Ayabie : Discography

MEMBERS:

• ocal : Aoi
• Guitar : Takehito
• Bass : Intetsu
• Drums : Kenzo
• Guitar : Yumehito

• Guitar : Ryohei [gone : 2006]

• Drums : Towa [gone : 2005] [support member]
• Drums : Tomoya [gone : 0000] [support member]
• Drums : Manabu [gone : 0000] [support member]

BIOGRAPHY

ayabie was formed in the spring of 2004, made up of mostly ex-Hinawana members; Ryohei and Takehito on guitar and Intetsu on bass. Vocalist Aoi was the only one not from this former band, instead having left MASK. They began without a drummer and continued to use support drummers until 2005.

The group held their first concert, an one-man, at the Takadanobaba AREA on May 8th. The concert was free and they sold the maxi-single, Kagen no sakura, ame, at this show only and released another single, Romancer, limited to 1000 copies. ayabie seemed unstoppable right from the start as they immediately launched into touring, including a short joint tour with alice nine. Their next maxi-single, Chousoi sou yori san rin, made it into the 10 top of the Oricon Indies chart and this accomplishment was soon followed by Gothic Party breaking into the Oricon Major charts top 100. ayabie ended their first year together with a performance in the Takedanobaba AREA and the Yokohama aka renga souko on December 31st.

After such an eventful first year, one would expect most bands to slow down and take a bit of a breather but this group of four did no such thing. ayabie released a mini-album in January, followed by a maxi-single in February, and then their first full album in March. The band launched into a new tour and on April 1st, they held a sold-out one-man live at Shibuya O-East. They released a single that same month and instead of slowing down after their blitz of releases and tours, ayabie announced that they would be releasing a new single on the 10th of each month over the summer; ~Igyou no sou no doujisha~ taikanshiki zenya in June, ~Kakoyakasuresakebishi~ tsukikoi in July, and ~Manatsuyukitorokerushyougen~ kiss me snow in August. In October, they released their second mini album, EquAL pRayer 2 aLL and began another tour, "EquAL pRayer 2 U". However, their biggest news perhaps, came at the start of that month as after of having nothing but support drummers, ayabie announced that Kenzo would be joining them as their official drummer and fifth member.

2006 promised to be another eventful year for ayabie; an official fanclub, ' The impulse of “M" ', was opened and they immediately kicked off the year with a two new singles. They continued to tour in March and then announced in April that they would be making their first overseas appearance in Finland, followed by lives in France and Germany, in June. They were well-recieved by their international fans (their Finnish concert sold-out) and seemed to enjoy themselves as well.

The band then returned to Japan and resumed their usual insane pace, releasing FAINT/Topaz at the end of June. When July came, however, it brought a shock to ayabie's fans; guitarist and band leader Ryohei announced he would be leaving ayabie. Despite that news hanging over the band, they released their third mini-album at the end of July and went on another tour which would be their final with Ryohei as a member. His last live with the group was at the Shibuya AX on August 30th.

Ryohei went on to form a new band, Megamaso, and after falling briefly quiet for a time (the first time seemingly since the start of the band), ayabie announced to the delight of their fans that they would be releasing a new single and new full-length album in November as well as a new tour taking them all over Japan titled "Virgin Snow Color". Also in November, Yumehito (ex Soroban) who had initially played as a support guitarist after Ryohei's leave, was made the fifth member of ayabie.

ayabie continues to show no sign of slowing down. They distributed numerous singles during their "Virgin Snow Color" tour, released a new mini-album in March and will be both celebrating their third year anniversary and visiting their European fans once again in May 2007.

Angelo : Biography

MEMBERS:

• Vocal : Kirito
• Bass : Kohta
• Drums : Takeo

• Guitar : TORUxxx [support member]

BIOGRAPHY

After PIERROT split up, ex-members Jun and Aiji devoted themselves to solo projects (Kirito having been involved in a solo project of his own previously). Around this time, Kirito, Kohta, and Takeo appeared to be dissatisfied with the events surrounding PIERROT's disbandment and, rather logically, decided to give birth again to a new group with these three members. This band is Angelo.

