Kuroyume


Kuroyume is a Japanese rock band formed in Nagoya in May 1991. The group had a definite influence on the visual kei scene, being credited as inspiration to many bands of the late 1990s visual kei boom and as one of the creators of Nagoya kei. They were called "The big two Nagoya bands" in the early Nagoya kei scene along with. The band achieved success with the albums Feminism and Fake Star, with the song "Pistol" winning an MTV Video Music Award.
The band suspended activities for an indefinite period on January 29, 1999. Kuroyume was officially disbanded at their final live performance on January 29, 2009. However a year later in January 2010, Kuroyume reunited as a duo consisting of vocalist Kiyoharu and bassist Hitoki.

History

1991-1993

After a year of performing live, the band released their debut maxi single, "Chuuzetsu" in 1992 on Haunted House Records. Shortly afterwards, the band released a mini album entitled Ikiteita Chuzetsuji....
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 of metal music. The song "Shin'ai Naru Death Mask" from their first mini album had been rerecorded, and the band's first promotional music video was filmed for the song.
The band during this era is credited with the creator of Nagoya kei sounds with ROUAGE and Laputa.

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". Mayoeru Yuritachi had a far milder sound than previous releases, probably due to the group signing with EMI
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, with their new look being reminiscent of 1980s New Romantic fashion, seeming to give off a more palatable image to mainstream buyers. The music on Cruel was again more pop-friendly, but still loud and abrasive, which helped give the new songs a 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, along 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 an edgier production and presenting a more fashionable image. Feminism was named one of the top albums from 1989-1998 in a 2004 issue of the music magazine Band Yarouze.
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. From this point onward, the band and particularly Kiyoharu were recognized on a national level.
1997 heralded another transformation for Kuroyume, who were a punk influenced rock 'n roll band both visually and musically for the albums Drug Treatment and Corkscrew. Their releases continued to sell quite well. In 1999, citing Hitoki's personal health difficulties, Kuroyume suspended activities for an indefinite period.

1999-2009: Post-Kuroyume

Kiyoharu formed Sads in 1999. Sads released numerous material until disbanding in 2003. Hitoki formed a unit called Hitoki-PiranhaHeads in 2000 which had several line-ups and various name changes. In 2004, Hitoki joined Super Drop Babies with former Kuroyume guitarist Shin.
On Kiyoharu's 40th Birthday, October 30, 2008, it was 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 that housed Kiyoharu's solo work and Sads. Their first single since reforming, "Misery", was set to be released on January 29, 2011, but it was pushed back to February 9, 2011. They then proceeded to release the singles, "Alone" and "Heavenly" on May 25 and August 24, 2011 respectively. Following the relative success of these two singles, they released a new album entitled "Headache and Dub Reel Inch" on November 2, 2011. "Headache and Dub Reel Inch" marked Kuroyume's first album release with Avex.
Fuck the Border Line, a tribute album to Kuroyume, was also released on February 9, 2011, featuring covers of the band's songs by popular modern visual acts, such as Abingdon Boys School, Plastic Tree, The Gazette, Sid and Cascade. The single "Alone" was selected by Capcom to be used in the Japanese advertisement campaign for .
On March 26, 2014, Kuroyume released a single entitled "Reverb". It was selected by Koei Tecmo and was used for the advertising campaign of Samurai Warriors 4.

Members

;Current members
;Former members

Singles