Night Flight
the world of La'cryma Christi
Night Flight
the world of La'cryma Christi
Shining clouds, I call you, shining clouds
La'cryma Christi is a Japanese rock band, one of those groups that fans of Japanese music know the name of, but don't really know the music. The name means "the tears of Christ" in (slightly misspelled) Latin. They're a group that lives in the twilight zone along the edge of the genre known as visual-kei. Visual-kei was a movement that rose to popularity beginning in the early nineties based on the idea that the look of a rock band was just as important as the music. It was connected to the Japanese gothic and punk scene and a visual-kei group was characterized by the usually all-male bands having elaborate costumes, makeup, and often an androgynous look. When La'cryma Christi started out they were one of the most promising of the third generation of visual bands, along with Malice Mizer and Fanatic Crisis.
They formed as a group in Osaka under the name STRIPPE-D LADY in the early nineties and after changing their name and dropping their former bassist, Kita-J, the current bassist Shuse joined the band and La'cryma Christi was formed. In 1994 they released their first single, Siam's Eye, on a local Osaka indies label. They were definitely a visual-kei band at this point, with makeup and strange fashion, and their music fit in with the image. It was full of Eastern mysticism and dreamlike imagery. Things were quiet for La'cryma for a while, but in 1996 they released their mini-album Dwellers of a Sandcastle on an national indies label. They made their major debut in 1997, with the release of the album Sculpture of Time. They were helped with their break into a major label by the hugely popular band Luna Sea.
They continued with a fairly similar look and sound with their first three major label albums. The sound was due partially to the influence of their producer Hajime Okano, who later worked with L'Arc~en~Ciel. In 2002 the band changed producers, changed their sound, and changed their image. With the &.U album they upset some fans as they left some of their dreamlike imagery behind and veered towards the more pop side of rock. Their style took a hit too and they left behind a lot of their visual-kei roots. They still had flashy outfits, but it was a rock star look, not visual-kei. This lost them some fans, but it was a logical step for the band, one that's common for a lot of former visual-kei groups. Today, they're still sometimes thought of as a "visual" group because of their history, but it's debatable if the group could really be called visual-kei anymore.
This is especially true recently, as they move towards more of a classic rock sound. In 2003 they founded their own label, Majestic Ring, and La'cryma Christi was, officially, back to being an indies band! The band has a hard rock sound and a hard rock style lately and it's a smart move for them. They can keep together as a grizzled rock band for years past visual has lost its cool and for a group of guys who loves playing music as La'cryma Christi more than anything else, this is a good thing.
2004 is the tenth year anniversary of La'cryma Christi and they're holding lots of special events and concerts to commemorate it. They're releasing a new single and a new greatest hits album and the future is looking solid for La'cryma.
Sadly, in February of 2005 the band announced that Koji would be leaving in March of the same year. It was a shocking announcement after ten solid years of La'cryma Christi, but it doesn't mean the end for the band. La'cryma plans to keep going as a four-man act and Koji seems to be looking towards doing music on his own. Even if Koji's absence isn't felt strongly in the music, his departure marks the end of an era for the group.