Malice Mizer

Malice Mizer
	;
	General information
Genre (s)	J-skirt
founding	1992
resolution	2001
Website	http://www.malice-mizer.co.jp/
Last occupation
singing	Klaha
guitar	Mana
guitar	Közi
bass	Yu ~ ki
former members
singing	Tetsu (until 1994)
singing	Gackt (until 1999)
Drums	Gaz (until 1993)
Drums	Kami († 1999)

Youthful visual kei fans in the style of the Malice Mizer group ( Tokyo , 1998)

Malice Mizer was a Japanese band that existed from August 1992 to July 2001 . She had a great influence on the visual kei style and is therefore considered a milestone in the history of the same. Their music takes on influences from hard rock , metal , baroque , French chansons and pop .

The name is based on the French words malice (dt. Cunning) and misère (dt. Sorrow) and represents the motto of the band.

Band history

Malice Mizer was founded in 1992 by Mana and Közi, who worked in the same karaoke bar. Yu ~ ki on bass, Tetsu as singer and Gaz as drummer were soon found. Their first single was Speed of Desperate , which appeared in 1993 on a compilation called Brain Trash . Her first public appearance took place on October 31, 1992. A short time later, Gaz left the band to switch to Kneuklid Romance , and in exchange, their drummer Kami joined Malice Mizer.

In 1994, Malice Mizer's first album, Memoire, was released by Mana's indie label Midi: Nette . With a run of 3000 pieces it was already sold out via the pre-order and had to be reproduced. The 21,000 deluxe versions of the CD are also out of print. Then singer Tetsu left the band; "musical differences" were given as the reason. With singer Gackt in 1995 they found the right singer as well as their image and the extraordinary music style. Her fan club Machèrie has opened.

In 1996 the band released their second album Voyage ~ sans retour ~ . This increased their popularity enormously, so that in 1997 they were able to switch to the Nippon Columbia major label , under which they released their most successful album Merveilles . While their first major single Bel Air (Verte Aile) ~ kūhaku no toki no naka de ~ came to number 20, the album landed at number 2 on the Japanese Oricon charts . They also shot a short film under the title Verte Aile .

In January 1999 singer Gackt left the band. There has been much speculation about the reason for this, and according to the singer's autobiography, the band is said to have asked him to do so due to musical differences. It became quieter around Malice Mizer, as Gackt had also taken some fans with him. The band switched back to Midi: Nette, drummer Kami suddenly died of a brain hemorrhage.

From some unreleased songs from Kami's pen, the band, which now consisted of Mana, Közi and Yu ~ ki, released the Shinwa ~ Kami's Memorial Box ~ on his birthday. It was decided not to hire a new drummer, but only to employ support members. Kami is always referred to as "Eternal Blood Relative" on the following publications.

Still without a singer, the band released some instrumental pieces. In 2000 Malice Mizer were able to win over Klaha, who was the singer of Pride of Mind in the 1990s . In the same year, Malice Mizer released her last album Bara no Seidou . In 2001 they made a film for this album called Bara no Konrei . They released a few singles like Beast of Blood or Garnet ~ Kindan no Sono e ~ . Shortly afterwards, Malice Mizer separated.

music

Malice Mizer was out of the ordinary in many ways. Their music also led to it, for which Mana was largely responsible both as a composer and as a lyricist. At the beginning she was very different and experimental with singer Tetsu's cold voice, but even then the influence of classical music could be heard in the otherwise very rocky and melodic music.

With Gackts warm and melodic voice, and his participation in the compositions, the music became even more melodic and influenced even more by French chansons. But there were also pop sounds. While some pieces are reminiscent of circus music, others resemble more melancholy organ works. However, the aspect of rock music is not neglected. The great diversity of the individual pieces of music, especially on the album "Merveilles", is an important aspect of this era.

With Kami's death and Klaha's much darker and trained operatic voice, the music became very gloomy. Organ and spinet sounds and strong influences from classical music now dominate their music. Choirs were also used to support the singer, which also completely replaced the singer in some pieces of music.

Band concept

The second reason that Malice Mizer received a lot of attention was her strong identification with visual kei , which she also enriched with a new aspect. They are therefore also considered milestones in the history of visual kei.

Visual kei stands for the visual appearance of bands, which mostly emphasize the feminine side of the members with make-up and whose followers often attract attention with lacquer and leather clothes and wild, colorful hairstyles. Since Malice Mizer, visual kei has also included other, mostly New Romantic and Gothic- like clothing styles.

So the members of the band developed a concept that was reflected in both video clips and concerts. The lyrics of the album Merveilles represent a story, so to speak, which was presented by the members on video clips and on stage in front of a backdrop reminiscent of the French Baroque. The members were assigned a certain role and color, which they filled in a very pompous, Gothic, vampiric, androgynous-feminine and reminiscent of the clothing of French nobles in the time of Louis XIV . Mana played the role of the lady and always appeared in elaborate women's clothes at concerts, while Közi, for example, played Pierrot and appeared in a get-up that is reminiscent of the fool's costume.

The visual kei band Lareine later had a similar concept , only that flowers were not assigned to colors.

They kept this concept even when singer Klaha joined the band, only that both the clothes and the music were much darker and gothic than before.

Members

Mana: Main article : Mana (musician); His real name and year of birth are unknown. Mana (born March 19 in Hiroshima ) was a guitarist and operated the synthesizer , he was also a band founder and leader together with Közi. He continued to work as a choreographer. According to the concept of the band, Mana took on the role of the "lady", his main color was blue. Mana founded his solo project Moi dix Mois in 2002 and dedicates himself to a successful career as a fashion designer for his Gothic Lolita label Moi-même-Moitié .

