drawn in by their aggressive sound and eccentric appearance. A friend who shares your taste in music recommended a Japanese Metal band to you called ›DIR EN GREY‹—what an odd name!
You pick up your favorite music magazine from the coffee table and start flicking through the pages. You recognize the name from somewhere. Ah, yes, here it is! There’s a silver album cover and five wildly dressed people. The headline reads: »DIR EN GREY’s latest album, Kisou, reviewed.«
Perfect. You haven’t heard any songs from the album yet. You need to think carefully about where you invest your hard-earned money. In such a case, a review is a great help. Here, you can find out what the album sounds like and what it’s about.
Now, back in 2025, you can easily go to your preferred streaming platform and listen to every album you like. However, nowadays, with so many options for consuming media, you may need some incentives to decide how to spend your time.
That’s why we want to offer a portrait of selected albums to you. From a retrospective point of view, we have researched and compiled information on production facts, reception, and subsumption in the context of the artist’s career, as well as the themes of the lyrics and, of course, the sound of the album. Today, we’re staying in 2002 a little longer and take a deep dive into the third full-length album from DIR EN GREY, Kisou [鬼葬].
A Demonic Funeral: Facts about the Album
Kisou [鬼葬] was released on the 30th of January, 2002—in only one version. Together with the album MACABRE, it’s one of only two albums by DIR EN GREY that are not available in a limited and a regular version.
After concluding their 00 >> 01 MACABRE Tour in 2001, DIR EN GREY began with the production of their next album. In preparation for the release, three singles were published in the last quarter of 2001: FILTH was released in September, JESSICA in November, and embryo in December.
The single version of embryo differs from the album version, because the original lyrics of this song were considered to be too extreme. Therefore, vocalist Kyo was forced to rewrite the lyrics for the single release, but the album version still contains the original lyrics. And the single version of embryo was never played live except for a TV show appearance of the band in 2002.
Notably, the album was meant to be groundbreaking for the band! After its release, Kisou reached third place on the Oricon Charts, which is the highest position a full album of DIR EN GREY has ever ranked. And that’s not the only harbinger of success. With Kisou, DIR EN GREY gained broader popularity in Asia for touring in China, Taiwan, and South Korea.
The final show of their associated tour, called Rettou Gekishin Angya FINAL 2003 5 Ugly KINGDOM [列島激震行脚 FINAL 2003 5 Ugly KINGDOM] , took place in January 2003 in the Yokohama Arena. This show was recorded for DIR EN GREY’s very first live DVD.
So much for the hard facts, let’s slide into the songwriting process.
In the middle of the 00 >> 01 MACABRE Tour, Kyo injured his ears and suffered a sudden hearing loss in his left ear. This incident caused a change in his mindset, and in the period of Kisou, he started to think about how to use his voice and how to put more emphasis on his very own vocal style. Before that, he focused more on his self-expression and did not think much about how to use his voice as a vocalist.[1]
Furthermore, the guitar playing style changed to produce this album. In an interview, guitarist Kaoru stated that it was difficult to reproduce MACABRE on stage as it was intended to be experienced as a coherent whole. The stage set was also elaborate.
For Kisou, however, the band wanted to focus on the live sound rather than the show. They aimed to take their guitar playing to a new level to make the new album fierce, energetic, and heavy. At this time, Kaoru started using a seven-string guitar. And last but not least, until then, during the songwriting process, they would play the guitar to match the melody. But for Kisou, they were looking for a melody to match the riffs. Overall, Kaoru and Die described the songwriting process for Kisou as very experimental and unconventional.[2]
As we can see, Kisou marked a turning point in DIR EN GREY’s career. The band switched to heavier music and more sophisticated vocal techniques. But is that really true? Let’s take a closer look at the sound and lyrical theme of the album.
What lies in the Casket: Themes and Sound of the Album
Kisou and its predecessor, MACABRE, still have a similar sound. However, Kisou has a slightly harder and more feral sound. Where MACABRE and GAUZE show a waft of popular songwriting structures, DIR EN GREY abandoned this approach in Kisou.
Songs such as FILTH and karasu [鴉-karasu-] have unpredictable compositions. Furthermore, songs such as Gyakujou Tannou Keloid Milk [逆上堪能 ケロイドミルク], The Domestic Fucker Family, and Pink Killer [ピンクキラー] have a distinct Metal and Hardcore character, proving the band’s transition into harder music.
Other than the feral bangers, the album features four ballads and songs that embody a distinct late-90s Visual-kei sound, connecting Kisou to MACABRE and GAUZE.
Among the 16 songs are three instrumental interludes that divide the album and make it seem more like a three-act play. However, there is no real coherent narrative. Nevertheless, there are recurring lyrical themes and some songs that tell a powerful story in their self-contained form.
The most recurring lyrical themes are sexual desire, sexual abuse, and incest. For example, ZOMBOID and FILTH contain strong promiscuous themes and sexual allegories. Returning to the lyrics of embryo, the single version of the song tells the story of a mother’s death. But the album version recounts the story of a father who rapes his daughter following her mother’s death. A similar story is told in karasu, where a miserable brother desires his sister sexually. karasu and embryo are also both examples of strong storytelling in a self-contained form.
Other recurring themes are ill-fated love and abandonment, as explored in undecided, mushi [蟲-mushi-], or 24-ko cylinder [24個シリンダー]. Honestly, ill-fated love and solitude are recurring lyrical themes throughout DIR EN GREY’s complete discography. Yet Kisou is defined by its strong emphasis on sexuality.
Condolence and Mourning: Summary
Kisou is a clear turning point in DIR EN GREY’s career. The sound is considerably harder and more feral, and the songwriting is more experimental and avant-garde. This trend continued as DIR EN GREY went on to become a paragon of Avant-garde and Extreme Metal in the following years.
However, they still perform early songs from Kisou nowadays. In fact, they have rerecorded many of them, such as karasu and Bottom of the death valley on the EP THE UNRAVELING (2013). On their 2021 single Oboro [朧], they released a re-recording of The Domestic Fucker Family, which is a popular setlist choice nowadays. A re-recording version of kigan [鬼眼-kigan-] is featured on the album The Insulated World (2018, limited edition), and a new version of undecided appears on the single Glass Skin (2008).
The reworking of these songs in a more mastered version of Metal could be seen as proof of the prior intention to create harder and more powerful songs back then.
The most recurring lyrical themes from Kisou are promiscuous behavior, sexual abuse, and incest. Themes that always occur in the discography of DIR EN GREY regularly. However, these themes appear in a considerably high frequency on Kisou.
In conclusion, it can be said that Kisou paved the way for DIR EN GREY’s international success and laid the foundation for breakthrough albums such as VULGAR and Withering to Death. It is also the prototype for their development from a mere Visual-kei band into an Extreme and Avant-garde Metal band that has retained its Visual-kei roots.
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[1] DIR EN GREY PLAYERS BOOK, music magazine GiGS of Shinko Music Publishing, 2016
[2] DIR EN GREY GUITAR BOOK, music magazine GiGS of Shinko Music Publishing, 2009
