Malice Mizer
| Malice Mizer | |
|---|---|
Malice Mizer during the Gackt era. Clockwise from top-left: Mana, Kami, Közi, Yu~ki, Gackt
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| Background information | |
| Origin | Japan |
| Genres | |
| Years active | 1992–2001 (on hiatus) |
| Labels | Nippon Columbia, Midi:Nette |
| Associated acts | Moi dix Mois, Eve of Destiny, Nil, Zigzo, Kneuklid Romance, Matenrou |
| Website | malice-mizer.co.jp |
| Members |
Mana Közi Yu~ki Klaha |
| Past members | Gaz Tetsu Gackt Kami† |
Malice Mizer (stylized as MALICE MIZER) was a Japanese visual kei rock band active from August 1992 to December 2001. Formed by guitarists Mana and Közi, the band's name stands for "malice and misery", extracted from "Nothing but a being of malice and misery." — their reply 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 aspects after several difficulties befell the band.
Malice Mizer was as famous for their music as for their live shows, featuring lavish historical costumes and stage sets, short silent theater pieces preluding various songs, 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 has gone 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. Seven years later, Közi played on stage with Mana's Moi dix Mois for a session gig on December 27, 2008. In 2009, Közi went on a short two gig coupling tour with Moi dix Mois called Deep Sanctuary. A year later, in July 2010, he went on another tour with Moi dix Mois, this time with Yu~ki as a special guest at Akasaka Blitz on the 17. This was the first time in nine years that the three original members were on stage together. The trio have performed together several times since.
After leaving Matenrou, Mana and Közi formed Malice Mizer in August 1992 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 early 1980s gothic rock, progressive rock 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" (a nod to French pop singer Mylène Farmer's hit song "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, after a couple more demos, the band released their debut album Memoire on Mana's newly founded independent record label Midi:Nette, and re-released it at the end of the year with an additional bonus track, "Baroque", under the title Memoire DX. Only days later, singer and lyricist Tetsu left the band after his last gig on December 27. 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.
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