ヴィジュアル系 (Visual Kei) started to form in Japan in the 1980’s, creating a genre where the visual performance of the artist is just as important as the music they make. The name itself is derived from the slogan “Psychedelic Violence Crime of Visual Shock”, which was seen on the cover of X Japan’s second studio album “Blue Blood”, released in 1989.
By combining the often flamboyant and androgynous looks with their music, these artists tell the story of their works in a more theatrical way than other genres worldwide often do. The visual presentation also allows these artists to express themselves individually in their own creative style.
While ヴィジュアル系 (Visual Kei) is the “top” of the genre, there are a lot of artists who can’t be categorized in any of it’s many subgenres but still have the ヴィジュアル系 (Visual Kei) style in their works. That’s why we’ve collected them here, as well as bands from other countries that have been inspired by this unique genre.
Maybe you’ve heard of エンヴィル (ENVYL) already, considering they showed up in the ヴィジュアル系 (Visual Kei) scene immediately once their music video for “D.I.D” hit their YouTube channel, combining metal, programming and ヴィジュアル系 (Visual Kei) in one package with their version of light
Just like G.L.A.M.S, VII ARC were supposed to support the Japanese group at the Popcentrale, but when the show was canceled to comply with government restrictions and G.L.A.M.S found a new stage at Special Edition, VII ARC moved along with them.
And again, just like G.L.A.M.S, the smaller stage meant
Near the end of 2018 I spoke to 龍-RYU- about his now former project “OROCHI”, a project he had started 15 years ago to combine his love for music and traditional Japanese culture into a “samurai rock” band which had their first performance here in The Netherlands all the way back in 2011. (And various other
As from today (January 5) until January 31st you can pre-order tickets for SUI’s 3rd anniversary show on April 11 in Paris!
While the venue in Paris has not been announced yet, tickets are already available for €15,- (regular entry). For an additional meet and greet a ticket upgrade is available
You might recognize ice from “Black Gene For the Next Scene”, a rather well known ヴィジュアル系 (Visual Kei) band lead by the former bassist of ヴィドール (Vidoll), Rame. Black Gene For the Next Scene, often shortened to “BFN” due to the length of the project’s name, combined electronica with pop, rock and a twist
Alpha999 (pronounced as Alpha-three-nine) is the solo project of vocalist TAKA, the former singer of LEG’end PRIMe. Aside from being a vocalist TAKA also works as a model, and he has been the DJ of the popular radio show “DOUBLE BILLION” for a while as well. All of this adds up to quite an impressive portfolio
During the “Halloween in Dordrecht” event VII ARC came to DOOR in Dordrecht on October 26 to play their show for the fans, but in a different outfit than they normally wear on stage…
We also went to check out their performance, and took some photos while we were there. You can find these photos on our
During the “ZEROSHIKI Euro Tour 2019” ソメイヨシノ (Somei Yoshino) was the support act for ZEROSHIKI during their stop at the Musicon in Den Haag on October 7, where they played their show for the fans who had been waiting outside for most of the afternoon already.
We also went to check out their performance,
Recently I already shared the news about the small European tour ソメイヨシノ (Somei Yoshino) would be doing this October, but Uknight just shared a little update for the show on October 13th, in Liège (Belgium)!
SANA, formally the guitarist of the visual kei band MASK, is now a solo musician with an amazing
AVO Magazine recently announced a show with ZEROSHIKI and DEFINE ME in the Musicon venue in Den Haag already (I’m just really late with sharing this news), but today there was a small edit to the lineup. Next to the Japanese alternative rock band ZEROSHIKI and the Czech rock band DEFINE ME another
Especially for “De Dordtse Matsuri” VII ARC came to the Bibelot in Dordrecht on August 31st to play their show for the fans and visitors of the event.
We also went to check out their performance, and took some photos while we were there. You can find these photos on our portfolio, Arlequin Photography,