TOUR08: The Rose Trims Again

Their first, all-new, public release in years, and Dir en Grey surely did not disappoint. Firstly, the sound quality of this feature is positively perfect: Kyo's highs and lows, growls and shrieks, gasps and chants, low mutterings and soaring echoes are presented with great clarity and definition. Though the camera angles get a bit sporadic, they mostly portray the footage in a rewarding way; namely, they centre around each member rather equally, with the exception of Kyo, who is almost always favored.

The first disc, in and of itself, offers more updated versions of DEG's most popular set-list attributes, and are all rather stunning (even though most of them have been seen before) -- many of the performances are unrivaled in terms of previously published recordings. The only personal complaints I have are the yet to be polished Toguro, and a somewhat lackluster Dozing Green. The live of undecided was absolutely recording-quality, contrarily, and is a marked favorite. A very well-documented, epic concert.

The second disc featured behind the scenes, as well as concert footage from the memorable Shankara-breathing- concert. It was definitely interesting to see the stage be made up from scratch. The lives included were awesome indeed: The first official recordings of Stuck Man, Bugaboo, and Reiketsu na Riseba were included, all performed with renewed vigor and energy on part of Dir en Grey. Once again, the only complaint would be Toguro though, this time, due to Kyo's worn throat. Overall, an amazing look into the decidedly memorable Shankara-breathing- concert.

The third disc was helpful for those who rip the audio from their own DVDs, and also provided some unseen tracks.

Overall, a phenomenal release.