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Dir en Grey was preceded by the independent rock band La:Sadie's, which was formed by vocalist Kyo and bassist Kisaki in November 1995.

This band was Lareine, who had released a song called "Dir en gray" in 1995.

The song starts with the line 灰色のあなたに dir en gray, with the Latin part being a correct translation of the Japanese part.

Both mean "to you in grey".

In a later interview, Kaoru explained that "at the time we chose the band name, it had some meaning but right now it doesn't express the band anymore, so it has come to not mean anything specific. We chose the band name because it sounded right, and it also reflects an image that probably doesn't exist elsewhere."

They were joined by guitarists Die and Shio, as well as drummer Shinya and made their live debut on January 14, 1996.

Shio seceded after three shows and Kaoru joined them in April 1996.

Dir en Grey is a Japanese heavy metal band formed in February 1997 and currently signed to Firewall Div., a sub-division of Free-Will.

With a consistent lineup of guitarists Kaoru and Die, vocalist Kyo, drummer Shinya and bassist Toshiya, they have released eleven full-length albums.

Numerous stylistic changes have made the genre of their music difficult to determine, though it is generally considered to be a form of metal.

Originally a visual kei band, the members later opted for more subtle attire, but have continued to maintain a dramatic image on stage.

After a very successful independent career and over 80 shows in one year of activity, La:Sadie's disbanded on January 15, 1997.

The reasons for the disbandment are unknown, but later statements made by the individual members hint at disagreements between bassist Kisaki and the other members in regards to their status as an independent band.

After parting ways with Kisaki, members Kaoru, Kyo, Die and Shinya recruited bassist Toshiya and regrouped as a new band.

After playing one show as a Kuroyume cover-band called "Deathmask" at the live house Nagano J on January 24, they officially formed "Dir en Grey" on February 2, 1997.

The band name is a combination of German "dir", French "en" and English "grey" and was thought to mean "Grey Silver Coin" (灰色の銀貨); the Japanese translation was used as the name of their fanclub's magazine.

They wanted to convey a musical image that was neither black nor white, so they picked grey.

In an early interview, vocalist Kyo explained that he knew the name before the band was formed.

They released their first EP, Missa, a few months later and attracted mainstream attention in 1998, by entering the top ten on the Oricon music charts with the still independently produced songs "Jealous" and "-I'll-".

Five subsequent singles, arranged and produced by X Japan co-founder Yoshiki Hayashi, were published during the first half of 1999.

The band's first full-length record, Gauze, followed.

One of the shows in support for the album (filmed at the Osaka-Jo Hall) would later become the first of several live concerts to be released on VHS and DVD.

In 2000, vocalist Kyo was hospitalized with hearing trouble and several dates of the tour in support of Dir en Grey's then-upcoming album, Macabre, had to be postponed.

Tour 00 >> 01 Macabre eventually took off later the same year and was concluded at Nippon Budokan shortly after the release of the single "Ain't Afraid to Die" in April 2001.

In the following year, along with the release of a third full-length album, Kisō, Dir en Grey gave their first performances abroad, touring China, Taiwan, and South Korea.

Back in Japan, the last dates of the lengthy Rettou Gekishin Angya tour were already in support for the band's second EP, Six Ugly.

In the same year, they released the single "Child Prey", which was featured as the second opening theme of the Baki The Grappler anime series, and also the beginning of their fourth album called Vulgar.

In summer 2003, Dir en Grey performed at Akasaka Blitz for five evenings in a single week, with each show (except the first) themed after a certain album, the last featuring songs from the then yet to be released Vulgar.

A DVD set, titled Blitz 5 Days, was later released exclusively for members of the band's official fan club, titled "A Knot".

Vulgar was released in September 2003 and tours in support for the record would last well into 2004.

In 2005, Dir en Grey performed in Europe for the first time.

Their concerts in Berlin and Paris (as part of the It Withers and Withers tour) sold out without promotion save for newsletters by import record stores and internet-based word of mouth.

The band also performed at two major festivals, Rock am Ring and Rock im Park.

Becoming more involved with the international music scene, French band Eths opened for them at the Paris concert and Dir en Grey invited American musician Wednesday 13 and his band to play at a show in Japan.

Dir en Grey also appeared at the Japanese leg of that year's Taste of Chaos tour.

2005 saw the group's first official European releases as well, beginning with Withering to Death.

The band's music had previously been available through means of import and Internet file-sharing only for European fans.

The album achieved Dir en Grey's first non-Asian chart position, reaching No. 31 in the Finnish album charts.

The subsequent single, "Clever Sleazoid", later climbed to No. 15 on the singles charts in the same country.

During the WOWOW Special in 2020, Kaoru elaborates that they took the name from another band that was famous around that time.