Before & After: Unbelievable Transformations in Japanese Music

[fitear1590 2414]

This featured list is dedicated to some of the most head-turning transformations in Japanese music. Whether from budget VK drag goth to plastered pop boi or trading in a watermelon dye-job for lightly tousled locks spilling out from under an ill-advised fedora, we've got examples of, let's say, aesthetic 'evolution' in every which direction. And, surely, this list is just a taste, so be sure to let us know in the comments what are some other unbelievable transformations in Japanese music that we didn't get to cover.

@fitear1590's Picks
   
麗羽 (ErecSia, ALPHONSTEIN) → いっち (みるふぃね, キャンゼル, ★NOハウス)
Reiha (ErecSia, Alphonstein) → Icchi (Milphinne, Canzel, hoshi NO house)
Right around the turn of the century, Reiha, as he was known back then, made his first foray into the world of VK. Talk about jumping into the deep end first! Who knows what he looked like as a teen, but Reiha's aesthetic in his first bands ErecSia and presumably ALPHONSTEIN (there are no available photos of this band to my knowledge) was very much 90s VK 'goth' trash -- I mean that in the nicest way possible. Pictured above with red hair and a frilly lolita aesthetic, it's indisputable he was influenced by 90s queen Kei, vocalist of Key Party Records' legendary Eliphas Levi who came just a few years earlier. Rounding out the aesthetic are cassette tape releases of seance chants, banshee screams, and low-budget atmospheric Lockheart Castle-kei. By late 2002, Icchi, his new moniker, pulled a night-to-day transformation and was releasing full-blown oshare kei in a group called Milphinne. Future bands Canzel (2007-2010) and hoshi NO house (2012-2016) continued to deliver upbeat pop-rock, twinkling synths, and sparkly looks. It's all a far cry from how he started off visually, but every once in a while, you can hear remnants of his ErecSia/ALPHONSTEIN vocal freak-outs, especially live. Interestingly, Eliphas Levi's vocalist made a similar change, moving on to oshare band Vinett in the early to mid 2000s.


   
PIECE → 超時空アンドロイド-PIECE- → グリモア
PIECE → Choujiku Android - PIECE → GRIMOIRE
Around 2009, Kasumi Shinjou (ex-SMILE, Gekijou Tenor) opened Dear Dolce, home to the likes of リロード (Reload) and メメント・モリ (Memento Mori), the proto-bands of グリーヴァ (GRIEVA) and 黒百合と影 (Kuroyuri to kage). As a super indies label, fans were often required to turn a blind eye to budgetary constraints, but unfortunately, PIECE suffered more than their labelmates. How else do you explain this PV? Pro-tip, do not waste all your funds on the cheesy lens flare effect. Even after Dear Dolce's shutdown in 2012, the band continued as 超時空アンドロイド-PIECE- (Choujiku Android -PIECE-). Their revamped aesthetic was kinda cool, I must admit. In 2015, the band's musicians reemerged in GRIMOIRE, kicking their singer of 5 years to the curb, instead being joined by the former embarrassing lip-sync rawr vocalist of Dear Dolce's Diement. Thankfully, he keeps his mouth shut now, lol. With new stage names, a gloomy and imaginative zodiac theme, and a dark graveyard carnival sound with chugalicious riffs, GRIMOIRE represent an unlikely phoenix, risen from Dear Dolce's ashes. Now, this is a transformation I fully support!

