Malice Mizer

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Malice Mizer
Malice Mizer in their Au Revoir costumes (from left to right: Yu~ki, Mana, Gackt, Közi and Kami).
Background information
Origin	Japan
Genre(s)	Art rock Dark Wave Progressive rock
Years active	1992–2001
Label(s)	Nippon Columbia, Midi:Nette
Associated acts	Eve of Destiny, Moi dix Mois, Nil, Zigzo
Website	www.malice-mizer.co.jp
Former members
Klaha Mana Közi Yu~ki Gaz Tetsu Gackt Kami (deceased)

Malice Mizer (マリス・ミゼル; Marisu Mizeru) was a Japanese rock band and part of the country's visual kei movement. They were active from August 1992 to December 2001. Formed by Mana and Közi, the band's name stands for "malice and misery", extracted from their reply, "nothing but a being of malice and misery" — their answer to the question "what is human?". Their earlier music and themes were characterized by their strong French and classical influences, later moving away from deliberate French romanticism and incorporating Gothic-Victorian aspects after several tragedies befell the band. Despite the stated archetypes, Malice Mizer is best recognized as a thoroughly original entity.

Malice Mizer were as famous for their music as for their live shows, featuring lavish historical costumes and stage sets, short silent theatre pieces preluding various songs, whimsical dance routines, and even a particularly notable instance of the vocalist descending to Earth (the stage) as a fallen angel, only to ascend again at the end of the concert. Throughout their history, the band went through several different lineups and three drastic image changes.

On December 11, 2001, it was announced that Malice Mizer would go on an indefinite hiatus.

History

Tetsu era (1992–1994)

Malice Mizer during the Tetsu era (from left to right: Közi, Yu~ki, Tetsu, Kami and Mana).

Malice Mizer was formed in 1992 by Mana and Közi with Tetsu on vocals, both Mana and Közi on guitars/synthesizers, Yu~ki on bass and Gaz on drums. From the outset, the band established their trademark "twin guitar"' sound, whereby two guitars play different melodies creating polyphony. Malice Mizer's sound during the Tetsu era was a mixture of rock, early 1980s goth, and strong classical influences. Their first official release was the song "Speed of Desperate" on the 1993 compilation Brain Trash. Before this, they had released a demo tape called Sans Logique which contained no vocals. Shortly after the release of Brain Trash, Gaz left the band to join Kneuklid Romance, while Kneuklid Romance's drummer Kami in turn joined Malice Mizer. In 1994, the band released their first album, Memoire, on Mana's newly founded independent record label Midi:Nette, and shortly after re-released it with an additional bonus track, "Baroque" under the title Memoire DX. Only days later, singer Tetsu left the band. While the exact reasons are unknown, Tetsu went on to take a different direction in his work. The band's continued use of his lyrics in songs they continued to perform with later vocalists suggest an amicable split. [1]

Gackt era (1995–1999)

Malice Mizer during the Gackt era (from left to right: Mana, Gackt, Kami, Közi and Yu~ki).

In 1995, after a year of inactivity, Malice Mizer recruited Gackt as their new vocalist. With a new concept created by Mana, the band's music became more progressive and complex incorporating even stronger classical, electronical and using instruments like accordion remembering French popular music of the 19th century. Visually, the band abandoned their 1980s goth look for colourful historical costumes always with a gothic feel. In 1996, Malice Mizer released their second album, Voyage ~Sans Retour~. The band became increasingly popular and in 1997 signed with Columbia Records, where they released a number of successful singles, a short film (Bel Air ~Kuuhaku no Shunkan no Naka De~ de L'Image), and, in 1998, their third album, Merveilles. The band even had their own radio show around this time. In January 1999, at the height of Malice Mizer's success, Gackt was requested to leave the band and after a year started a solo career. Malice Mizer left Columbia and returned to Midi:Nette.

A few months after Gackt's departure, drummer Kami died of a subarachnoid hemorrhage on June 21, 1999, leaving behind a handful of songs, which the band eventually released as part of the EP/video boxset Shinwa. Kami was never replaced; from that point on, Malice Mizer would only use support drummers (namely Shue, who is not shown in the band's later and final music videos, nor credited) and Kami would be credited as "eternal blood relative" on all their future releases. [2]

Klaha era (2000–2001)

Malice Mizer during the Klaha era (from left to right: Yu~ki, Mana, Klaha and Közi).

In the second half of 1999 and the beginning of 2000, Malice Mizer — still without an official vocalist — released a number of singles and began to work on a new album. Eventually, they recruited Klaha (real name Masaki Haruna), vocalist of darkwave band Pride of Mind. By then the band had abandoned the lighter pop music sound of the Gackt era for a dramatic mixture of classical music, gothic/goth and heavy metal music, and adopted an elaborate funeral Goth look. In the summer of 2000, they released what would be their last album, Bara no Seidou, followed by a very spectacular and theatrical live show, featuring pyrotechnics, a choir of veiled nuns and a scaled-down cathedral as stage prop. In 2001, Malice Mizer starred in a feature length vampire movie (Bara no Konrei ~Mayonaka ni Kawashita Yakusoku~), and released three more singles: "Gardenia", "Beast of Blood", and "Garnet ~Kindan no Sono E~", "Gardenia" and "Garnet" being of a considerably lighter tone than their previous album, signifying the start of a new era for the band. Unfortunately, those few singles were all the world would see of the yet again reborn Malice Mizer, as the band members decided to go their own separate ways in 2001, leaving disband messages on their official website, Miroir, which can still be viewed today. The split was spoken of as a "hiatus", however, so as not to exclude the possibility of a future reformation. [3]

Post projects

After his departure in 1994, Tetsu has subsequently taken part in a series of bands such as Zigzo and Mega 8 Ball and has released one solo album; his most recent being the independently released band Nil.

After his departure in the beginning of 1999, Gackt started a solo career almost after a year which has been enormously successful; he is now one of Japan's top entertainers and TV personalities.

Klaha started a solo career as well in December 2002; as of 2005 the status of his project is uncertain.

Mana has formed his own solo project, Moi dix Mois, performing live concerts across Europe. A U.S. tour for 2007 is in the works, according to Mana's personal blog. In addition to the successful solo project, Mana simultaneously pursues a career as fashion designer for his fashion label, Moi-même-Moitié, which focuses on the styles Elegant Gothic Aristocrat (EGA) and Elegant Gothic Lolita (EGL). He continues to also run his Indie record label, Midi:Nette, and is looking for bands to sign and produce.

Közi has joined Haruhiko Ash's Industrial band Eve of Destiny and also has a solo project.

The whereabouts of Yu~ki were unknown until he briefly resurfaced in 2004 as lyricist for Közi's single "Memento." He is quoted as being eager to return to the music scene in an informal conversation with Klaha. [4]

Discography

Main article: Malice Mizer discography

External links

• Malice Mizer's official website
• Klaha's official website
• Mana's official website
• Közi's official website
• Tetsu's official website
• Gackt's official website

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