Visual kei

Visual Kei, visual kei, or Visual Style, is an artistic movement among Japanese musicians that is characterised by visual kei use of make-up, elaborate hair styles and flamboyant costumes, often, but not always, coupled with androgynous aestheticsin the style of David Bowie. You can see more of the history over on the Useful Notes page, if you like.

Or, perhaps, even an unexpected run-in with a niche Japanese rock band at a music festival. For myself and many others, a niche within Japanese rock called v isual kei in which kei means style was the initial force that drew us toward Japanese culture and later directly into Japan, all over the country, into concert halls large and small. Characterized by visual appearances just as much as music, visual kei is a hallmark of Japanese culture. It blends fashion, bold lyrics and themes, and musical styles seamlessly into a genre that you can truly only find in Japan. While never becoming mainstream, the genre gained popularity steadily in the 80s and 90s.

Visual kei

Visual kei originated in the late 80s, but was heavily influenced by early 80s Japanese Goth rock and Post-Punk bands in its visuals particularly bands like Auto-Mod, Madame Edwarda, Phaidia, and Die Zibet. Going even further back, the Japanese Post-Punk bands were musically and aesthetically influenced by members of particularly theatrical Goth and neo-Glam bands, like Japan, Hanoi Rocks. The results of this conglomeration of influences include very flamboyant and big hair, heavy makeup, and elaborate costumes of varying styles. Determining whether a band is visual kei or not is generally rather easy - it can be as simple as looking at images of the band, and either the fans or the artists themselves will be sure to let you know if they are, as it's generally a conscious choice to be a part of the scene. As it is primarily a visual style, it's impossible to pin down visual kei by hearing alone, and to dismiss a band as "not visual kei" based on their sound is unwise, as the music can range from J-pop to extreme metal to electronic dance music. A subgenre of visual kei that deals with the topic of macabre fetishism in both its visuals and lyrics. Caligari is considered the pioneer of the genre. Bands that utilize hospital and medical themes as part of their songs, often in a sort of horror theme. A label given to the earliest visual kei bands that shaped the genre. There is no defining trait beyond being many of the iconic bands that came to be in to s. There is an overall less polished look and a wide range of styles is worn. Bands that are highly inspired by historical European styles such as baroque , Victorian , and rococo as well as elements of classical music. The outfits are usually extremely detailed and elaborate costumes, with dramatic makeup to match. Bands that are associated with this style are Malice Mizer, Lariene, Versailles and the musician Kaya.

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Originally influenced by glam rock and other s rock music styles, visual kei musicians incorporate varying levels of make-up, elaborate hairstyles and costumes, often coupled with an androgynous aesthetic. The term visual kei was coined in the s and is sometimes also called a music genre or style, similar to Shibuya-kei. However, there are no defined characteristics for the music played by visual kei acts, and whether or not one is considered a part of the movement is based solely on their having an emphasis on visuals and performance. Many acts tone-down their appearance upon achieving mainstream success, calling into question whether they are still to be considered visual kei. The term "visual kei" was derived from one of X Japan 's slogans, "Psychedelic Violence Crime of Visual Shock", seen on the cover of their second studio album Blue Blood

Visual Kei, or Visual Style, is an artistic movement among Japanese musicians that is characterised by the use of make-up, elaborate hair styles and flamboyant costumes, often, but not always, coupled with androgynous aesthetics , in the style of David Bowie. You can see more of the history over on the Useful Notes page, if you like. It is often considered a Sub-Genre of J-rock a term referring to Japanese rock in general , with its roots in Glam Rock , Shock Rock , Punk , Heavy Metal , and Kabuki Theater, though its use outside of Japan is making this somewhat an outdated definition. As is usual amongst more theatrical musical genres, the aesthetics are supposed to be as strong as the music in order to complement and enhance it, and although there have been many trends over the years there is no defining sound. In the current scene, for instance, the most commonly used genres are hard rock and Heavy Metal except for within the Oshare subgenre, which favours pop-punk or pop rock, and Digital kei, which can span everything from Electronic Music to pop , but there is also horror punk, Power Metal , Gothic Metal , electronic , pop rock, nu-metal , Industrial , Metalcore and even Death Metal. Even some rare Rap Metal and straight-up rap can be found. Exactly which genres are used often depends on the time period: In the 80's rock and glam metal were popular; in the 90's a heavy goth influence came in and many bands developed a softer or more experimental sound, with the use of synth becoming common; and in the early s Metalcore , Alternative Metal and Pop Punk have become the norm. Despite the highly feminine appearance of many VK musicians, the majority of band members, as with other rock genres, are male.

