NIGHTMARE
NIGHTMARE - visual-kei
Group from Japan
Genres: J-rock, visual kei, japanese, rock, jrock
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About NIGHTMARE
ナイトメア (also known as NIGHTMARE) is a Japanese visual kei band from Sendai formed in 2000. They went on hiatus in 2016 and came back in 2019. Members: **Vocal: YOMI (ヨミ/黄泉) **Guitar: 咲人 (Sakito/サキト) **Guitar: 柩 (Hitsugi/ヒツギ ) **Bass: Ni～ya (ニーヤ/新弥) **Drums: RUKA (ルカ/瑠樺 ) Former members: ** Drums: Zennin (2000) Biography: NIGHTMARE is a Japanese visual kei rock band. The common abbreviation is メア (mea), abroad they're also known as "Naito". The way the band name is written has changed depending on the period and the release. From their formation up until the release of the 2011 single VERMILION. When they moved to avex, the name was written as ナイトメア. After that, it has most often been written in all capital letters as NIGHTMARE. The band was formed on January 1, 2000. Guitarists Sakito and Hitsugi, who had met through band activities, decided to start a band together. They were joined by bassist Ni~ya, an acquaintance of Sakito, and vocalist YOMI, whom Hitsugi already knew. These four became the core members. Drums were initially handled by a junior member. At the time of formation, most of the members were still high school students, and the band began as a cover band rather than playing original songs. Later, the junior drummer left to focus on entrance exams. In November of the same year, RUKA, who had left another band he belonged to, joined as drummer, forming the current lineup. Based in Sendai, the band mainly performed at venues such as Sendai MACANA and JUNK BOX. After RUKA joined, they expanded their activities, including moving into Tokyo. Limited demo tapes and singles released during their indie period sold out one after another. At that time, their style differed from what it is today. They were a visual kei band that used white face makeup to build a strong worldview. In 2003, they signed with Nippon Crown. On August 21 of the same year, they made their major debut with the single -Believe-. On December 25, they released their first major album Ultimate Circus. They remained with Nippon Crown until 2006, releasing eight singles, three albums, one best album, and five DVDs. After moving to VAP, Nippon Crown also released one additional best album and two DVDs. In 2006, the band transferred to VAP. The single the WORLD/アルミナ, released after the move, was used as the theme song for the Nippon TV anime DEATH NOTE. Prior to the release, a comment from RUKA was published in Weekly Shonen Jump, which serialized the original manga. The song debuted at number five on the Oricon weekly chart, marking the band’s first top ten entry. They also appeared for the first time on a major terrestrial prime time music program, Fuji TV’s HEY! HEY! HEY! MUSIC CHAMP. In 2007, the album the WORLD Ruler, which included that single, debuted at number six on the Oricon weekly chart. The follow-up single レゾンデートル, used as the theme song for the anime CLAYMORE, debuted at number three, their first top three placement. On September 23 of that year, the band held their first concert at Nippon Budokan. In 2008, they appeared as a rock band in the film 20th Century Boys. To support recovery efforts after the Iwate–Miyagi Inland Earthquake, they held donation drives at live venues. In August, they donated 1,334,048 yen to the Nippon TV 24-Hour Television charity fund, and in September, they donated 2 million yen collected through fundraising activities to Miyagi Prefecture. In 2009, they continued their charity fundraising at live venues. On August 29, the final day of their tour, they held their second performance at Nippon Budokan. On January 1, 2010, Nightmare celebrated their 10th anniversary and released the best album GIANIZM, which compiled the entire Gianizm series. On January 9, they held a commemorative performance at Saitama Super Arena to mark the beginning of their anniversary year. On August 25, they performed at Nippon Budokan for the third time, and on the same day it was announced that five albums released after their move to VAP would be digitally distributed in Europe. In October, they released the two-disc best album Historical ～The highest NIGHTMARE～. In November, a limited-time collaboration café, Leica Edison NIGHTMARE × iPRESS CAFE, opened in Shibuya. In December, they successfully completed their third nationwide tour of the year, closing their 10th anniversary with a performance at Makuhari Messe on December 25. On March 11, 2011, the band announced their move to avex. A live performance scheduled at Shin-Kiba STUDIO COAST was abruptly canceled due to the Great East Japan Earthquake that occurred that afternoon. Fortunately, there were no injuries among the members’ families, but Miyagi Prefecture, the members’ hometown, suffered devastating damage. Three days later, on March 14, the band released a message on their official website. On March 31, the canceled STUDIO COAST show was rescheduled as Nightmare Great East Japan Earthquake Support Live “publish & recover!”, and it was announced that part of the proceeds would be donated to the Ashinaga Ikueikai fund for children orphaned by the tsunami. On May 18, they released VERMILION., their first single after moving to avex. On November 23, they released their first avex album, NIGHTMARE, followed by a tour in support of the album starting in December. On March 2, 2012, the final day of their tour, they held their fourth performance at Nippon Budokan. On April 2, 2016, during the opening show of the NIGHTMARE TOUR 2016 Awakening of Clowns at Sendai PIT in Miyagi, the band announced that they