   
えみる (愛狂います。) → 涼木 聡 (Yeti)
Emiru (Aicle) → Satoshi Suzuki (Yeti)
Who would have thought one of the most visually flamboyant members of the mid-2000s VK scene would one day forego hair dye and settle for totally casual outfits? Let's start with Emiru, back when he was the love-him-or-hate-him lead singer of Aicle. Admittedly, he started off quite rough. He legitimately sounds like Cartman in "シドロモドロ (shidoro modoro)". Because of his helium tone and straining to hit notes in earlier releases, it would be easy to write Emiru off as a 'bad' singer, but that would mean ignoring how commendably he 'compensates' in all the other things he does with his voice. What really contributes to Emiru’s success as a vocalist is his variety. In any given song, you might hear any combo of the following: growling, oldschool Madeth Gray’ll-esque 'fast talking,' shrieking, maniacal cackling, whispering, and more. Some absolute highlights include Emiru chanting off the number sequence of pi in the punky "球形無限連鎖～ミズタマ～ (kyuukei mugen rensa ~mizutama~)", or the demonically adorable alter-ego he takes on in "まみむめモンスター君 (mamimume monster-kun)." After Aicle's sputtering out, Emiru resurfaced in Yeti, which started off quite strong, arguably leading the VK/indie rock movement with bands like Chanty and SRASH NOTES GARDEN. I was willing to accept them despite Aicle's disbandment, but the more six-song mini albums Yeti release, the less remarkable they become (though previews for their sixth mini, HOWL, are quite promising!). By now, they've apparently cut all ties to the VK scene, performing exclusively with other J-indie artists. The 'Emiru' persona must be in there somewhere and I hope he'll grace us again one day.


   
小山田圭吾 (フリッパーズ・ギター) → CORNELIUS
Keigo Oyamada (Flipper's Guitar) → CORNELIUS
This one is still a puzzle to me. Flipper's Guitar started in the late 80s as a proto-Shibuya kei/Britpop-worship extravaganza. Citing Western twee legends like The Pastels and Aztec Camera as influences, their infectious guitar pop was unmatched in Japan. Guitarist and vocalist Keigo Oyamada even performed their first album three cheers for our side〜海へ行くつもりじゃなかった (umi e iku tsumori janakatta)〜 in what I still consider to this day to be the most endearing use of Engrish in Japanese music. They went on to release two more albums, in Japanese, while still sticking to their indie pop guns. Only occasionally did they introduce more diverse influences like jazz and house music, with the third album Doctor Head's World Tower particularly showing a move in the direction of sampling. Flipper's Guitar disbanded in the early 90s, but Oyamada returned a few years later as an experimental/electronic solo artist under the moniker CORNELIUS. Tunes like "MUSIC" show little relation whatsoever to the work of his former band. While I do enjoy me some CORNELIUS, a part of me wishes he would go back to composing sunshine-y guitar pop.

  
分島花音
Kanon Wakeshima
Back in the late 2000s, MALICE MIZER's (in)famous Mana took a protégé under his wing. Kanon Wakeshima's initial music took after what we've come to expect from Mana's projects, implementing twinkly music box arrangements and dark orchestration befitting of the OG gothic aristocrat. What really set Kanon apart, however, was her cello work. While so many arrangements in this strand of the VK scene are riddled with canned strings, Kanon proved she has the chops to actually play. After her first album, however, her production relationship with Mana came to an end. Ever since, she has distanced herself from her darker orchestral beginnings. Although she still plays cello from time to time, it's no longer the center of attention, with her music generally assuming a more pop-oriented nature. Plus, she deviated from her gothic lolita aesthetic. While I don't particularly care for Kanon's work in this second era, one undeniable hit has been "ツキナミ (tsukinami)." Despite the goofy nurse and deliverywoman outfits, the song is a masterful pop tune with surprisingly noisy flourishes, though you wouldn't even believe it's the same artist as something like her debut single, "still doll."

