D'espairsRay

D'espairsRay is an industrial metal band hailing from Japan. They have gained very notable success in Europe and North America, however. They boast a fairly electric sound though seem to gravitate often to a syncopated drum-and-guitar assault.

DéspairsRay's sound is dark, sinister and schizophrenic. The vocalist, hizumi, goes from dark screaming and growling to letting loose with a smooth, soulful cry on most songs.

The other band members are Karyu on guitar, Zero on bass, and Tsukasa on drums.

The band's name is officially D'espairsRay, but is most often typeset as DéspairsRay. The typeset of the band's name fluctuates often however. On the band's official site (http://www.despairsray.jp) it is written as D'espairsRay.

DéspairsRay released their first full album, [Coll:set] in June 2005.

The year of 2006 saw the release of LIQUIDIZE, DéspairsRay 2005 tour photobook, accompanied by a brand new song, Closer to Ideal. This song was only available as a single along with the photobook.

The 2006 single 凍える夜に咲いた花 (Kogoeru Yoru Ni Saita Hana) topped the Japanese indie charts. The single featured three all new tracks, 凍える夜に咲いた花 (Kogoeru Yoru Ni Saita Hana), MAZE, and PIG.

In late 2006, the band once again ventured to Europe on their LIQUIDIZE tour (named after the photobook), and played at a range of countries including Denmark, Germany, Italy and England.

One note of interest is that few J-rock bands have ever played England, making DéspairsRay one of the first widely known Japanese rock bands seen live in the country - however according to the German "Orkus Magazine", they [DéspairsRay] sold every last ticket, packing the Islington Academy [where said event took place] right up to it's 800 person capacity. If the rest of the band follows Karyu's wishes, the band may very well be playing the city again; to directly quote the person himself: "I would love to visit London once more."

Many fans have hailed DéspairsRay's visit to the United Kingdom as a signal for the increasing Japanese awareness of the English Japanese rock fandom, thus encouraging more bands to play the country in the future. If such opinions prove to be correct, Japanese rock will have extended it's reach to quite literally the other side of the globe.

In 2007 the band released the single SQUALL on March 14th.

Following the release of their second full-length album MIRROR in April of 2007, DéspairsRay once again toured Europe.

In 2008, DéspairsRay participated in the Taste of Chaos 2008 tour, along with fellow Japanese band, ムック. Their album, Mirror, was released in the United States, and on May 14th 2008 they released the maxi-single "BRILLIANT". Shocking many fans, they released another single, titled "KAMIKAZE", shortly after in August.