Kuroyume
Encyclopedia
Kuroyume is a rock
group that formed in Nagoya, Japan
during May 1991, currently consisting of vocalist Kiyoharu
and bassist Hitoki. They began as a visual kei
group and carried similar looks throughout their career. The band had a definite influence on the visual kei scene, being credited as inspiration to many bands of the late '90's visual kei boom and as one of the bands that created Nagoya kei
.
The band suspended activities for an indefinite period on January 29, 1999. Kuroyume was officially disbanded at their final live on January 29, 2009.
However a year later in January 2010, Kiyoharu announced the revival of Kuroyume.
and goth rock which became an influential style within the visual kei
scene, creating a new type of gothic rock that was mimicked and prevailed in the following years.
A year later, Nakigara O... was released and clearly showed the group progressing in a more melodic direction by leaning further toward the goth side of things and doing away completely with any semblance any form of metal music. The song "Shinainaru Death Mask" from their first album had been rerecorded and the band's first promotional music video was filmed for the song, but everything else was new material. No singles had been released since 1992.
In late 1994, the mini album Cruel and single "Ice My Life" were released and introduced a pop
side. The band now dressed more conservatively, the new look was reminiscent of 1980s New Romantic
fashion and seemed to give off a more palatable image to mainstream buyers. The music on Cruel was again pop, but still loud and abrasive, which helped give the new songs universal appeal.
In 1995, Shin left the group due to musical differences and to focus on his other band Vinyl. From then on, Kuroyume would record and perform as a duo, with support musicians. The two albums following this rearrangement, 1995's Feminism and 1996's Fake Star, continued the visually oriented mainstream pop rock of Cruel with the latter of the two having edgier production and presenting a more fashionable image.
In 1996, Kuroyume won the MTV Japan International Viewer's Choice Award at the 1996 MTV Video Music Awards
for the song "Pistol" from Fake Star.
1997 heralded another radical image change for Kuroyume, who were a punk
influenced rock 'n roll band both visually and musically for the albums Drug Treatment and Corckscrew. Their releases continued to sell well. In 1999, citing Hitoki's personal health difficulties, Kuroyume suspended activities for an indefinite period.
in 1999, they released numerous material until disbanding in 2003. Hitoki formed a unit called Hitoki-PiranhaHeads in 2000 which had several line-ups and name changes. In 2004, Hitoki joined Super Drop Babies with, former Kuroyume guitarist, Shin and two other members.
On October 30, 2008, Kiyoharu announced that Kuroyume would officially be disbanded on January 29, 2009. That day, the band held their last concert on their fifteenth anniversary, titled "Kuroyume the End".
. Their first single since reforming, "Misery", was set to be released on January 29, 2011, but it was pushed back to February 9, 2011.
Fuck the Border Line, a tribute album to Kuroyume, was also released on February 9, 2011, featuring covers of the band's songs by artists such as Abingdon Boys School
, Plastic Tree
, The Gazette and Sid
.
The single "Alone" was selected by Capcom to be used in the Japanese advertisement campaign for Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D
.
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
group that formed in Nagoya, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
during May 1991, currently consisting of vocalist Kiyoharu
Kiyoharu
, better known by his given and stage name, is a Japanese musician and singer-songwriter, known for his work with Kuroyume and Sads. In 2003 he began his solo career, performing as both a singer and guitarist.- Independent career and Kuroyume :...
and bassist Hitoki. They began as a visual kei
Visual Kei
is a movement among Japanese musicians, that is characterized by the use of make-up, elaborate hair styles and flamboyant costumes, often, but not always, coupled with androgynous aesthetics. Some sources state that visual kei refers to a music genre, or to a sub-genre of Japanese rock, with its...
group and carried similar looks throughout their career. The band had a definite influence on the visual kei scene, being credited as inspiration to many bands of the late '90's visual kei boom and as one of the bands that created Nagoya kei
Nagoya Kei
Nagoya kei is a subgenre of visual kei, with its roots in the early-1990s music scene of Nagoya, Japan. Often considered darker and gloomier than normal visual kei, nagoya kei takes its musical influences more so from western punk rock bands...