The newborn band first appeared with a free live at Shibuya, which was soon followed by the announcement of a single and dates for an upcoming tour. The appropriate called first single REBORN was released on the 8th of November; fitting because the music really sounded like PIERROT. Since the members are not the same, the band is not PIERROT but the music and style is quite close. Angelo can easily be seen as a PIERROT rebirth, even if without Aiji and Jun it can’t be exactly as it once was.

The band fell quiet for a number of months and fans had to wait the 28th of February to be able to listen two more songs. The second single, WINTER MOON, is close to the first: harsh guitars, a certain feeling of despair in the melody and sure the slightly hoarse voice of Kirito.

Soon afterwards, a summer tour was announced and at last their debut album as well. REBIRTH OF THE NEWBORN BABY will be released on April 18th this year.

An Cafe : Biography

MEMBERS:

• Vocal : Miku
• Bass : kanon
• Drums : Teruki
• Guitar : Takuya
• Keyboard : Yu-ki

• Guitar : Bou [gone : 2007]

BIOGRAPHY

An Cafe was formed in May 2003, by the vocalist Miku, guitarist Bou and bassist kanon. Miku’s former band Revirii had disbanded two months earlier in April, and even though the band did not have a drummer at this point, the band started to perform at several events. By performing at these events next to other vague indie bands, An Cafe managed to gain a little publicity. The band released two demo-tapes; ‘Opu-ngu’ and ‘Uzumaki senshokutai/Hatsukoi’. Both were very limited and only sold at the early live shows.

Teruki was still with his former band Feathers-blue around this time, but he left them in August and he became a full member of An Cafe instead. An Cafe spent the remainder of the year giving performances at various events. Their cute image and upbeat songs soon garnered a small but very enthusiastic fanbase.

2003 seemed to be more of a ‘try-out’ year for the young members of An Cafe, but 2004 was really the start of their serious musical career. Through a record deal with Loop Ash (also the label of bands like Mask, and Scissor) the band released their first maxi-single, ‘Candy Holic’ in March. Within a week of its release the single was ranked as the second biggest seller on the Oricon indie charts. This was quite an amazing feat for a band’s debut single!

An Cafe‘s first one-man performance was in May at the Takadanobaba area, which was an important concert, just like it is for all bands. The concert entitled “Happy Birthday Tsuyu”,was a sell out event and the band distributed the single ‘Hatsukoi’ for free.

The following months were quite busy for An Cafe. They toured a lot, released the singles ‘√69’, ‘Cosmos’ and the live-only singles ‘Touhikairo’ and ‘Tourai – café-‘. In addition to those releases, the band were featured on no less than six omnibus albums. Shoxx magazine also released a DVD/VT special featuring the band.

In December, An Cafe closed their successful year by taking to the road for a short one-man tour which ended with performances at the Takadanobaba area and the Yokohama aka renga hall.

February 2005 saw An Cafe release their first mini-album; ‘Amedama rock’, which was a compilation of their previously released singles. The mini-album was shortly followed by the maxi-single ‘Karakuri hitei’ a month later.

In the summer of 2005 the band released a trilogy of one-track singles, ‘Tekesuta Kousen’, ‘Escapism’ and ‘Merrymaking’. They were released one at a time over a three month period. Fortunately for all the fans that wanted to listen to the songs but didn’t want to buy three separate singles with only one track on each, all the songs were also featured on their very first full length album, ‘Shikisai moment’ which was released in November 2005.

The new album showed a slightly new side of An Cafe. The songs still had the typical An Cafe sound, but it seemed they had matured a bit as the band experimented with new styles and instruments.

The successful album was followed by four new singles and another album in 2006 and the popularity of the band was only increasing.

In 2007, two important announcements were made: first of all, they would make an appearance on the American Anime Convention Akon, which made a lot of fans excited because for many of them, this would be a great chance to meet the members of their favorite band. Unfortunately, only a little later an announcement was made that guitarist Bou would leave the band, which saddened many fans. Bou's last performance with the band was on April 30th and its unsure whether the band will find a replacement and what his plans for the future are.

Though, we can be sure that such a successful band will continue to rock and we're sure that Bou will surprise us with his new musical activities in no time!

