Schwarz Stein

Schwarz Stein
From left to right Kaya and Hora in 2003
Background information
Origin	Japan
Genres	Electronica, synthpop, darkwave
Years active	2001–2004, 2011 (One-off Reunion), 2014-
Labels	Midi:Nette
Associated acts	Velvet Eden ISOLA Rudolf Steiner another cell
Website	Schwarz Stein
Past members	Hora Kaya

Schwarz Stein is a Japanese visual kei electronic music duo formed by Hora (洞) and Kaya (迦夜) in 2001 (as "Rudolf Steiner"), who disbanded in 2004 and regrouped in 2014.

During its first three years of activity, the group consisted of Kaya on vocals (ex-Isola) and Hora (ex-Velvet Eden) as keyboardist and programmer. The two originally worked together under the alias Rudolf Steiner until their signing to ex-Malice Mizer guitarist Mana's record label Midi:Nette. Upon their 're-formation', Mana discarded the name Rudolf Steiner and christened the duo "Schwarz Stein" (pseudo-German for "Black Stone").

Prior to their name change, two demo tapes (Queen of Decadence and Perfect Garden) had been released. A re-worked version of Perfect Garden was later created as their Midi:Nette debut single. Schwarz Stein went on to release their first full album New Vogue Children in June 2003, the single Current in November of the same year, and then their final album Artificial Hallucination in February 2004. They opened for Moi dix Mois on several occasions, played at various events, and also made a number solo appearances as well.

Following their last performance on March 29, 2004, Schwarz Stein officially disbanded due to creative differences between its two members. The band was briefly reunited for the "Dis Inferno III: Last Year Party" event on December 15, 2004, hosted by their former label Midi:Nette.

A collaboration CD, another cell, was released in April 2006, limited to 1000 copies and only available for order through Kaya's official site. This limited edition CD features re-mixed/re-worked versions of Rudolf Steiner's "Kuro Ageha" as well as two songs from Hora's first CD Inner Universe, making up three of the eight total tracks.

In April 2011, both members announced on their respective web sites that Schwarz Stein would reunite for a single show on July 31 at Takadanobaba Area, to celebrate their 10th anniversary of working together. Tickets were also made available to overseas fans via CD Japan. A new mini-album, Recurrence of Hallucination, was also announced. After the live a DVD of the show was release entitled Recurrence of Hallucination -LIVE- via Hora's website