.
The band suspended activities for an indefinite period on January 29, 1999. Kuroyume was officially disbanded at their final live on January 29, 2009.
However a year later in January 2010, Kiyoharu announced the revival of Kuroyume.
1991-1993
After several years of performing live the band released their debut maxi single "Chuuzetsu" in 1992 on Haunted House Records, which was shortly followed by a mini album entitled Ikiteita Chuzetsuji... (remastered from an old demo tape). The music recorded by the band during this era appears indebted to black metalBlack metal
Black metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include fast tempos, shrieked vocals, highly distorted guitars played with tremolo picking, blast beat drumming, raw recording, and unconventional song structure....
and goth rock which became an influential style within the visual kei
Visual Kei
is a movement among Japanese musicians, that is characterized by the use of make-up, elaborate hair styles and flamboyant costumes, often, but not always, coupled with androgynous aesthetics. Some sources state that visual kei refers to a music genre, or to a sub-genre of Japanese rock, with its...
scene, creating a new type of gothic rock that was mimicked and prevailed in the following years.
A year later, Nakigara O... was released and clearly showed the group progressing in a more melodic direction by leaning further toward the goth side of things and doing away completely with any semblance any form of metal music. The song "Shinainaru Death Mask" from their first album had been rerecorded and the band's first promotional music video was filmed for the song, but everything else was new material. No singles had been released since 1992.
1994-1999
Shortly after signing with EMI in early 1994, Kuroyume released their first major label single "For Dear" to promote the forthcoming album Mayoeru Yuritachi. Two promotional videos were filmed, one for the aforementioned single and another for album track "Autism".In late 1994, the mini album Cruel and single "Ice My Life" were released and introduced a pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
side. The band now dressed more conservatively, the new look was reminiscent of 1980s New Romantic
New Romantic
New Romanticism , was a pop culture movement in the United Kingdom that began around 1979 and peaked around 1981. Developing in London nightclubs such as Billy's and The Blitz and spreading to other major cities in the UK, it was based around flamboyant, eccentric fashion and new wave music...
fashion and seemed to give off a more palatable image to mainstream buyers. The music on Cruel was again pop, but still loud and abrasive, which helped give the new songs universal appeal.
In 1995, Shin left the group due to musical differences and to focus on his other band Vinyl. From then on, Kuroyume would record and perform as a duo, with support musicians. The two albums following this rearrangement, 1995's Feminism and 1996's Fake Star, continued the visually oriented mainstream pop rock of Cruel with the latter of the two having edgier production and presenting a more fashionable image.
In 1996, Kuroyume won the MTV Japan International Viewer's Choice Award at the 1996 MTV Video Music Awards
1996 MTV Video Music Awards
The 1996 MTV Video Music Awards aired live on September 4, 1996, honoring the best music videos from June 16, 1995, to June 14, 1996. The show was hosted by Dennis Miller at Radio City Music Hall in New York City....
for the song "Pistol" from Fake Star.
1997 heralded another radical image change for Kuroyume, who were a punk
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
influenced rock 'n roll band both visually and musically for the albums Drug Treatment and Corckscrew. Their releases continued to sell well. In 1999, citing Hitoki's personal health difficulties, Kuroyume suspended activities for an indefinite period.
1999-2009: Post-hiatus activities
Kiyoharu formed SadsSADS (band)
Sads is a post-punk and glam rock band formed in Japan in 1999. The band made its debut with the single "Tokyo". They released nine singles and four albums before their disbandment in 2003. In 2010, Sads reformed with a more metal sound and signed to the Avex label...
in 1999, they released numerous material until disbanding in 2003. Hitoki formed a unit called Hitoki-PiranhaHeads in 2000 which had several line-ups and name changes. In 2004, Hitoki joined Super Drop Babies with, former Kuroyume guitarist, Shin and two other members.
On October 30, 2008, Kiyoharu announced that Kuroyume would officially be disbanded on January 29, 2009. That day, the band held their last concert on their fifteenth anniversary, titled "Kuroyume the End".
