Schwarz Stein is a Japanese

visual kei , abbreviated , is a category of Japanese musicians that have a strong focus on extravagant stage costumes that originated in Japan during the early 1980s. Koji Dejima of '' Bounce'' wrote that visual kei is not a specific sound, but rather it " ...

electronic music Electronic music broadly is a group of music genres that employ electronic musical instruments, circuitry-based music technology and software, or general-purpose electronics (such as personal computers) in its creation. It includes both music ...

duo formed by Hora (洞) and Kaya (迦夜) in 2001 (as "Rudolf Steiner"), who disbanded in 2004 and rebanded in 2014.

Biography

History

During its first three years of activity, the group consisted of

Kaya Kaya may refer to: People *Kaya (given name) * Kaya (surname) Places *Kaya, Burkina Faso, a town in Burkina Faso, capital of the department * Kaya Airport, serving the town * Kaya Department, a department or commune of Sanmatenga Province in cen ...

on vocals (ex-Isola) and Hora (ex-Velvet Eden) as keyboardist and programmer. The two originally worked together under the alias Rudolf Steiner until their signing to ex-

Malice Mizer Malice Mizer (stylized as MALICE MIZER) was a Japanese visual kei Rock music, rock band active from 1992 to 2001. The band was notable for their music and their live shows, featuring lavish historical costumes and stage sets, with short silent ...

guitarist

Mana Mana may refer to: Religion and mythology * Mana (Oceanian cultures), the spiritual life force energy or healing power that permeates the universe in Melanesian and Polynesian mythology * Mana (food), archaic name for manna, an edible substance m ...

's record label Midi:Nette. Upon their 're-formation', Mana discarded the name Rudolf Steiner and christened the duo "Schwarz Stein" (pseudo-German for "Black Stone"). Prior to their name change, two demo tapes (''Queen of Decadence'' and ''Perfect Garden'') had been released. A re-worked version of ''Perfect Garden'' was later created as their Midi:Nette debut single. Schwarz Stein went on to release their first full album ''New Vogue Children'' in June 2003, the single ''Current'' in November of the same year, and then their final album ''Artificial Hallucination'' in February 2004. They opened for

Moi dix Mois Moi dix Mois (lit. "Me Ten Months" in French) is a Japanese visual kei gothic metal band, founded in 2002 by Mana after Malice Mizer paused activities. The guitarist and sole songwriter has been the only constant member in a series of lineup chan ...

on several occasions, played at various events, and also made a number solo appearances as well. Following their last performance on March 29, 2004, Schwarz Stein officially disbanded due to creative differences between its two members. The band was briefly reunited for the "''Dis Inferno III: Last Year Party''" event on December 15, 2004, hosted by their former label Midi:Nette. A collaboration CD, ''another cell'', was released in April 2006, limited to 1000 copies and only available for order through Kaya'
official site
This limited edition CD features re-mixed/re-worked versions of Rudolf Steiner's "Kuro Ageha" as well as two songs from Hora's first CD ''Inner Universe'', making up three of the eight total tracks. In April 2011, both members announced on their respective web sites that Schwarz Stein would reunite for a single show on July 31 at Takadanobaba Area, to celebrate their 10th anniversary of working together. Tickets were also made available to overseas fans via CD Japan. A new mini-album, ''Recurrence of Hallucination'', was also announced. After the live DVD of the show was released entitled ''Recurrence of Hallucination -LIVE-'' via Hora's website In February 2014, at his final Gothic Elements tour concert in Shibuya, Kaya announced Schwarz Stein would regroup, with their first live performance and a new single in March.

Members

Vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...

lyrics Lyrics are words that make up a song, usually consisting of verses and choruses. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist. The words to an extended musical composition such as an opera are, however, usually known as a "libretto" and their writer, ...

* Hora - Keyboards,

programming Program (American English; also Commonwealth English in terms of computer programming and related activities) or programme (Commonwealth English in all other meanings), programmer, or programming may refer to: Business and management * Program m ...

Discography

as Rudolf Steiner

* ''Queen of Decadence'' (demo) (June 1, 2001) * ''Perfect Garden'' (demo) (November 12, 2001)

as Schwarz Stein

Singles

* ''Perfect Garden'' (July 31, 2002) * ''Current'' (November 17, 2003) * ''Gebet'' (March 26, 2014) * ''COCOON -Fallen-'' (July 2, 2014) * ''Sleeping Madness'' (November 5, 2014) * ''Fleeting Beauty'' (February 26, 2017) *''Ever After'' (May 11, 2019) *''Queen Leech'' (July 20, 2019)

Albums

* '' New vogue children'' (June 30, 2003) * ''Artificial Hallucination'' (February 25, 2004) * ''Recurrence of Hallucination'' (July 20, 2011) imited to 1000 copies*''THE BEST (LICHT)'' (November 15, 2017) *''THE BEST (DUNKELHEIT)'' (November 15, 2017) *''Immortal Verses'' (EP) (September 1, 2018)

DVD

* ''Recurrence of Hallucination -LIVE-'' (24 December 2011) (Limited to 1000 copies)

as another cell

* ''another cell'' (April 1, 2006) imited to 1000 copies

References

External links

Hora's homepage

Kaya's homepage

Schwarz Stein
{{Authority control Electronic music duos Japanese electronic music groups Japanese dark wave musical groups Visual kei musical groups