  
女王蜂

Ziyoou-Vachi / QUEEN BEE

Ziyoou-Vachi started making waves in 2011 with the release of their mini-album, 魔女狩り (majo kari). The band stuck out in so many ways: having the backing of a major label while churning out raucous punk, featuring two multiracial siblings as band members (vocalist Avu-chan and drummer Ruri-chan), and always coming prepared with vibrant, drag-alicious outfits. Furthermore, Avu-chan (who, I believe, identifies as trans) would often switch between a gruff ‘male’ voice and a squeakier ‘female’ register, keeping the vocal work dynamic. Even in PV tracks like “デスコ (disco)” or "フランス人形の呪い (France ningyou no noroi)", it was common for the band musicians to keep the distortion and zaniness set at 11, while Avu-chan did her thing. This flamboyant sound and aesthetic more or less continued for the next two mini-albums. It was the dry spell from 2012-2015 that seems to have had the biggest impact on the band’s sound. Since their return, it's not uncommon to see the band members with natural hair colors and sporting simple outfits, like suits. The sound also became uncharacteristically polished with songs like “スリラ (Thriller)“ or "金星 (kinsei)" ironing out the band’s signature fuzzy edge. Although Avu-chan now exhibits commendably more vocal control, the unpredictable melodies are all but gone. While I can see why the second wave of Ziyoou-Vachi has garnered more popularity (working alongside the likes of NEGOTO, Tokyo Jihen’s Ukigumo and the dresscodes’ Ryohei Shima; well-attended festival appearances; TV interviews and commercial work for Avu-chan; etc.), I think many of us here at MH miss the band’s former noisy glory.

@doombox's Pick
   
狼哦 (ハートレス) →TSUYOSHI (Unveil Raze)
Rouga (Heartless) → TSUYOSHI (Unveil Raze)

     Maybe since I'm still not finished emotionally digesting the ハートレス (Heartless) reunion I was able to attend last year (which also happened to be my very first visual kei concert experience in Japan, ayeeeeee) and witnessing the departure from what Heartless used to be to what the members are currently involved in really stayed with me. Especially guitarist Rouga's transformation to his current evolution in the band Unveil Raze where he performs under the name Tsuyoshi Ikeda. While his playing sounds like a natural progression from Heartless' more metal aspects, Tsuyoshi has fully dropped the flowery, melodic aspects that make visual kei what it is and has moved straight into hard rock and metal full-time. His physical changes are the most notable now that he's just about covered himself with tattoos, shaved off his hair (up until very recently started growing it back out again), put on some muscle mass, and dropped all of the heavy make up. It's always interesting to me to see how certain visual musicians would be when they aren't in full costume and if the reception of them would be more or less favorable. Tsuyoshi is a strong case in point that music will speak for itself in the end no matter how it's dressed up. Though, I remain a strong believer that a little eyeliner never hurt anyone.

@Zeus's Pick

  

XecsNoin → XECSNOIN

Let me recount to you a story of a band who was always behind the curve, and why only following trends will get you nowhere. XECSNOIN, originally stylized XecsNoin, formed in 1998 as yet another melodic rock visual kei band inspired by the Finnish and Scandinavian death metal scenes. A few things were working against this band from the very start, as their activities coincided with an overall shift in the sound and style of visual kei. The goth style was losing popularity and this left XecsNoin out in the cold. A rotating cast of members did them no favors as well; originally the group was LOKI (vocals), JIN (guitar), K (guitar), JUN (bass) and Yuzuki (drums) which is pictured left. Constant member changes plagued the band - they replaced five members in three years - and while the band was stable long enough to record their first album, vocalist LOKI quit and then drummer HiЯo was fired not long after. K, JUN, and  ZAKURO persevered, changed their name to XECSNOIN and their sound to death metal - because that was all the rage in 2005 - and found K.K. and ZEN for drummer and vocalist respectively. At some point around 2010 after releasing a single and EP with a more melodeath sound, both K.K. and ZEN left and were replaced by vocalist U (ex. THE EIGHT) and guitarist HIROKI (ex. EXCEPTION). Unlike THE EIGHT, XECSNOIN managed to put U to work and released their second album Corridor to the Sky. Even though they've changed radically, you can still hear the visual kei influence in "DISILLUSION", linked below. Unfortunately, troubles were never far and the Reaper of 2016 took XECSNOIN in his grip of disbandment along with other fan favorites. Perhaps this one was more merciful than most, but I believe XECSNOIN wallowed in obscurity precisely because all they did was follow trends. "DISILLUSION" is their most recent sound. "Spiritual Road" is as early as YouTube allows, but there's even older than this! Also the picture is very misleading but whatever.

