visual kei
is a movement among Japanese musicians that is characterized by the use of varying levels of make-up, elaborate hair styles and flamboyant costumes, often, but not always, coupled with androgynous aesthetics, similar to Western glam rock.
Som ...
rock
Rock most often refers to:
* Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids
* Rock music, a genre of popular music
Rock or Rocks may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...
band formed in November 2004 in
Osaka
is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2. ...
,
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
by
Kisaki
is a Japanese musician who has worked with several visual kei bands, including La:Sadie's, Syndrome, Kisaki Projectindependent label
An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels and artists are often represented ...
.
History
Phantasmagoria was formed in November 2004 and their first single "Material Pain" was released in the music magazine ''
Shoxx
''Shoxx'' (stylized as ''SHOXX'') was a Japanese music magazine published monthly by Ongakusenkasha founded by Seiichi Hoshiko. It focused on Japan's visual kei scene, featuring its most popular bands as well as new ones. It is advertised as a "Vis ...
'' on December 21 of the same year. The following day the group released its first Maxi-single, "Moonlight Revival".
Phantasmagoria was featured on the cover of well-known visual kei magazine ''Cure'', one month after their formation, becoming one of the fastest-rising indie bands to appear on the cover of a magazine.
During the 2010 Under Code Production's New Year's live, Phantasmagoria was once again revived to perform. Along with their revival, the band released a mini-album and a single which contained songs the band had written while they were active but never released. The EP, entitled ''Seeds of Brain'', contained four new songs, whereas the new single, "Diamond Dust", contained the title track and an instrumental version. In an interview with ''Shoxx'' magazine, Kisaki stated "Although we created the songs a while back, we never released them. We included those for hardcore fans who want to listen to all our songs. This is our last release; although I'm not sure if that sounds convincing rins But this time around it's really the end." On April 5, the band had their last official live and Kisaki announced his newest band, "凛 -the end of corruption world-," the day after. As of now, Phantasmagoria's last release is another collection of unreleased songs entitled ''Actuality'', which was released in two versions on June 16, 2010.
Members
*Riku (戮) –
Lead vocals
The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of t ...
,
keyboards
Keyboard may refer to:
Text input
* Keyboard, part of a typewriter
* Computer keyboard
** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping
** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware
Music
* Musi ...
**He was the vocalist, born in
Hyōgo Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Hyōgo Prefecture has a population of 5,469,762 () and has a geographic area of . Hyōgo Prefecture borders Kyoto Prefecture to the east, Osaka Prefecture to the southeast, an ...
on January 3, 1978. He was previously in the bands Kawon and Hiskarea and went under the name Kenji (研二).
* Jun (JUN) –
Lead guitar
Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featur ...
,
backing vocals
A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are use ...
**He was a guitarist, born on November 17, 1983, in
Kobe
Kobe ( , ; officially , ) is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture Japan. With a population around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Tokyo and Yokohama. It is located in Kansai region, whic ...
. He was previously in the bands Se'lavy and Mar'derayla (マーディレイラ).
*Iori (伊織) –
Rhythm guitar
In music performances, rhythm guitar is a technique and role that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with other instruments from the rhythm section (e.g., drum kit, bass guitar ...
,
backing vocals
A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are use ...
**He was a guitarist, born on January 10, 1984, in Kobe. He was previously in the bands Se'lavy and Mar'derayla (マーディレイラ).
*
Kisaki
is a Japanese musician who has worked with several visual kei bands, including La:Sadie's, Syndrome, Kisaki ProjectBass,
keyboards
Keyboard may refer to:
Text input
* Keyboard, part of a typewriter
* Computer keyboard
** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping
** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware
Music
* Musi ...
,
synthesizer
A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and ...
s,
leader
Leadership, both as a research area and as a practical skill, encompasses the ability of an individual, group or organization to "lead", influence or guide other individuals, teams, or entire organizations. The word "leadership" often gets vi ...
**He was the bassist and bandleader, born on March 10, 1976, in
Kainan, Wakayama
270px, Street in Konoe neighborhood of Kainan
is a city located in Wakayama Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 48,811 in 22129 households and a population density of 110 persons per km². The total area of the city is
...