Tetsu: Takano Tetsu (born December 12th in Tokyo ) was the singer of the band until 1995. The official reason for leaving the band were musical differences. There was speculation about whether it was a separation with mutual consent, but the fact is that, according to his internet blog, Tetsu is still in contact with his former bandmates. After Malice Mizer he was with the bands MEGA 8 BALL , then Zigzo , which are now separated and later Nil .

Gackt: Main article : Gackt; (Born July 4, 1973, Okinawa) His real name is unknown. After Tetsu he was the singer of the band until 1999. He was the "Prince", his colors were predominantly black or white. After leaving the band, Gackt started a very successful solo career. He plays in commercials and has made a film with Hyde ( L'Arc ~ en ~ ciel ) (" Moon Child ").

Klaha: Haruna Masaki (born May 3 in Osaka ) became the band's third singer as Klaha. From Gackt he took over the role of the "prince" and his colors. Before that he sang in the band Pride of Mind . After separating from Malice Mizer, he also started a solo career as a pop musician, but has been paused for a long time. Klaha is trained as an opera singer.

Kami: Kami ( Japanese 神村右狂 , Kamimura Ukyō , born February 1, 1972 in Ibaraki Prefecture ; † June 21, 1999), was the drummer Malice Mizers. His trademark was his long hair, which for a long time came almost to his knees. His theme was the "butterfly", its color purple. He died very suddenly of a brain haemorrhage. With his death there was a musical change in the band. He has since been named as Eternal blood relative on the cover of every new release , and the band has only played with support drummers since then.; Kami became enthusiastic about music from an early age. When he was in the 5th grade of elementary school, he played percussion instruments for the first time at a school festival. He stopped playing until high school, but continued to listen to music and watch programs like Best Hits USA , Duran Duran, and The Culture Club . When he was in high school, he and a friend decided to start a band. Originally he wanted to be a guitarist, but since he hadn't learned that and had played percussion instruments before, he ended up becoming a drummer. Kami took a part-time job, saved the money, and ended up buying a basic drum kit.; After he graduated from high school, the band he had played in up until then and which had also won small competitions suddenly broke up. Kami switched from hard rock to punk thinking his real life was as miserable as punk music. But eventually Kami realized that he wanted to make music that required more technology and so he found visual kei. Eventually he joined a band called Kneuklid Romance . During a live performance in 1993, Malice Mizer's bassist Yu ~ ki asked him if he wanted to join them, but Kami refused for the time being. Only after a phone call with guitarist Mana did he agree. After being a temporary member for half a year, he officially joined the band. Kami really wanted to compose songs himself and bought a synthesizer especially for it. He also composed guitar pieces. This is how the three songs Mori no naka no tenshi , Unmei no Deai and Saikai no chi to bara were created , which were only released on the CD Kami's Memorial Box (also known as Shinwa ) after his death .

Yu ~ ki: Yu ~ ki (born August 8 in Fukuoka ) joined the band as a bassist . He usually embodied the "vampire", whereby his colors were orange or yellow. Nothing is known of Yu ~ ki's current activities, except that he wrote the lyrics for Közi's song Memento .

Közi: Közi (born May 29 in Niigata ) was the founder of the band, guitarist and synthesizer. Before Malice Mizer he belonged to the bands Girl , Beyond The Reinsight and Matenrou . He was the " Pierrot " and his color was red. He is currently a member of Haruhiko Ash's band Eve of Destiny and is also pursuing a solo project.

Discography

Demo recordings

Sans Logique (1992)
Sadness (1993)
The 1st Anniversary (1993)

Albums

Memoire (Tetsu Era) (1994)
Memoire DX (Tetsu Era) (1994)
Voyage "sans retour" (Gackt Era) (1995)
Merveilles (Gackt Era) (1998)
Bara no Seidou (Instrumental Era) (2000)

Singles

Singles with Gackt

Uruwashiki arrived no shotaijo (1995)
Ma chèrie ~ Itoshii kimi e ~ (1996)
Bel Air (1997)
Au revoir (1997)
Gekka no Yasoukyoku (1998)
ILLUMINATI (1998)
Le ciel ~ kuhaku no kanata e ~ (1998)

With Klaha as "substitute singer"

Saikai no chi to bara (1999)
Kyomu no naka de no yuugi (2000)
Shiroi hada ni kuruu ai to kanashimi no Rondo (2000)

With Klaha as a permanent member

Gardenia (2001)
Beast of Blood (2001)
Mayonaka ni Kawashita yakusoku - bara no konrei (2001)
Garnet ~ Kindan no Sono e ~ (2001)

DVD

Bara ni Irodorareta Akui to Higeki no Makuake (2000)
Sans retour Voyage "derniere" ~ encore une fois ~ (2001)
Bara no Kiseki (2001)
Beast of Blood "de l'image" (2001)
Cardinal (2002)
merveilles -cinq parallel- (2002)
merveilles l'espace (2002)
Verte Aile / Bel Air
Bara no Konrei (BRIDAL OF ROSE) (2001)

compilation

La Collection des Singles - L'edition Limitee [CD + DVD] [Limited Release] (2004)
La Collection "merveilles" - L'edition Limitee [CD + DVD] [Limited Release] (2005)
La Collection des Singles - Standard Edition [CD + DVD] (2006)
La meilleur selection de Malice Mizer (Gackt Era) (2006)
Bara no Seidou + Cardinal [CD + DVD] (2007)