Kuroyume

Kuroyume (Japanese: 黒夢; lit. 'Black Dream') is a Japanese rock band formed in Nagoya in May 1991. They quickly achieved success with their 1994 major label debut album Mayoeru Yuritachi, which reached number three on the Oricon Albums Chart. Following the departure of guitarist Shin in 1995, vocalist Kiyoharu and bassist Hitoki remained the only official members. Each of their five subsequent albums reached the top seven on the chart, with Feminism (1995) and Fake Star (1996) both topping it. Their 1996 single "Pistol" earned them an MTV Video Music Award. Kuroyume had a definite influence on the visual kei scene, being credited as inspiration to many bands of the late 1990s and as one of the creators of Nagoya kei.

On January 29, 1999, Kuroyume indefinitely suspended all activities due to the severely strained relationship between Kiyoharu and Hitoki. They officially disbanded with a final live performance on January 29, 2009. However, the duo reunited only a year later in January 2010. They produced two further top-seven studio albums, before disbanding again in 2015. After ten years, Kuroyume reunited again in 2025.

Kuroyume was formed in 1991 by vocalist Kiyoharu, bassist Hitoki, drummer Eiki (all three former members of Garnet), and former Geracee guitarist Shin. Kiyoharu would later state that they started the band to become more popular with girls. After a year of performing live, Eiki left the band in June 1992 and they released "Chuuzetsu" the following month on Haunted House Records. The mini-album Ikiteita Chuzetsuji.... (remastered from a previously released January 1992 demo tape) followed that December. Its 4,000 copies sold out by pre-order.

Kuroyume's first full-length studio album, Nakigara o..., was released in June 1993 and clearly showed the group progressing in a more melodic direction by leaning further toward the goth side of things and doing away completely with any semblance of metal music. The song "Shin'ai Naru Death Mask" from their first mini album had been re-recorded, and the band's first promotional music video was filmed for the song. Hiro, former drummer of The Star Club, joined the band in July 1993, but left only three months later. Kuroyume would utilize support drummers for the rest of their career. Hitoki would later say that after Eiki had left, they looked for someone who was "good and cool, but when we thought of 'Kuroyume', there was no one who would fit in as an official member."

During this era, Kuroyume are credited as creators of the Nagoya kei scene alongside Rouage and Laputa. According to Fanatic Crisis guitarist Shun, Kuroyume and Silver-Rose [ja] were the "big two" of Nagoya kei at the time.

Shortly after signing with Toshiba EMI in early 1994, Kuroyume released "For Dear" in February as their major label debut single. The album Mayoeru Yuritachi -Romance of Scarlet- was released in March 1994 and reached number three on the Oricon Albums Chart. Two promotional videos were filmed, one for the single and another for album track "Autism". In August 1994, the mini album Cruel and its lead single "Ice My Life" introduced a pop rock side. The band now dressed more conservatively, being reminiscent of 1980s New Romantic fashion and seeming to give off a more palatable image to mainstream buyers. The music on Cruel was more pop-friendly. According to Hitoki, he and Kiyoharu had planned from the beginning of the band to be "'[hard]core at first, pop later', and this is when it all came together." The bassist suggested each member was afraid of the change, but with the initial sales of Mayoeru Yuritachi around 30,000 copies, "I think Kiyoharu in particular was thinking about what we should do to sell more copies. He took the brunt of things, arguing with the manufacturer and with the office.", "There are bands that either go along with [what the record label says] or those that don't, depending on their basic values, but Kuroyume did not. I think we were able to change our concept, sound production, and visual aspects each time because we didn't get on board and take a million-seller kind of route."

In February 1995, guitarist Shin left the group and formed the band Vinyl with former D'erlanger vocalist Dizzy. From this point on, Kuroyume continued as a duo, while utilizing support musicians. Shin had been the main composer of music in the band. Hitoki later revealed that Cruel was initially planned to be recorded with Shin taking lead as the band self-produced, but the guitarist never left his bedroom. When they began working on the follow up, the band was unable to get in contact with Shin and it was suggested that they continue without him. The two albums following this rearrangement, May 1995's Feminism and May 1996's Fake Star ~I'm Just a Japanese Fake Rocker~, continued the more mainstream rock of Cruel, with the latter of the two having an edgier production and presenting a more fashionable image. Feminism was named one of the top albums from 1989–1998 in a 2004 issue of the music magazine Band Yarouze. In September 1996, Kuroyume won the MTV Japan International Viewer's Choice Award at the 1996 MTV Video Music Awards for the song "Pistol" from Fake Star. From this point onward, the band and particularly Kiyoharu were recognized on a national level.

1997 heralded another transformation for Kuroyume, who were a punk influenced rock 'n roll band both visually and musically for the album Drug Treatment released that June. April 1998's "Maria" became their highest-charting single when it reached number two on the Oricon chart. In May 1998, they released what would become their last studio album, Corkscrew. On January 29, 1999, Kuroyume announced the indefinite suspension of all activities. Hitoki had asked to quit the band about two years earlier, but Kiyoharu told him it was "impossible" as tickets for a tour had already been sold, so they decided to do their last tour. Hitoki later said that he wanted to quit music around 1999; by having achieved major success, "I began to see the dirty side of the music industry and the picture of the world. These aspects gradually built up inside me, and at that time, I could no longer enjoy music in its purest form." "I still think that if you really want to make only the kind of music you like, it is impossible to make it [on a major record label].", "When you are working and money is involved, there are always things that cannot be done solely from the artist's point of view, and there is the possibility of 'selling one's soul' in the process. At the time, I felt that I had had enough of that conflict, and I no longer wanted to do music itself. I also felt guilty about not being able to spend time with my family because I was on tour a lot."