Dir In Gray ( => グ レ イ > ) , also stylized Dir in gray and DIR IN GRAY , is a metal band progressive Japanese, originally from Osaka. Formed in 1997, the group is currently signed to Firewall Div., A division of Free-Will. In 2014, he has nine studio albums. The group changed several times of musical styles, which makes it difficult to categorize. Originally a visual kei band, Dir En Gray opts for a less dramatic style in recent years>.
Four of the current members of Dir En Gray, Kyô, Kaoru, Die and Shinya, formed the group La: Sadie's in 1996. When Kisaki, the bassist, left the group in 1997, replaced by Toshiya, La: Sadie's changed its name to that of Dir En Gray. The same year, the group, still independent, released its first EP Missa, inspired in part by visual kei formations such as Buck-Tick or X Japan. The group knows his first real success with the single I'll happens 7> the classification of the Oricon>.
In 1999, Dir En Gray became a major band with the arrival of their new producer Yoshiki (drummer X Japan), which is a springboard for the future of the group. That same year released their first album, Gauze.
In 2000, the band self-produced with the album Macabre. The singles then the albums follow one another. The maxi-single Is not Afraid To Die was released in 2001 but not appear on any album. The Kisou album was released in 2002. In July of the same year, the single child prey and the Six Ugly mini-album were released, which marked the emergence of a new influence in the band's music, the nu metal .