@togz's Picks

てんてん (餞ハナむケ。→KuRt→朱ィ。→ケミカルピクチャーズ→kiss my way→My BACTERIA HEAT IsLAND→ラッコ)
Tenten (Hanamuke→KuRt→Benii→Chemical Pictures→kiss my way→My BACTERIA HEAT IsLAND→LACK-CO.)
Tenten (Taira Kazuhiro) debuted in the visual kei scene in the year 2000 with a little band called Hanamuke. That means our little (not so little anymore) buddy here has been at it for SIXTEEN YEARS! While his tendency to bounce from band to band may be an annoyance to some, it's a godsend to others. Generally the groups he partakes in only last a few years or are ideas that never fully surface, but his fans are left with the feeling he will always be back. Musically he's dipped his toes in a variety of styles. Hanamuke and KuRt have a similar sound and style while Chemical Pictures had a lighter look and less harsh vocals. He's always had a raspy feeling to his vocal technique and proved his skill to growl or scream, but over the past 16 years he has grown not only as a vocalist but as a person as well. His most recent project is LACK-CO. which includes other well-known faces in the scene such as IVY (ex. DIO, Remming), SAN (ex. NEGA/BFN), and Milk (fka Satoshi ex. para:noir) There is no telling for sure how long this act will last, but it's good to see him still active in the scene after all these years and bands.

 

@plastic_rainbow's Picks

怜 (Clarity → kannivalism → バロック → baroque → kannivalism → BAROQUE)

Ryo (Clarity → kannivalism → barokku → baroque → kannivalism → BAROQUE)

Where do I even begin with this guy? Ryo has gone through so many different transformations throughout his music career, both aesthetically and musically. If you've never bothered looking at his band history, you may not realize that he wasn't always that orange/brown haired punk with lip piercings or the simpler blonde-haired man that he now is. Believe it or not, Ryo used to dress-up in an old school visual kei style with his brighter orange/red hair in messy pigtails, wearing crazy colored contacts that is evident from his early days of Clarity (1998-2000), old kannivalism (2001), and very early baroque (2001-2004). Later, Ryo leaned on a more mature and manly appearance, growing a goatee in the late years of old baroque, and then gradually grew his hair out in second era kannivalism (2006-2011). All of that is now in the past though. Musically, his singing style follows the same trend as his appearance. Ryo began singing in quirks and cackles that are quintessential to older visual kei, which you can hear in "トリップショートケーキ (Trip Short Cake)". During some experimentation over the years, his vocals went from a deep to a rap-singing style, that is sometimes raspy, gentle, and whispery as he does in "Ila.", or just something completely fun and wacky like in "カスタリーンナ (Castarina)". Ryo is probably one of the most versatile Japanese vocalists that I know of and it's quite unfortunate that he now lazily employs autotune in the new BAROQUE (2012-present). It's true that he has used autotune before, but only to a lesser extent. The amplified autotune in a song like "DREAMSCAPE" for instance, camouflages all his singing talent in the years before. Who knows, maybe he'll make another abrupt change in the coming years. Whatever he does, I sure hope it'll be good.

 

 

悠希 (Crystallium(gt) → SUBDUAL → De stijllia → 人格ラヂオ → Solo)

Yuuki (Crystallium(gt) → SUBDUAL → De stijllia → Jinkaku Radio → Solo)