. His previous bands include Levia, Laybial, Shey≠de, De=prive, Stella Maria, Haijinkurobarazoku (廃人黒薔薇族), La:Sadie's, Mirage, and Syndrome.
*Matoi (纏) –
Drums
A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...
,
percussion
A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...
**He was the drummer, born on September 25, 1981, in
Osaka
is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2. ...
. He was previously in the bands Kawon and Hiskarea.
Discography
Singles
*"Material Pain" (December 21, 2004)
*"Moonlight Revival" (December 22, 2004)
*"Never Rebellion" (June 1, 2005) Oricon Singles Weekly Chart Top Position: 83www.oricon.co.jp ''Ｐｈａｎｔａｓｍａｇｏｒｉａのシングル売り上げランキング'' (Japanese) Retrieved February 19, 2011
*"Never Rebellion – Fool's Mate Edition" (July 1, 2005)
*"Mikansei to Guilt" (未完成とギルト, October 19, 2005) Oricon Singles Weekly Chart Top Position: 22
*"Kousoukyoku (Variant Jihad)"(神創曲～Variant Jihad～, January 25, 2006) Oricon Singles Weekly Chart Top Position: 80
*"Kyousoukyoku (Cruel Crucible)"(狂想曲～Cruel Crucible～, February 22, 2006) Oricon Singles Weekly Chart Top Position: 90
*"Gensoukyoku (Eternal Silence)"(幻想曲～Eternal Silence～, March 26, 2006) Oricon Singles Weekly Chart Top Position: 75
*"Under the Veil" (December 13, 2006) Oricon Singles Weekly Chart Top Position: 77
*"Vain" (February 14, 2007)
*"Kisaki Chronicle" (June 21, 2007)
*"Kami Uta" (神歌, July 18, 2007) Oricon Singles Weekly Chart Top Position: 32
*"Vanish..." (August 31, 2008)
*"Diamond Dust" (March 10, 2010)
*"Actuality" (June 16, 2010)
*''Kindling Vol.1'' (March 1, 2005)
*''Kansai Seiatsu 2004~2005'' (関西制圧2004～2005, April 6, 2005)
*''Geneizou I: After the Moonlight Revival'' (幻影像I～after the moonlight Revival～, April 6, 2005)
*''Yoshigen Yuukoujouyaku'' (四次元友好条約, July 1, 2005)
*''Geneizou II: Sin Screen Film'' (幻影像2～SIN SCREEN FILM～, August 10, 2005)
*''Geneizou III: For Degradation Crowd'' (幻影像3～for degradation crowd～, December 14, 2005)
*''Survivor's Guilt: 2005.10.21&22 USA Houston,Texas Park Plaza Hotel Reliant'' (June 21, 2006)
*''Territory of Divine: 2006.3.27 Shibuya-AX'' (July 25, 2006)
*''Japanesque Rock Collectionz Cure DVD Vol.01'' (September 27, 2006)
*''Geneizou IV: Chronology Revelation'' (幻影像4～chronology revelation～, October 18, 2007)
*''Creatures in Imagination'' (November 15, 2006)
*''Black-Veil Before Christmas: 2006.12.17 La Foret Museum Roppongi'' (February 21, 2007)
*''Geneizou V: Under the Veil'' (幻影像5～under the veil～, February 28, 2007)
*''At the End of the Rest Period: 2007.2.23 Shibuya-AX'' (April 25, 2007)
*''Shinki: Graduation & Departure'' (May 30, 2007)
*''Eclipse of Myth: 2007.8.31 Osaka Kokusai Kouryuu Senta'' (-Eclipse of Myth- ~2007.8.31 大阪国際交流センター~, August 31, 2007)
*''Reincarnation: Geneizou Kanzenban'' (REINCARNATION～幻影像完全盤～, September 5, 2007)
*''Crystal Finale: 2007.8.27 Tokyo Shibuya-AX'' (-CRYSTAL FINALE-～2007.8.27 東京SHIBUYA-AX～, October 31, 2007)
*''Forbidden: Insanity Of The Underworld'' (November 20, 2008)
*''History of Phantasmagoria 2004-2008'' (December 24, 2008)
*''Diamond Dust in Truth '' (June 26, 2010)
*''Wailing Wall 2004-2010'' (October 26, 2011)