would go on hiatus at the end of the year. In 2020, with the resumption of activities, they held NIGHTMARE 20th Anniversary SPECIAL LIVE “GIANIZM ～再悪～” at Yokohama Arena on February 11. They also planned a fan club–exclusive tour from February 22 to March 20, and their first overseas solo concert, NIGHTMARE 20th Anniversary LIVE “the WORLD in TAIWAN”, scheduled for March 29 at THE WALL in Taipei. However, these shows were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Other planned tours were also canceled, but on July 17 and 18, they held NIGHTMARE 20th Anniversary Live DARKNESS BEFORE DAWN at Shin-Kiba STUDIO COAST with limited attendance. The performance on the 18th was streamed live online. From October 3, they held the NIGHTMARE 20th Anniversary Tour [ink]arnation across Sendai, Osaka, Aichi, and Tokyo. On October 7, they released ink, their first single after resuming activities. From December 4, they held the NIGHTMARE 20th Anniversary Last Tour across the Tokai, Kinki, and Kanto regions. In March 2021, they released their second comeback single, cry for the moon, and held a tour in support of it. The single reached number three on the Oricon weekly chart. In November, they released Sinners, the opening theme for the TV Tokyo anime Duel Masters King!, and toured nationwide from Hokkaido to Kyushu, concluding with a final show at LINE CUBE SHIBUYA. In March 2022, they released their first full-length album in seven years, NOX:LUX, and embarked on a nationwide tour. In November, they released their 30th single, With, used as the opening theme for the Japanese dub of the anime The Last Summoner, and concluded the tour at Tokyo Dome City Hall. In March 2023, they released the single FAREWELL and held a nationwide tour covering 17 locations. In August, they performed a joint tour titled Akumu 69 with MUCC in Tokyo, Nagoya, and Osaka. From August 2024, they held the tour NIGHTMARE TOUR 25-1 RAISING THE FLAG. In September, they staged Tenka Sai-Bousou at Hibiya Open-Air Concert Hall, a recreation of their 2005 live Tenka Daibousou held at the same venue. They then performed their first overseas solo show, Fuyajou Taiwan, at THE WALL in Taipei. From November, they held NIGHTMARE TOUR 25-1 Ultimate Circus, a revival tour of the album Ultimate Circus. From January 2025, they planned a European tour titled NIGHTMARE The WORLD TOUR 極東乱心天国, covering seven countries and nine shows, but only the first five performances were held due to various circumstances. From March to September, they embarked on a tour covering all 47 prefectures of Japan titled NIGHTMARE TOUR 2025 回生 天下大暴走. On November 9, they held their first Nippon Budokan performance in 13 years since 2012, NIGHTMARE TOUR 2025 回生 天下大暴走 Final Performance 夜宴. Band name and trivia: The band name was chosen by collecting hundreds of words with good sound from an English-Japanese dictionary, narrowing them down to about thirty, and researching their meanings. Since the members did not want to be a beautiful or polished band and felt that a visual kei band that wears makeup should embrace something darker, they decided that Nightmare, meaning “bad dream,” was the right choice. All members have stated that they were influenced by X JAPAN and LUNA SEA. Songwriting is mainly handled by the composers Sakito and RUKA, while lyrics are written by Sakito, RUKA, YOMI, and occasionally Hitsugi. The lyrics range from social criticism to tragic love songs, often focusing on pain, wounds, loss, emptiness, and despair. Some songs written by RUKA, such as Wasurenagusa and M-aria, are based on his own real-life experiences. Musically, many of their songs use minor keys. A representative body of work is the Gianizm series, in which numbers are assigned to the titles, such as Gianizm Pain = Gianizm 2 and Gianizm Misery = Gianizm 3. Gianizm 1 refers to Self-Harm (Shounen Terrorist). The fourth entry was long treated as missing because YOMI was unable to sing it, but it was officially recorded and released on the best album GIANIZM. At fan club–exclusive live shows and trips, special in-band units have also been formed, such as Kappero (YOMI and Sakito) and M Maou with HOIZ (Hitsugi, Ni~ya, and RUKA). Side projects: The band has a side project/parody/alter ego band band called 仙台貨物 (Sendai Kamotsu). They've been active from 2002 to 2009 and have been semi active since 2011. The members all have different names in that band. Vocalist YOMI has a solo project called TAKE NO BREAK which has been active since 2017 and features Tomo from 12012 on bass. He also had a solo project as イガグリ千葉 (Igaguri Chiba) which is his alter ego in Sendai Kamotsu. Guitarist Hitsugi has been active as vocalist and guitarist in GREMLINS since 2013 (now semi active) with Mizuki from サディ/Sadie and The THIRTEEN on guitar, Chiyu (ex SuG) and Ni~ya on support bass and KNZ (ex 彩冷える-ayabie-) on drums. He was also a member of HALLOWEEN JUNKY ORCHESTRA. Guitarist Sakito is the guitarist and vocalist in his solo project JAKIGAN MEISTER which features Ni~ya on support bass, Hiro (ex rice and Raphael) on support drums and Tooru Yoshida (DISCO VOLANTE, MUCC support) on keys. He has also been support guitarist for MORRIE, SEESAW and ASAGI. Bassist Ni~ya is featured on bass and vocals in his solo project BULL FIELD (with support members from RAZOR). Besides the support for JAKIGAN MEISTER and GREMLINS, he also supported The LEGENDARY SIX NINE. Drummer RUKA was active in his solo project The LEGENDARY SIX NINE from 2010 until 2019 with support guitarist Saitou Shinichirou (12012), Sugiya (Moi dix mois) and support vocalist Yusa (ex THE KIDDIE) and others.
Taken from Last.fm
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