Deathgaze is a Japanese four-piece Visual Kei metal band formed in 2003. Signed to Enter Brain, the band has released five studio albums and two extended plays. Originally a Death Metal band, they have since shifted into a more melodic Metalcore-influenced sound in subsequent releases.The band's lineup originally consisted of bandleader Naoki on drums, Hazuki on vocals, Ai on bass, and Kanna on guitar, but in 2004, Hazuki left to form his own band, lynch..; Kanna would also leave the band in the same year. The band's lineup has become mostly unstable ever since.
The band is part of the Second wave of Visual Kei, together with other groups and artists such as The Gazette, An Cafe, Miyavi, GACKT, exist†trace and Dir en grey. The band is also, along with Kuroyume and lynch., a co-Trope Codifier for Nagoya kei.
Band members
Current lineup:
- Ai – lead vocals (2007–present), rhythm & lead guitar (2010–present), bass (2003–2008)
- Takaki – lead guitar, backing vocals (2009–present)
- Kosuke – bass, backing vocals (2008–present)
- Naoki – drums, backing vocals, leader (2003–present)
Former members:
- Hazuki – lead vocals (2003–2004, now in lynch.)
- Sou – lead vocals (2004–2006)
- Kanna – lead & rhythm guitar, backing vocals (2003–2004)
- Naoto – lead & rhythm guitar (2004-2009)
Discography
Studio albums:
- Genocide and Mass Murder (July 16, 2006)
- Awake -evoke the urge- (December 10, 2008)
- The Continuation (September 9, 2009)
- Bliss Out (December 8, 2010)
- Creature (April 4, 2012)
EPs
- 「294036224052」 (February 22, 2004)
- genocidal freaks death code=[2F0U0C6K1E2R1!0] (December 10, 2006)
Deathgaze and their music provide examples of the following tropes:
- Careful Withthat Axe: Widespread in their earlier releases. Still common in more recent offerings, however.
- Darker and Edgier: Than most bands during their time. Downplayed in recent years.
- Death Metal: Early releases had elements of the genre.
- Deliberately Monochrome: Almost all their photoshoots and music videos.
- Delinquent Hair
- Dude Looks Like a Lady: Back then, everyone in the band. Hugely averted in recent years.
- Elegant Gothic Lolita: Everyone, in the band's early days, wore some form of Gothic boystyle clothing. Except for Ai, who showcased a black Guro lolita image, complete with cat ears and corpse paint.
-
Follow the Leader: Many underground Visual Kei bands have played in a similar style as them.- A particular example: lynch.. It makes sense since current lynch. frontman Hazuki used to be the band's vocalist.
- Genre Roulette: Common in the later releases.
- Genre Shift: From proto-Deathcore to the current melodic Metalcore sound.
- Harsh Vocals: Every vocalist the band had can pull these off very well.
- I Am the Band: Though Naoki has been the leader of the band from the start, there is no denying that current frontman Ai is Deathgaze, as he has held many positions since their formation
- Lighter and Softer: Recent releases
- Metal Scream: Ai can do these very well. Former vocalist Hazuki usually does a more mid-range scream.
- Perishing Alt-Rock Voice: All the band's vocalists use the same deep, faint, nasal singing style.
- Revolving Door Band: The band has been prone to multiple lineup changes ever since their early days.
- Hazuki left the band in 2004 to form lynch.. Kanna left the band later that same year.
- As replacements, vocalist Sou and guitarist Naoto were recruited in the latter half of the same year. In 2006, after releasing their first album, Sou left the band to marry.
- The band later became a supergroup featuring members of Girugamesh during the aptly-named "Girugaze & Deathgamesh" tour, before going on hiatus in early 2007.
- The band reformed later that same year as a three-piece, with bassist Ai doing vocal duties.
- Kosuke joined the band in 2008 as bassist, effectively relieving Ai of bass duties.
- In 2009, Naoto retired from the music scene.
- Takaki was brought in as a session guitarist before becoming an official member on November 2009.
- From 2010 onwards, Ai took up rhythm guitar duties.
-
Spiritual Successor: Earlier on, to Sepultura. Now, to Killswitch Engage. - Trope Codifier: Nagoya kei.
- The Unintelligible: Ai's vocals come across as so faint that whatever he's singing is easily drowned by the instruments, effectively turning them into a jumbled mess of vocals.
- Visual Kei: During their early days. Downplayed in recent years.
- Wholesome Crossdresser: Ai.