Visual kei

Visual Kei is a unique Japanese music and fashion movement that has been around since the early s. It is characterized by its outrageous and often outrageous costumes, makeup, and hairstyles, as well as its heavy use of guitar and synthesizer-driven music. This style of music and fashion has become increasingly popular in recent years and has been adopted by musicians and fans around the world. In this article, we'll take a look at the history of Visual Kei and how it has evolved over the years. While the bands definitely helped to start the movement of Visual Kei, record labels including Extasy Records and Free-Will from Tokyo and Osaka are known for helping the Visual Kei scene spread throughout the country of Japan. It was in however, that the band X Japan broke up and the future of Visual Kei was in jeopardy as much of the novelty had begun to wear off as fresh blood began to take over the musical market in Japan. Some of this new blood has also mixed with the old as the founders of the movement went on to adapt their sound and fashion trends with their new bands. Visual Kei as we know it today is exemplified by eccentric and flamboyant costumes that are worn by rock or punk bands. Some of these Japanese rock bands are also known to bear an androgynous or feminine look as well.

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Cool Bike : These occasionally make appearances in videos or photoshoots - especially from the early days, when bosozoku and yankii and Visual Kei had a larger connection. Show more. Archivado desde el original el 12 de octubre de There's quite a few people, for example, who wish a specific subgenre had never developed Oshare gets this a lot from metal fans, but so does Eroguro from people who find it a misogynistic, backward embarrassment , or that Post-Visual had never became a thing. Fort Worth Weekly. Some bands have written songs with misogynistic lyrics. Nagoya and Eroguro bands tend to invoke Mind Screw more than other bands, but in a particular case of an entire band being Mind Screw incarnate, there is the post-Visual Kei band Dir en grey , who use Nightmare Fuel and Surreal Horror in their songs, videos, and live performances. Yui Itsuki. One only needs to watch an X-Japan video to recognize its decadent glam influences, as drummer Yoshiki is often decked out in lace stockings and torn black leather vests. Natalie in Japanese.

Last Updated: May 11, This article was co-authored by Joanne Gruber. She has worked in the fashion and style industries for over 10 years, specializing in educating people on the art of re-purposing existing clothing to freshen up a wardrobe.

Completely opposite to the old-school bands, osare-kei bands were known for their colorful and fancy aesthetics closer to the Harajuku street fashion. Same for paying taxes. The term has become the subject of misuse, with ignorant fans often applying the label to any dark and heavy J-metal group regardless of origin or musical style, such as the case with Luna Sea and 9Goats Black Out, despite not being from Nagoya though it is somewhat acceptable nowadays to use the label for any VK band that shows the archetypal attitude, sound and image of true Nagoya kei bands, regardless of origin. While some bands and friendships break up due to intense drama and there are some artists who or whose fans do, or both intensely hate each other, many other people just drift apart for other reasons, bands break up for financial or label reasons or creative differences or a member being in legal trouble etcetera, and therefore they remain on friendly terms and will sometimes come back to work with each other. According to sales figures from online music store CDJapan, some of the internationally popular visual kei acts on the late s include the Gazette, Kamijo , Nocturnal Bloodlust , Versailles, Jupiter , Mejibray , lynch. Which leads to the presence of the Well, visual kei isn't a genre of music; it's used to categorize the bands that show their unique characteristics with their costumes and makeup, though sometimes the music doesn't necessarily fit the image. Ainu music Rekuhkara Southern Islands. Oshare kei: Oshare means fashionable, which this style certainly was in the early s! Is Serious Business : Probably one of the saddest examples is Yoshiki at hide's funeral.