Although Yuuki performed in several bands before, he is most well-known as the vocalist, guitarist, and main composer of Jinkaku Radio (2001-2012). Jinkaku Radio was an indie duo which, at a glance, seemed to follow the string of dark and heavy suit-kei bands. However, what made them stand out musically from the rest was the softer, yet nasally vocals of Yuuki's. Their musical style was also less aggressive as Yuuki rarely screamed or growled, and mostly sang in anguish or grief along with heart-rending guitars and sad melodies, which in turn labeled them heavily as gloomy and depressing. Despite showing their brighter side during lives -- Yuuki manically flinging a cloth doll at the audience and fooling around with balloons -- the forlorn image from their music left such a strong impression that it became quite a shock to most fans when the duo started putting out happy-go-lucky music out of nowhere. It was as if they were injected with some happy oshare kei fluids and had magically recovered from all their misery. Although it's true that they released something cheerful before, which was basically a tongue-in-cheek song about bangyarus, it wasn't until the release of their second album Ichibyou in 2010 that they started writing upbeat music as part of their actual serious music. Currently, Yuuki continues writing music as a solo artist, and as he basically wrote all of Jinkaku Radio's songs he can still pull off some of the same sounds in his solo works. However, it's highly unlikely that we'll hear any more of those heart-wrenching and depressing songs like "姥捨て山(Ubasuteyama)" or "午後の落下(Gogo no rakka)" again, which essentially encompassed the melancholy and wistfulness of Jinkaku Radio.

 

 

悠璃 (9ミリ。) → ゆーり (イロクイ。) → おかゆさん (秘密結社パンピー)

Yuuri (9MIRI.) → Yuuri (Irokui.) → Okayusan (Himitsu Kessha Hanpii)

In the visual kei scene it's nothing unusual to see a male dress-up all feminine and girly. Yet, even though so many visual kei musicians wear dresses, frills, thick eyelashes, and lipstick as part of their getup, very few go as far as undergoing a sex change. Okayusan (or Okayu), formerly known as Yuuri from the oshare kei band Irokui. (2005-2011), was one of the few who did. It happened not too long after Irokui.'s disbandment in 2011 that Yuuri underwent surgery and even went into prostitution under the name of Yuu Takizawa for a while. Seeing that she gradually became less of a colorful punk and more of a gorgeous looking woman during the late years of Irokui., especially in their last look for Aimai Stripe before the disbandment, the sudden sex change did not come off as a huge shock to me. Still, the rumors of her being involved in prostitution shook fans in many ways. Even though Okayusan now lives her daily life as a woman and as a youtuber, it does not change the fact that she still holds the same passion for singing as she made a short return to the music scene in 2012 along with ex.Irokui. guitarist Hazuki to form Himitsu Kessha Panpii. Two years later, she also sang for one song in contribution with a producer named TACOS NAOMI, but as far as singing again full time goes, the idea seems to be nothing but a thing of the past.

-----------------------------------
We hope you enjoyed the list! Maybe we'll do another installment in the future!
Which of these transformations is most surprising to you?

[violetchain 912]

Gonna throw in a mention for Daisuke (media youth -> THE SOUND BEE HD).

 

[Alkaloid 3143]

Futarishizuka (Villeyge -> Pretty Neurosis -> Cleha Kinema -> Musette*Minette -> MaRiLL -> Crucifixion)

Otoiroha -> Zigzag

Tatsuya -> Pami (CRESCENT -> Syndrome -> Buzz Strip Youth -> glammy -> LeZ -> Amano Jack -> ELECTNINE -> Zechs -> Pami -> Neologic)

Eru. (Lilas -> O_DBLE -> VAJRA -> AWAKE)

Reload -> Grieva

Ryuuto (Teddy -> ClearVeil -> Amamiya Ryuto -> -the MelT- -> Carat -> Pinocchio)

[returnal 543]

everybody's favorite Johannes (→ CROW(璃和) → 苺69(そら) → メロウ☆ぴんきぃ→ meth.(空→sora) → cocklobin(sora) → Develop One's Faculties) definitely comes to mind, while also making total sense

 

couple notes—would consider the title of this thread to be a bit clickbaity? a lot of these strike me as rather natural evolutions, or at least not Super Wild? just my imo, though

and i'd say Cornelius's whole thing isn't that crazy, it seems like it makes sense given the trajectory from FG through his earliest solo records into Fantasma and into Point and so on...

