BLOOD

BLOOD was formed in February 2002 with Kiwamu on guitar, Kaede on bass, and DAI on vocals. The band wasted no time in getting to work, releasing their first demo, morphine, less than a month after forming. In April, BLOOD welcomed their second guitarist, Taichi, and in August their first maxi-single, BLOODTYPE, was available for sale. BLOOD's first live took place at Nishikujou BRAND NEW in Osaka near the end of the year. That year also saw the opening of their official English website and Takeshi joining the band as a second vocalist.

2003 began with a series of lives throughout Japan. Unfortunately, DAI was soon dismissed from BLOOD for not taking his role in the band seriously and not being willing to invest enough of his time and money towards its success. Soon after, Takeshi took his place as the main vocalist. They played their first show in the US at Fanime 2003's Gakufest in San Francisco, and another at Anime Expo 2003 in Los Angeles, laying the foundation for a loyal overseas following.

2004 was a busy year for BLOOD, kicking off with another US anime convention performance, followed by the release of their first mini-album, Blood. Unfortunately, just days after their first live in Tokyo at Ikebukuro Cyber, Taichi and Takeshi both left the band. The vocal position was quickly filled, however, by fu-ki. In April, they performed in Europe for the first time, with a sold-out show at Glaz'Art in Paris, France. Their first European one-man tour, Vengeance for BLOOD, took them to Germany and France, with a second leg taking them to Poland as well.

Continuing their international activities, BLOOD performed their first show in Mexico at TNT 9 in Mexico City during their Vengeance for BLOOD 3 tour. After the release of their second mini-album, Vengeance for BLOOD 2, they once again headed to Europe, before returning to Mexico for three more shows.

Vengeance for BLOOD 3, the final CD of their trilogy, hit stores in 2006. That year also saw BLOOD wrap up their lengthy Vengeance for BLOOD tour series with Vengeance for BLOOD 9 ~The Last Tour~, which had been announced as their final tour before pausing activities. However, this turned out to be a joke, courtesy of Kiwamu.

After two years away, BLOOD finally returned to the US in 2006 for two shows before capping off their tour with two lives in Mexico City. They then shifted focus to working on their "LES FLEURS DU MAL" concept series, which was based on the poetry of French author Charles Pierre Baudelaire. Between lives in Europe, the US and Mexico, BLOOD continued playing shows in Japan on a regular basis and participating in sponsor events, which often included bands such as Suicide Ali and The Candy Spooky Theater.

Kiwamu later opened Cure Distribution, a website geared toward non-Japanese musicians, with the goal of distributing CDs by foreign artists in a number of Japanese stores. The company has since been renamed Darkest Labyrinth, in order to encompass all of BLOOD and Kiwamu's projects, but continues to provide foreign artists with distribution avenues in Japan.

In March of 2007, BLOOD performed four dates in the US for their Darkest Labyrinth vol.1 tour and released a full-length album, LES FLEURS DU MAL on July 7th. Later that summer, BLOOD had the opportunity to provide music for the movie "Rise: Blood Hunter," also known simply as "BLOOD" in Japan, starring Lucy Liu. D.T.M.H. was used as the movie's theme song. August also saw the band return to Europe for another tour. While five performances were planned, one ended up being canceled due to organizational problems.

In September, BLOOD kicked off their new concept, "Symphony of Chaos" with the release of DEAD-HEARTED, a CD that took the band's music in a more gothic-industrial direction. At the end of the month, Kiwamu announced that he had joined the electro-industrial baroque band, GPKISM alongside vocalist GPK. That fall, BLOOD took another trip to Mexico, playing at TNT 14 in Mexico City. Before the end of the year, they announced their next US tour, with a subsequent announcement that DJ SiSeN would join them for the shows. The tour, which kicked off on February 1, 2008, took them to four different states. Unfortunately, due to illness, Kaede was unable to accompany them to the US. Instead, they brought Ryo of Blam Honey in as a guest, and he later became their official keyboardist.

In May, the band released their fifth album, which included remixes by Calmando Qual, Virgins O.R. Pigeons, GPK and others. BLOOD spent the early days of June in Australia with GPKISM on their Darkest Labyrinth vol.8 tour. It marked the first performance of a Japanese visual band in Australia. By November, BLOOD announced that they would once again tour the USA and Mexico for their BLOOD Final Tour: La Fin De La Journee. Although kaede and Ryo did not accompany the band, GPK and DJ SiSeN joined BLOOD for their final tour before disbanding. Prior to the seven-date tour, the band released their last album, Lost Sky, on January 28th.

BLOOD announced their revival in 2011. This return saw the band take on a whole new line up, with Hayato from SaTaN on vocals, Azami from project-Merrow- on bass, Dora from kenllre on drums and, of course, Kiwamu on guitar. That March, after the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, Kiwamu announced that a portion of the profits from his two labels, Starwave Records and Darkest Labyrinth, would go to GACKT’s SHOW YOUR HEART campaign.

This new incarnation of BLOOD played its first live, 4th period 1st live, at Meguro Rockmaykan on June 4th and released the maxi-single Bathory on June 15th. That November, BLOOD embarked on a brief tour of North America, performing in Toronto and New York before appearing at Virginia’s Anime USA on the 18th.

The next spring would see the band add yet another European tour to their resume. They hit an impressive eight countries, starting with Belgium on March 31st and ending in Russia on April 15th, although bassist Asami could not join them due to budget restrictions and activities with his other band, Misaruka. Unfortunately, vocalist Hayato would leave BLOOD after their two-day anniversary live in June, stating that he wished to stay true to himself and to devote his full attention to another project he had in the works.

As Kiwamu is currently occupied with promoting, designing, handling merchandise, producing videos, and a number of other tasks for the many artists on his labels, what the future will hold for BLOOD remains to be seen.