Dir en Grey is the first Japanese metal band to break through globally. Initially associated with visual kei, they were arguably the most successful non-English rock act in the 2000s after Rammstein. Gauze, their 1999 debut album, charted at home. Their major-label debut, Macabre, entered the country's Top Ten upon release in 2000. The band made their U.S. debut with 2007's acclaimed The Marrow of a Bone as their sound began leaning on influences from goth rock and death metal. 2015's Arche -- widely considered their masterpiece -- added vanguard and technical death metal to the mix. In 2018 the group revealed a more thrash-oriented sound with the controversial The Insulated World. Dir en Grey reappeared in 2022 with the decidedly more progressive Phalaris. In January 2024, they issued the three-track EP 19990120, which contained re-recordings of the band's first three singles, "Yurameki," "Zan," and "Akuro no Oka."