In mid-May 2007, An Cafe announced the new line-up for the band. Instead of simply replacing Bou's position with another guitarist, they added two new members: guitarist Takuya and keyboardist Yu-ki.

Aliene Ma'riage : Biography

MEMBERS:

• Vocal : Kyouka†
• Guitar : Mast
• Bass : Ray

BIOGRAPHY

In 1998 there were various promising groups: NéiL, MIssalina Rei, Eliphas Levi or NOI'X. But over the years, band after band disbanded and the two that did manage to stay together the longest (beside SPEED-ID) were Noir fleurir and Aliene Ma'riage.

Aliene Ma'riage was founded in March 1998. Their name was a mixture of the words "marriage" and "insanity", which ties in with their themes of "madness", "drama", and "tragedey." This was expressed not only in their songs and lyrics, but also in their stage performances which told the story of two siblings who had a mentally unstable child together, the latter played by Kyouka†.

They released their first demotape, Kairai ningyo, and only shortly after their first limited album Les oirée, they had to re-release it due to the demand of their fans. In 2000, they released their first maxi-single which sold out during the pre-order period, prompting a second pressing soon afterwards. Their fanclub, LA matinée, was founded at the end of the year.

Shortly after the release of their album 21st Century in 2001, they disbanded. While they had practically lived the theme of insanity during their first years, the band seemed to calm during the final months of their career as they simplified their look.

With the end of Aliene Ma'riage, Kyouka† briefly tried a solo career before joing a handful of other bands; he is currently in the visual-kei band Chaos+System. Guitarist Mast joined first Noir fleurir and later MIL. Bassist Ray started his own project on the Under Code Productions label, Nega.

Alice Nine : Biography

MEMBERS:

• Vocal : Shou
• Guitar : Tora
• Guitar : Hiroto
• Bass : Saga
• Drums : Nao

BIOGRAPHY:

Formed in April of 2004, alice nine. retains today their original line-up; Shou (ex Givuss) on vocals, Tora (ex Givuss) and Hiroto (ex BAQUEPIA) on guitar, Saga (ex Visage) on bass and Nao (ex Fatima) on drums. Shortly after forming, the band held their first live at the Ikebukuro Cyber and continued to perform, including their June participation in "Ps Company presents: Tribal Arivall Vol.81".

The next month, they released their first maxi-single Namae wa madanai, which was limited to 1000 copies and sold out during its pre-order period thanks to the attention garnered by their performances and fans of their ex-bands. They released a second press of Namae wa madanai in August, this one limited to 3000 copies, which also sold out. During this time, they went on a short two-man tour with fellow indie band Ayabie, with the final tour performance at Shibuya O-East selling out.

In September, this young band joined the label PS Company (home to such groups such as The GazettE, Kagrra, and Miyavi) and released their first mini-album shortly afterwards. Like alice nine.'s previous releases, this one was also limited and did well, coming in third on the Oricon Indies chart. They also went on a second two-man tour, this time with the group Karen and it was much larger than their first with Ayabie; this tour took them all across the country with about a dozen shows. They continued to perform for the rest of the year, ending their first year together at an event at the Holiday Shinjuku.

alice nine. kicked 2005 off by holding their first one-man live at Liquid Room-Ebisu. They participated in a number of other events throughout February and March, including a live on Valentine's Day at Electric Land Lady. In the next three months, they released three more singles and then the band spent April by playing as label-mate Kagrra's opening band during their 2005 tour. In June, they held another two-man tour with Ayabie, this one much more extensive than their previous tour together, taking both bands across Japan.

When July rolled around, alice nine. had just finished up their tour with Ayabie when they hopped right back into the tour busses to participate in “Ps Company presents: Tribal Arivall Tour 2005” with Kra and bis, both also PS Company artists at that time. The band also released their second mini-album, titled ALICE IN WONDEЯLAND, on July 27th to the delight of their fans. After that exhaustive summer, the band seemed to take a bit of a break in August and September, performing only once and doing various in-store events. As the temperature began to cool, however, alice nine. heated back up, performing at the Shibuya O-West with Duel Jewel and Soroban in October before re-releasing previous CDs such as their first single once again. When December came, fans found alice nine. taking part in the massive "Peace & Smile Carnival Tour", organized, naturally, by the PS Company label and featuring their artists. Also during this month, the band's official fanclub opened.

