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. In 2005, Dir En Grey performed in Europe for the first time. Vulgar was released in September 2003 and tours in support for the record would last well into 2004. A DVD set, titled Blitz 5 Days, was later released exclusively for members of the band's official fan club, titled "A Knot".
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. 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 following year, along with the release of a third full-length album, Kisou, Dir En Grey gave their first performances abroad, touring China, Taiwan, and South Korea.
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 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. 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. The band's first full-length record, Gauze, followed. Five subsequent singles, arranged and produced by X Japan co-founder Yoshiki Hayashi, were published during the first half of 1999. They first 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-". We chose the band name because it sounded right, and it also reflects an image that probably doesn’t exist elsewhere." However, in another interview Kaoru said "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. According to Toshiya, the name "Dir En Grey" was chosen because it "sounded right" and is composed of words from several languages so that people would not be able to attach a specific meaning to it other than the band's name itself. They released their first EP, Missa, a few months later. After playing one show at Nagano Live House on January 24, they changed their name to "Dir En Grey" on February 2, 1997. After parting ways with Kisaki, members Kaoru, Kyo, Die and Shinya recruited bassist Toshiya and regrouped as a new band under the name "Deathmask". They disbanded due to leader and bassist Kisaki not wanting to debut as he felt that it was too soon, but guitarist Kaoru believed that they were ready for it. Dir En Grey was preceded by the independent rock band La:Sadie's, which included four of Dir En Grey's members before it ended activities.
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