Dir En Grey

The Japanese rockers of Dir En Grey clearly have no genre boundaries: Thrash metal over melodic death-rock? Sure. Glam-punk into experimental noise? Totally makes sense. Vocal comparisons to Mike Patton are understandable—frontman/centerpiece Kyo has a similarly wide range that goes from croon to growl to deafening shriek—and the likewise avant-garde musical aspirations (think Fantômas) don’t sound too far off from the Patton empire, either. 2008’s Uroborosmoved the band away from its earlier, more flamboyant tendencies, and this year’s Dum Spiro Spero continues that evolution, finding Dir En Grey as a noticeably forthright, though still pretty weird, progressive metal act. 

Updated 11/29/2011