(also i consider myself a staunch defender of Ryo's direction and of autotune in general, LOL

and a staunch defender of both eras of Ziyoou-vachi)

(that being said, i find the Eliphas Levi -> vinett transformation endlessly fascinating)

Edited June 16, 2017 by returnal

[suji 8317]

Sui (Ghost Phobia ➡ Metis Gretel ➡ Megaromania ➡ lin ➡ David)

 

 

Edited June 16, 2017 by sheepprincessgara

[cvltic 1482]

this is a fun article. i submit for your consideration basically everyone in ass'n'arrow except the vocalist who i assume has a real job now (photo is merely an estimate)



(l-r Yuze/ORCALADE, Takaki/ORCALADE [ex. deathgaze], salaryman, #FreeAkinori/lynch. [ex. meth. with our boy Johannes])

 

Edited June 16, 2017 by cvltic

[Peace Heavy mk II 7200]

Can we light a prayer candle for LAER, please?

 

He went from typical heavy-ish turn-of-the-century frontman (think early D'espa) 

 

(2nd to the right in both pictures)

   

 

To a budget Asagi in his over acted, over exerted band Dark Schneider.

 

Then, when that wasn't cutting it, he dropped the vampire schtick for and became an oshare Oyaji with MiralD, then the L-Word ... I mean L-The World

 

(2nd to the left in both pics) 

 

 

 

[saishuu 3220]

basically Rentrer en Soi -> RENTRER EN SOI as a whole

 

 

Edited June 16, 2017 by saishuu

[helcchi 942]

Ha;qch, VAJRA, THE GLADROW, BALLY

↓↓↓

Awake

 

 

 

l-r: Shibito/FUGA (ex.ASYURA, Ha;qch.), Sayuki/YUKIO (ex.Ha;qch.), L/Eru. (ex.VAJRA), Naotsu/NAOTO (ex.THE GLADROW), yuki (ex.BALLY)

[Pretsy 1343]

Not VK but Fear and Loathing's Taiki obviously

 

(blurry, sorry)

 

He basically dropped dat typical mid-00s emo shtick (a bit like that Smosh guy) and went full-on crazy from there...

 

 

His latest look (I think, he may have changed it completely though)

 

Spoiler

'

The second guy on the left

 

 

 

 

Edited June 17, 2017 by Alroy

[returnal 543]

^the definition of iconic^

[Takadanobabaalien 3607]

he looks like someone who is going to chikan your ass in the tokyo subway

[nick 10212]

For me, it's the entire DIR EN GREY band members. DIR EN GREY in 1997 and nowadays are like complete different bands in every aspect. 

[returnal 543]

1 hour ago, Takadanobabaalien said:

he looks like someone who is going to chikan your ass in the tokyo subway

i'd say more "gay bar denizen parodying a subway pervert"

 

33 minutes ago, nostalgia said:

For me, it's the entire DIR EN GREY band members. DIR EN GREY in 1997 and nowadays are like completely different bands in every aspect. 

YEAH

[Himeaimichu 1535]

35 minutes ago, nostalgia said:

For me, it's the entire DIR EN GREY band members. DIR EN GREY in 1997 and nowadays are like completely different bands in every aspect. 

Heck, Dir en Grey even made a big transition from 1997 to 1999. First, Kyo can't sing for shit, then Yoshiki comes under the table and suddenly, he can sing xD

[nick 10212]

KAMIJO has never changed though.

 

 

[Himeaimichu 1535]

Mei from Kuroyuri to Kage had a pretty big transition from his first band with Koyomi and K, known as "Arutema" (He had another band before, but his first Kuroyuri proto-band would be Arutema), which looked like your general mid 2000's Vkei shtick. This continued with Jigsaw, except he wore way more piercings. Then Memento Mori formed and he wore a pseudo-Military outfit and much darker makeup. However, by the time they had released their first Mini album, he began wearing Kimono, and by their 2nd mini, he had even darker makeup. Then in Kuroyuri to Kage, he began wearing European style clothing. Now he sticks to suit and tie. His band mates have also changed a lot over time, but Mei has changed the most.