In 2006, alice nine. brought in the new year with some new releases: their first live DVD titled ALICE IN WONDEЯ FILM and then three new singles, one of which was featured in an animated series. The next month, they held a short one-man tour to greet their new fanclub which brought the band to Osaka, Nagoya, and then back to Shibuya. In April, alice nine. released their first full length album, Zekkeishoku. alice nine. seemed to take a brief breather over the summer but fans weren't left waiting long as the group released their second DVD, NUMBER SIX, this one containing a short movie written by guitarist Tora as well as a music video and some behind-the-scenes footage. In October, they released an internet-only single, Blue Planet, which required a Japanese credit card to access. They ended the year by performing at various events, including Beat Shuffle's anniversary show held on December 30th.

The band kicked off 2007 with a number of new releases, including a DVD, new single, and photobook. Perhaps the most exciting news for their many international fans however is their participation in the "Jrock Revolution" event to be held in Los Angeles, California. After taking part in this multiband event at the end of May, they will then be releasing a new single, WHITE PRAYER, in June.

Aile : Biography

MEMBERS:

• Vocal : Akito
• Bass : Tsuyoshi (ex. 244)
• Drums : Kohsuke (ex. KOxKO)
• Guitar : A-ya
• Guitar : Moe

• Guitar : Hiro [gone : 2004]
• Bass : yukkiy [gone : 2004]
• Bass : Fumi [gone : 2003]
• Guitar : Yue [gone : 2006]
• Bass : Sai [gone : 2006]
• Drums : Takumi [gone : 2004]

BIOGRAPHY

Aile formed in November 2001 with Akito (vocals), Hiro (guitar), and Fumi (bass), and the band officially began activities in March 2002. Their first release, a demo CD called Gekka no Hana/Nakigara, went on sale on April 28th and their first performance occurred at an event in May. They ended their first year with another demo release entitled Nukumori Izonshou.

In January 2003, Aile took part in the indies compilation HYSTERIC MEDIA ZONE V.A. 4, and Takumi joined the band as drummer. Just months later, on April 19th, their first member change occurred when Fumi left the band and Yu-ki joined as a session guitarist. Aile released a total of eleven singles in 2003, including their first maxi-single, Cure Feather ~Kimi e todokimasu youni~.

Yukkiy, Aile's new bassist, joined in January 2004, but spent very little time in the band as they decided to disband at the end of March. Going their separate ways, Akito started a new band called Couple D’ange and Takumi joined Panic Channel.

After just one year away, Aile returned in 2005 with all new members aside from Akito. Their new line-up consisted of Yue and Tsuyoshi on guitar as well as Kohsuke on drums, all of whom were former members of Couple D’ange.

Sai, originally a support member, became the official bassist in May and Aile released their second maxi-single, Love Feather ~Kimi e tsutaetai koto~ that July. Both this and their third maxi-single were quite successful, being ranked 10th and 15th on the Oricon indies charts.

Early in 2006, their fourth maxi-single was released followed by their first full-length, White Feather, in July. In August they had the opportunity to perform at SCUBER DIVE - ~shibuya no taihen~, an event organized by the record label S’CUBE, where they would play among 44 other bands including Vidoll, KuRt, and kannivalism.

At the end of that month, after their oneman, Yue left the band, with an announcement following shortly thereafter that Sai would also be withdrawing. Aile continued on without them until their November 24th live at HOLIDAY Shinjuku where they announced that they would be going on an indefinite break.

Once again reformed, with Moe and A-ya on guitar, and Tsuyoshi on bass, Aile is kicking off their new beginning with a single, TRUE FEATHER ~saikai no toki~ released on May 15th, and a string of lives stretching into the summer.

Aikaryu : Biography

Members:

• Vocal : Kaworu
• Guitar : TERU
• Drums : ULI
• Bass : Daiki
• Guitar : Shagrath

• Guitar : Takamasa [gone : 2005]
• Guitar : Amare [gone : 2004]

BIOGRAPHY

Aikaryu formed early in 2002, initially with the five members; Kaworu (vo), Amare (gt), DEATH (gt), Shun(ba), and Uli (dr). Of this lineup, only Kaworu and Uli would survive the many member changes that would eventually come to form the current Aikaryu. This first lineup released one song on the Punishment Party Vol. 3 omnibus, and soon afterwards DEATH left the band to be replaced by TERU. Aikaryu would finish 2002 with two more songs on two more omnibuses and a series of event participation lives.

