D'espairsRay

D'espairsRay
D'espairsRay in Los Angeles, 2007
D'espairsRay in Los Angeles, 2007
Background information
Also known asAnimalmania
OriginJapan
Genres
Years active
  • 1999–2011
  • 2014
Labels
Past membersHizumi
Karyu
Zero
Tsukasa
Websitedespairsray.jp

D'espairsRay (formerly stylized as DéspairsRay or +DéspairsRay+) was a Japanese visual kei rock band active from 1999 to 2011. The lineup of Hizumi on vocals, Karyu on guitar, Zero on bass and Tsukasa on drums remained the same, with the group having released four full-length records, three EPs and thirteen singles. Outside Japan, D'espairsRay have toured Europe and North America and had domestic releases in those territories.

They performed at the Wacken Open Air festival in 2006, to several thousand people,[4] and a second album, titled Mirror was released on April 11, 2007.[5] They also performed during Jrock Revolution 2007 held on Memorial Weekend in Los Angeles, California. In 2008 they performed at the Taste of Chaos tour in the United States.

On March 11, 2009, their third album Redeemer was released. In the summer of 2010, the band had a world tour entitled Human-Clad Monsters in which they performed in Japan, the US, Canada and Europe. After the last show of the tour, on December 30, the band went on an indefinite hiatus so Hizumi could recover from a rare throat condition.[6] However, on June 15, 2011, D'espairsRay announced that they had no choice but to disband, due to Hizumi's health having no recovery in sight.[6][7] D'espairsRay reunited for a one-night performance on July 29, 2014.

  1. ^ Smyers, Darryl (16 August 2010). "Tonight's D'espairsRay Show at The Loft Has Been Canceled". Dallas Observer. Retrieved 12 March 2018.
  2. ^ Eremenko, Alexey. "D'espairsRay – Artist Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
  3. ^ Freeman, Phil. "Redeemer - D'espairsRay".
  4. ^ "2006 billing/bands". wacken.com. Archived from the original on 2007-03-09. Retrieved 2007-01-28.
  5. ^ "Mirror release information". cdjapan.co.jp.
  6. ^ a b "D'espairsRay announces their official disbandment". tokyohive.com. Retrieved 2011-06-15.
  7. ^ "D'espairsRay officially disbands". shattered-tranquility.net. Retrieved 2011-06-15.