Spoiler

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Himeaimichu 1535]

I just realised though, the biggest transformation of Vkei is La'Mule. Whereas Dir en Grey slowly became casual, La'Mule did it within a matter of less than a year.

Let me set the scene. It's the early 2000's, and Soleil is a failed label. Though they already closed their doors, they were releasing whatever they still could.  Most bands would just disband, but La'Mule, well, they kinda just decided to fuck it. (Ironically, La'Mule actually was signed to a major label for a year, but they left that label in favour of Soleil)

And remember, this was the same band that invented Horror VisualKei. They were one of the first fledged horror themed bands. Kon used to preform with  a noose around his neck, wear a handmade net top, and wear bloody, used gauze. They used to make songs about death, and killing, and demons, and eccentric marxists.

Then, in 2002, they released "Fit to naked the heavens fall", and well shit went downhill from here.  

Ironically, it seemed as if no one liked it anyway, since it's hard finding La'Mule stuff post 2001. I have a better time finding their unreleased stuff from 1996 than I do actual releases from 2001 onwards. And well, in 2003, they broke up. 

After that, Kon and You-ya formed a supergroup with a non-Vkei image called Red Carpet, but stuff from them is also hard to find too. Go figure.

Then, in 2005, Kon and Kaie (who has been with Kon since his side project alongside La'Mule, Geno, and was in Vasalla) formed NightingeiL, a VisualKei band that for once, got them back into the music scene. They had a similar aesthetic to La'Mule, but more modernised. A lot of Vkei bands, such as Dir en Grey, were turning toward Nu Metal at this time, and naturally so did Kon. 

Then in 2010, La'Mule comes back, and looks the same as they did back in the 90's (They don't seem to age), and after they disband in 2012, Kon, Nao and Sin would form Cell, which was a further modernisation of their sound, but kept a 90's favouring look. 

Spoiler

La'Mule in 2001

La'Mule months later. 

Red Carpet

NightingeiL

Cell

So basically, it's like they go from Blood, Guts and Gore, to "We're just a regular band", back to "Blood guts and gore, but more modern", to "Blood, guts and gore, but like the 90's, and more red"

Edited June 19, 2017 by AimiGen7

[Anne Claire 392]

Gene (FINSTERNIS → Medue'obscur → ドレスコード → SectMateria → SectMa(Gene) → (まりお★ねっと)(ジェネ★) → DIS★Marionette → (期間限定ジェネ★ソロ・プロジェクト「ドラッグ」) → DEVI+TEC→Sick2)

Medue'obscur


(SectMateria)



(Sick²)




I'm also a lil' bit surprised that no one had mentioned exist†trace yet. 

This is exist†trace in 2006


And that's how they look now. Feel old yet?

[violetchain 912]

Since some non-VK bands were mentioned, I need to throw in Tanashin from Good Morning America going from a barely noticeable emo kid bassist in their previous band for better, for worse and in early Good Morning America to suddenly becoming basically the band mascot.

 

[Takadanobabaalien 3607]

Misa has also had a pretty fun transformation. Active since 1997 and is now producing bands at white side group.

 

Misa (→嘆キ使徒(Nageki shito)→Da’vidノ使徒:aL (Da'vid no shito:aL)→Klein Kaiser→架空ノ人々 (Kakku no hitobito)→Aioria→RusH→バビロン(Babylon)

Nageki shito:



 

Da'vid no shito:aL

(guy in the zebra outfit)



 

Klein Kaiser

(guy in the middle)



 

Kakku no hitobito

(guy to the right)



 

Aioria:





 

Babylon:

(to the left on both)



 

 

 

[Anne Claire 392]

Fuck, i forgot about Yukina(メシアの肖像→L～CYFER（Gt）→Madeth gray'll→Qyubere(Vo)) x'DD

Yukina in Madeth gray'll
 


Yukina in Qyubere x'DDD

 

[Chi 2624]

my favorite

 

[Nagisa 131]

Very interesting topic. Thanks for making it!

[avaritonista 116]

chocked by Irokui's vocalist...