Successive demo cd releases lead to the band catching the attention of the Crow Music record label. They were signed in August 2003 and the following month then saw the release of the first Aikaryu single, Aizo Kyoto ~ Oreiro ni somaru kimi ga aho ni natte yuku...~. The lineup of members had again changed. Takamasa replaced Amare while there was a distinct lack of permanent bassist; Niku is credited only as 'support' on this first single.

The support of their new label contract gave Aikaryu a huge boost. Five months after their first single release, in February 2004 Aikaryu brought out Yanagi toushi shou followed by their first Oneman concert at the Kyoto ARC-DEUX livehouse. It was only a small venue with 130 people although for an unknown band who had not toured widely previously or made too many releases it was a success. They had by this time also acquired a bassist in the form of Daiki. These early successes were further when Aikaryu joined with Mizeria on a coupling cd, [Water and Oil] and then the release of their first mini album Kaizokuban ~ Aye aye sir~.

Aikaryu continued until the end of 2005 with their lineup of Kaworu, Teru, Uli, Takamasa and Daiki. They continued to tour extensively partaking in various multi-band events and two-man concerts, and it can be seen as a record of their success that in mid 2005 the band held their first oneman tour at venues in Kyoto, Osaka, Tokyo and Yokohama. In June however, Takamasa announced his departure at a concert at Meguro Rock May Kan. He was quickly replaced by Shagrath who immediately began work with more concerts and tours. 2005 culminated with the release of two singles, one a live-only release and the other being Ketsu ketsu ketsu ketsu ketsu ketsu ketsu ketsu ketsu - KYUUKETSU-, which was released as a CD and DVD package.

Tragically however, Aikaryu were involved in a car accident in early 2006 while driving home from a concert. Only Kaworu seemed to escape with minor injuries; Shagrath required surgery and Uli has injuries that would need at least six months of rehabilitation. The accident did not defeat the band though. Teru reappeared in HIZAKI's 'Grace Project' in October 2006, and the whole band (although without Uli who was still recovering) rejoined in December for a small tour: 'Love or Dragon LIVE!'. This tour ended in January 2007, and Uli is expected to return very soon so fans can equally expect more from this vibrant band.

176BIZ : Biography

Members:

• Vocal : Yuu
• Guitar : Setsuki
• Bass : Tara
• Drums : Kasumi
• Guitar : Toki (ex.Tsubasa)

Biography:
Tara, the former bassist of Panic Channel, left this last band because of hearing problems. After his hospitalization, he decided to create the duo Betty with Yuu, the former Never Crazy vocalist. They had taken part in only six events, but within that time they released their maxi-single Aka of which all 2000 copies were sold out.

The newly arrived reinforcements for Tara and Yuu weren’t completely unknown to the music scene as Toki, formerly Tsubasa, was in Panic Channel, while Setsuki played guitar in Karen, and Kasumi took care of drums in Gimikku.

On March 13th 2006, an exceptional sold-out live celebrated the end of Betty and the beginning of 176BIZ in the well-known Takadanobaba Area. The maxi-single Shinkai ni oboreta Sakana was released on March 22nd, points out a more rebel side of the band, especially in songs such as Dekiai and Drag on downer. They went on with more lives until the oneman "the scReaM of pRiMe" on June 20th.

176BIZ spend the whole summer preparing their first album Atelier which was planned to be released in September of 2006 in two different versions. The limited version, which included a PV of the song Aqua on top of the 10-tracks regular album, was quickly sold out.

The band participated in the Christmas 2006 celebration which their label Danger Crue records organized in nothing less than the Nippon Budôkan (10000 seats) where gathered bands as S.O.A.P, MUCC, SID, girugämesh, Tetsu69 also performed.

Since then, the band has performed on numerous events and we can be sure that this young band won't keep us waiting for long before they will announce another CD release!.