2010-present: Revival
In 2010, Kiyoharu announced the reformation of Kuroyume and that they have begun recording a new album. The band signed to the Avex label, the same label as Kiyoharu's solo work and SadsSADS (band)
Sads is a post-punk and glam rock band formed in Japan in 1999. The band made its debut with the single "Tokyo". They released nine singles and four albums before their disbandment in 2003. In 2010, Sads reformed with a more metal sound and signed to the Avex label...
. Their first single since reforming, "Misery", was set to be released on January 29, 2011, but it was pushed back to February 9, 2011.
Fuck the Border Line, a tribute album to Kuroyume, was also released on February 9, 2011, featuring covers of the band's songs by artists such as Abingdon Boys School
Abingdon boys school
Abingdon Boys School, stylized as abingdon boys school and abbreviated as a.b.s, is a Japanese rock band fronted by Takanori Nishikawa....
, Plastic Tree
Plastic Tree
Plastic Tree is a Japanese rock band which formed in December 1993 in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. They released their first mini-album in December 1995, and in 1997, they debuted by releasing their first single on a major label.-Biography:...
, The Gazette and Sid
Sid (band)
is a Japanese visual kei rock band signed on to Sony Records.-Background:Sid was founded in 2003 by vocalist Mao and bassist Aki . They were quickly joined by two support members, guitarist Shinji and drummer Yuuya...
.
The single "Alone" was selected by Capcom to be used in the Japanese advertisement campaign for Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D
Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D
Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D, known as in Japan, is a third-person shooter video game developed by Capcom for the Nintendo 3DS. The game was announced at the 2010 Nintendo conference in Japan...
.
Singles
- "Chuuzetsu" (July 20, 1992)
- "For Dear" (February 9, 1994)
- "Ice My Life" (July 20, 1994)
- "Yasashi Higeki" (March 8, 1995)
- "Miss Moonlight" (April 26, 1995)
- "Beams" (October 13, 1995)
- "See You" (February 21, 1996)
- "Pistol" (April 17, 1996)
- "Like @ Angel" (November 18, 1996)
- "Nite & Day" (April 10, 1997)
- "Spray" (June 4, 1997)
- "Shounen" (November 19, 1997)
- "Maria" (April 8, 1998)
- "My Strange Days" (March 31, 1999, distributed at "Live or Die")
- "Misery" (February 9, 2011)
- "Alone" (May 25, 2011)
- "Heavenly" (August 24, 2011)
Studio albums
- Ikiteita Chuzetsuji... (December 25, 1992)
- Nakigara o... (11/06/93)
- Mayoeru Yuritachi -Romance of Scarlet- (9/3/94)
- Cruel (31/8/94)
- Feminism (10/5/95)
- Fake Star - I'm Just a Japanese Fake Rocker (May 29, 1996)
- Drug Treatment (27 June 1997)
- Corkscrew (May 27, 1998)
- Headache and Dub Reel Inch (November 2, 2011 - first Avex release)
Live albums
- 1997.10.31 Live at Shinjuku oft (January 16, 1998)
- Kuroyume "the End" -Corckscrew a Go Go! Final- 09.01.29 Budokan (March 18, 2009)
Compilation albums
- EMI 1994–1998 Best or Worst (February 17, 1999)
- Kuroyume Complete Rare Tracks 1991-1993 -Indies Zenkyokushu- (June 10, 2000)
- Kuroyume Singles (March 27, 2002)
- Kuroyume Complete Singles (September 29, 2003)
- Kuroyume Box (April 28, 2004)
Home video
- Under (October 31, 1992)
- Neo Under (September 5, 1992)
- Deep Under (December 20, 1993)
- Tanmei no Yuritachi (July 6, 1994)
- Theater of Cruel (September 28, 1994)
- Tour Feminism Part 1 (September 27, 1995)
- Live at Shinjuku Loft (October 18, 2000, reissued on October 29, 2003)
- DVD Pictures Vol.2 (October 18, 2000)
- Fuck the Fake Star: The Newest Feather (July 20, 2011)