Kuroyume

Kuroyume

One of the most influential visual kei bands, Kuroyume are responsible for setting the template for most vk bands of the 90s. Sadly, once they had created their defining work, they lost a member and went on to make some okay-to-not-particularly-good albums. After breaking up around the turn of the millenium, they are now active again, but really aren’t worth listening to.

Kiyoharu (vocals), Shin (guitar), Hitoki (bass), various support drummers

Ikteita Chuzetsuji (1992)

Like a lot of early visual kei bands, Kuroyume display a metal influence; however this isn’t the usual glam/hair/speed/thrash kind of metal (think bands like X Japan, Dead End, D’erlanger), it’s more of a grinding, lurching, “evil” kind of metal. It’s not very good. Kiyoharu shows that he has a good voice but is let down by the plodding riffs which don’t really go anywhere. Fortunately, this EP does contain two tracks which save it from being worthless. “Shinainaru Death Mask”, the one song written by Kiyoharu, is quite catchy despite containing virtually all the elements I’ve described here. The final track “Kagami ni Naritai” is beautiful, definitely one of their best songs. It begins with a guitar part which seems to glide (and wouldn’t be out of place on an album by some English shoegazers) with Kiyoharu calmly speaking over the top of it. It transitions into a jangly part, and Kiyoharu demonstrates his skill as a vocalist – his voice has a strangulated quality and he uses loads of vibrato. Overall, not particularly good except for the final two songs, but it is interesting to hear where they began.

Nakigara Wo… (1993)

THIS IS THE ONE. The album that set the tone for nearly a decade of visual kei. They got rid of all the metal influences, moving in a more gothic/post-punk direction, and were all the better for it. A lot of credit should go to Shin, who wrote most of the songs and created some fantastic guitar parts. The best song, again, is the closer (the title track). It’s a faux-epic (it’s long, but doesn’t really change musch throughout), and has one of my favourite guitar riffs – pretty much my go to riff whenever I pick up a guitar. The drum loop is also great, and it’s interesting to hear the verses calmy sung by Kiyoharu – this is what he’d sound like if he decided to sing like anormal person! And don’t let the fact that this song is heavily influenced by Killing Joke’s “Love Like Blood” turn you off. All the other songs are great, but special mention for an improved version of “Shinainaru Death Mask” (which they recorded their first PV for) and “Misery”, a really catchy song with some nice mangling of the English language (apparently the last word in the chorus is “law”?). Unfortunately this album is long out of print and I had to go to quite a bit of trouble to find one – navigating my way through Amazon Japan’s second hand sellers who mostly don’t ship outside of Japan – but it is well worth the trouble. Many bands (especially Dir en grey) were inspired by these guys, so if you’re into 1990s visual kei you need this album.

Mayoeru Yuritachi – Romance of Scarlet (1994)

This was their first album for a major label, and again they changed up their sound, though this time it wasn’t for the better. Gone are the gothic/post-punk influences (for the most part); the band sounds a lot more upbeat and “pop”. Maybe they thought they’d taken their dark sound as far as they could? Or the pressure from their label to sell forced them to change? Maybe they didn’t even like how they sounded before, seeing as they’ve never returned to that style? Whatever the reason, it’s a real shame. First single “For Dear” is a classic though – a wonderful Cure-esque riff and one of Kiyoharu’s best ever vocals. The chords in the chorus are very nice too (Gmaj7, F#min7, Emin7, F#7; same as the ones in “Au Revoir” by Malice Mizer). I’d have loved it if the rest of the album sounded similar to this song, but they don’t. The rest just kind of blend into each other. Don’t get me wrong, they’re nice songs, they’re just kind of unmemorable and formulaic (a calculated push for success?). Worth it for “For Dear”, though.