12012 : Biography

Members:

• Vocal : Miyawaki Wataru
• Guitar : Sakai Hiroaki
• Guitar : Suga Yuusuke
• Bass : Enya Tomoyuki (ex.Tomo)
• Drums : Kawauchi Tohru

12012 began officially in 2003 on May 1st, immediately signing with Undercode Productions, home to other bands such as Vidoll and Phantasmagoria. They ended May together with their first live at a club in Osaka on the 31st. That summer, they released their first maxi-single, depression sign. Limited to 1000 copies, it's now become very sought after by fans.

Participating in various events and contributing to numerous omnibuses, 12012's popularity increased throughout 2003 and into 2004. In October of 2004, they organized a six-day event/tour called Guilty of Six Days, in which each show was managed by one member of 12012, aside the final in which the whole band participated in organizing. Bands such as Duel Jewel and Panic Channel were featured along with numerous others. In that same month, they began a three month long consecutive release schedule; the mini album Bell salem was released in October, followed by Knight Mare in November, and finally shin~deep in December. They ended 2004 by performing in two different cities, Tokyo and Osaka, in the same day.

In February of 2005, they held their first one-man at the ESAKA MUSE which was later released on DVD. In May, they celebrated their second anniversary as a band before re-releasing a slew of their older material, including depression sign. In July, they released a DVD containing some of their PVs before going into a short September tour.

12012 only seemed to pick up steam as the band went into 2006; continuing to participate in various events, they released three photobooks before the middle of the year and two full albums. The first was their first full album, PLAY DOLLS, which was released in two versions, one containing a DVD and the other a bonus CD. They also released a 'best of' album entitled not obtain+1. As May rolled around, they held a oneman tour to celebrate their three years together and released a new single, Heart. A DVD with footage from the tour was later released in August.

Despite all of this touring and releasing, the band was apparently still not ready to rest as Miyawaki Wataru and Sakai Hiroki dropped in on some of their international fans at the Anime Expo in 2006 in southern California to shake hands and sign autographs. This was just a hint of things to come as the entire band then went to Germany and France in the fall to perform for their international fans before returning to America to perform at the Onicon Convention held in Texas. In-between all of this, they'd also released three consecutive singles; PISTOL in September, wana in October, and finally Over... in November. They held another tour in Japan then, stretching from mid-November to December.

Change seems to be in the air for this band as they went into 2007. After their graduation from their indies label, Undercode Productions, they signed to a new label called Back Coat in February. Although they've changed labels, 12012's work ethic doesn't seem to have changed in the slightest; in addition to a new single, summer tour, and a second trip to the United States to perform, the band no doubt has plenty more up their sleeve for the rest of the year.

√eight : Biography

Members:

• Vocal : Kyoutarou
• Guitar : Nachi
• Guitar : RYO
• Bass : mukku (ex. mukuro)
• Drums : mitsurU

BIOGRAPHY

After WERKMARE disbanded, their guitarist Nachi decided to form a band together with vocalist Kyoutarou (ex Volark). So in August of 2004 √eight was created. Later they were joined by bassist Mukku, who also played in WERKMARE, and drummer Mitsuru (ex ArcAdiA).

At the end of that same month they also started on a tour, Endless. On August the 21st their first maxi single, sensenfukoku, was released. The CD was sold out on the same day. Two months later their second maxi musou ranbu was released, this one was also sold out in just one day.

In February 2005 the maxi single yuigadokuson came out and a few months later they had their first one-man concert in the Meguro Rockmaykan. In December of that year √eight presented a compilation album which contained songs of bands from Sapporo, RADICALS CHARGE. Four days after that release guitarist Nachi created his own indies label relative+heart MUSIC (also known as relation).

After the release of their fourth single in December of 2005 it turned a bit quiet around the band, until the release of their debut album illational in September 2006. This CD reached 11th place on an indies album chart.

In March 2007 they gave another one-man performance in Tokyo, this time in the Shinjuku Holiday. During that concert they announced their new member: the guitarist Ryo (ex since1889).

√eight will tour through Japan in June. This tour is called ANTI JAP MONSTERS. In August they will celebrate their third year anniversary with three concerts in the Holiday venues in Osaka, Nagoya and Tokyo.