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.
Today we managed to sit down with the founder and leader of BLOOD, Kiwamu.
This interview was quite a hassle to do, since let me tell you, getting dental work done mere hours before an interview isn’t the greatest idea someone can ever have, but there was no way around it. Luckily Kiwamu was very understanding
During their “The Birth of Creation” Europe Tour 2012 Megaromania stopped at Tivoli de Helling in Utrecht on March 19 to play their show for the fans who had been waiting outside for most of the afternoon already.
We also went to check out their performance, and took some photos while we were there. You
SUICIDE ALI are about to release their fourth single, titled “THE COLD BODY”, on January 11, 2012!
The single will be released through Starwave Records, and even though the official release date is set for early January, you can secure your copy as early as November 23 at live venues.
Starwave
umbrella are about to release their first single, titled “五月雨” (Samidare), on December 1, 2011!
The single will be released through Starwave Records, and even though the official release date is set for early December you can secure your copy early starting at November 22 during the release
During their “kanon x kanon x kanon” Euro Tour 2011 Kanon and Kanon Wakeshima stopped at Tivoli de Helling in Utrecht on November 14 to play their show for the fans who had been waiting outside for most of the afternoon already.
We also went to check out their performance, and took some photos
During their “Japanese Jet Boyz Override to Euro” tour the fool stopped at P60 in Amstelveen on November 11 to play their show for the fans who had been waiting outside for most of the afternoon already.
We also went to check out their performance, and took some photos while we were there. You can find these
THE SOUND BEE HD are about to release their new mini-album, titled “艶” (Tsuya), on December 14, 2011!
The mini-album will be released through Starwave Records, and even though the official release date is set for mid-December you can secure your copy early starting at October 28 at the
BLOOD are about to release their new maxi-single, titled “Elizabeth” on October 26, 2011!
But aside from the news about their new single, there’s also something else the band wants to announce to foreign fans: the group will be coming to the United States and Canada for a short tour
Tokami are about to release their new album, titled “Resurrection” on November 8, 2011!
The album will be released through Starwave Records, and even though the release date is set for early November, you can secure your copy early starting at October 11 at the release party in 池袋BlackHole
marlee are about to release their new anime cover album, titled “1st PROTOTYPE WARS”, on December 7, 2011!
The album will be released through Darkest Labyrinth, and even though the release date is set for early December, you can secure your copy early by purchasing it as early as October