Visual Kei in 2006: A Year of Change

Date: 12/29/06
Writer: 1-5


It’s been a year of ups and downs in the ever-changing world of Visual Kei. Disbanding, reforming, tours, new releases and, of course, those fantastic costumes!

The year kicked off with releases from two of VK’s more well-known bands. BLOOD gave us their "VENGEANCE for BLOOD 3" mini-album and D’espairsRay released the European version of their album "[Coll:Set]", both of which were well received by their fans. In addition to "[Coll:Set]" pleasing their Euro-fans, D’espairsRay also kept them happy by embarking on a European tour, which included their very first live in the UK. Every live got amazingly good reviews and the band confirmed that the stage really is where their music comes alive.

Up and coming VK band Sugar also began their first tour of Japan, "the parade of an Ant". They are starting to be recognized as good live performers. They continued to make a good impression with the release of their first mini-album "grave of mind" and are definitely a band to keep an eye on in the future! Sugar’s frequent live partners, The Candy Spooky Theater, also made progress this year with the release of their 4th single "The Bedroom" and their first one man live, as part of their "The Possessed Girl’s Bedroom" tour in Japan, which was a great success for them. Calmando Qual, another band that often plays lives with Sugar and TCST, returned to Europe and once again received great reviews from those who attended the lives.

In contrast, the more established Rentrer en Soi’s self-titled second album was met with mixed responses from their fans. Satsuki received vocal coaching from Kyo (Dir en grey) for this release and it changed his voice considerably. That coupled with the toning down of their look lost them a few fans, but judging by the great live reviews they’ve gotten this year, they’re still going strong.

Kozi also released his 2nd album, "Loki’n Roll" and began his first solo tour. The album wasn’t received as well as his first album, as it was more rock-influenced than his previous works, but on the whole, Kozi fans seemed to like it. The tour was a success and his on-stage experience showed through as fans praised Kozi’s stage presence and performance skills in reviews.

Other releases of 2006 included:Girugamesh’s 1st full album, ൕ’s Reborn", Vidoll’s album, "V.I.D�`Very Important Doll�`", Malice Mizer’s "La meilleur selection de Malice Mizer Best Selection", a release to commemorate the tenth anniversary of their major debut and Ayabie’s "Virgin Snow Color" limited album, which was their first album since the departure of bassist Ryouhei. Nightmare also wrote some new material as they performed the beginning and ending themes for the animated version of "Deathnote".

Another notable release came from Moi dix Mois, who brought out the great album "Beyond the Gate", which was their first CD with new vocalist Seth. They also toured in Europe and, much to the delight of his stateside fans, Mana visited the US to take part in a panel at Anime Expo as well.

Mana wasn’t the only one to visit the US in 2006. Imitation PoPs Uchuu Sentai NOIZ played at PMX in California, which pleased their US fans to no end, and 12012 played in both the US and Europe. 12012, along with Vidoll and Phantasmagoria, also announced they would be "graduating" from the Under Code label and it was speculated that this was due to the bands wanting to move on to major labels.

It wasn’t all good news though, and the first disappointing announcement of the year came from Kagerou, in January, who revealed that they were to disband. Then the major VK band Psycho le Cemu also had a sad announcement to make. After achieving success both in Japan and overseas, the band were dropped from their label, Nippon Crown, due to Daishi’s arrest and in March PLC announced that they were to disband after one final tour. However, their fans did take some comfort in the fact that Seek and Aya went on to be in Isabelle, and Lida and Yura formed the band Dacco together.

It seems that once the disbanding started, there was no end to it, and another major VK band was lost when, after previously going on a pause to pursue solo projects, Pierrot announced that they were finally to disband for good After that came VK indies band Deadman’s disbandment announcement and after that Brain Hacker announced that they too are to disband in January. Although Phantasmagoria didn’t disband, their fans were still shocked by the news that Iori and Matoi will be leaving the band after their live in Ferbruary.

Major VK band Lareine too announced that they would be disbanding due to the disappearance of guitarist Mayu However, they performed at a Halloween event, which was organized by Kisaki (Phantasmagoria) and Kamijo, with a support guitarist. It was reportedly a wonderful Visual Kei event with bands including Lareine, Rentrer en Soi, Dollis Marry, AILE, 2nd effect , Phantasmagoria and The Candy Spooky Theater performing.

Smaller, indies VK band Aikaryu were also forced to stop musical activities after being involved in a horrific car accident, in which at least two band members sustained serious injuries. It was a truly sad day for their fans, but a small consolation came a few months later when guitarist Teru formed Hizaki Grace Project, along with Juka (ex. Moi dix Mois), Hizaki (ex SULFURIC ACID), Yuu (ex. Jakura) and Mikage (ex. ex Eze:qul, Schwardix Marvally, R.E.D, Babylon). Many VK fans were thrilled by the coming together of such talented artists and their first single, "cradle", which was more than reminiscent of Juka’s works with Moi dix Mois, was met with very good reviews.

Despite all the sudden disbandments, there was good news, for Shazna fans at least, when the band announced that they will be getting back together and their new CD is scheduled for release in Spring 2007. The announcement of the return of one of Visual Kei’s biggest bands caused more than a little excitement!

More good news came for fans of old-style Gackt and Yoshiki, as they announced they were forming a band together and that it would be more like the Visual Kei bands they were once part of. As if that didn’t make their fans in the US happy enough, they also announced that the band would be giving their first live performance in the USA!

All in all, 2006 has been a year of change, with some of VK’s best known artists leaving the scene and those who remain adjusting to working with new members and trying new styles. Not only that, but with the less-established bands becoming more popular and new bands being formed, 2007 promises to be a very interesting year in Visual Kei!

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