MetalSucks' Vince Neilstein recently had the chance to chat with DIR EN GREY guitarists Die and Kaoru at the New York City stop of their US headlining tour with THE HUMAN ABSTRACT as support.

The band spoke about what it’s like to tour the US, singing in a language that the audience doesn’t understand, and the band’s new record Uroboros, out now on The End Records.

An excerpt from the interview follows:

Q: How do you find American audiences different from Japanese audiences or European audiences?

Die: "Basically the fans are fans everywhere. In Japan, the fans react in the very same way. Everybody does the same thing at the same time. So maybe it looks kind of weird to you guys. In the United States or in Europe, the fans are much more independent. Everybody does what they want to do at different times. So they have much more freedom. They know how to enjoy it. We don't see much difference between the United States and Europe at this moment."

Q: Maybe this is your first time touring with the Human Abstract. Have you had a chance to watch them? If so, what do you think of them?

Die: "Before we came here, we checked out on the band on Myspace, and our first impression was that it was really complicated. On this tour we sometimes see the show from on the side of the stage. We feel a little sorry for them because the stage is so little and there are 6 members in the band so everything is packed into a small area. Everybody seems to be pretty busy on stage."

Q: As a band who sings mostly in Japanese, is it weird to see an American audience who doesn't understand anything that you guys are singing about singing along with your songs not knowing what they mean?

Kaoru: "We don't think it's weird but are happy about that because the fans are really digging the songs. In a way, when we were much younger like in high school, we looked up to so many Western bands. When we listened to those bands, we would sing along not knowing the meaning behind that because it simply sounded cool. Maybe the same kind of thing is happening for them too."

Read the full interview at MetalSucks.