D was created in March 2003 by ASAGI, Ruiza and Sin together with Rena and HIROKI. The former three had played together before in Kisaki's band Syndrome. However, they all began their careers much earlier - ASAGI used to be the vocalist in Balsamic and Je*Reviens, Ruiza played in Distray and Laybial, while Sin used to be a member of With Sexy, NEO-SADISM and Vasalla.
After Syndrome broke up in 2002, ASAGI, Ruiza and Sin decided to continue playing together, and together with two other members - Rena and HIROKI - they formed D. From the beginning they kept a fast pace - their first live took place in April 2003, and during Shock Jam 2003 they performed amongst such stars of the visual kei scene as Nightmare and Lareine. In July that same year, they released their first mini-album entitled NEW BLOOD.
Unfortunately, things didn't go perfectly. First, shortly before the release date of NEW BLOOD, Sin decided to quit the band. Less than two months later, Ruiza was suddenly hospitalized. In order to continue, the band had to find replacement members. The line-up was temporarily completed by HIDE-ZOU (ex-guitarist of S to M) and Tetsu (ex-Domestic Child). During that period, they continued to perform under a different name - Night of the Children.
Soon afterward, HIDE-ZOU joined the band as an official member. With Ruiza back from the hospital, Tetsu left the band to create a new project called Gimikku with Ayano of Vidoll. D got back on its feet and quickly went back to its original name, and on November 27th, 2003, they performed their first one-man live, Belive or not believe in Meguro Rock May Kan. A single entitled Alice was distributed during that concert.
2004 began with the release of another mini-album, Paradox. This record proved a huge success; it sold out very fast, achieving the 13th rank on the Oricon indie charts and enlarging D's fanbase. On May 12th, they released Yume narishi kuuchuu teien and achieved even more success - this single sold out faster than the previous record and hit #5 on the Oricon indie charts.
For the remainder of 2004 and well into 2005, D focused on increasing their fan base and toured steadily while releasing numerous singles; they announced that they had a full album on the way. However, during recording in June, Rena suddenly left the band. This setback didn't stop them though, and HIDE-ZOU replaced Rena on bass, allowing the album to be released without any delay. The band continued their scheduled performances through the summer as planned, which included a coupling tour with D'espairsRay and an event commemorating the publication of the first issue of D's very own magazine, "Mad Tea Party."
On December 5th, a new member officially joined D - it was Tsunehito, from the freshly disbanded SCISSOR. With the new addition, HIDE-ZOU could go back to playing the guitar.
Getting a fresh start with their new bassist in 2006, the band re-recorded The Name of the Rose with three additional songs. This would not be the only release that year, with 2006 seeing the release of three albums and two singles. The summer proved to be busy for not only D as Ruiza and ASAGI both branched out into solo work, each releasing a CD that summer. Around Christmas, the amount of faithful D-fans was large enough for a fan club to be born, and before the new year, "Ultimate Lover" had been established.
2007 was another year heavy with releases with a full album and several singles. The band kept themselves busy through touring, surprising fans in the fall with their announcement that they were signing onto avex trax and would be going major by New Year's.
With one last indies tour, D rang in the new year as a major band, releasing their first major single in May. The band toured through the latter part of spring and released a second single. Going major definitely had a positive effect for D as they held their first major one man, BIRTH~sora e no kaiki~, on August 8th. By September, the band's music was featured on the Nintendo DS video game "Twilight Syndrome" and on the soundtrack of the Japanese movie "Twilight Syndrome: Dead-Go-Round."
D kicked off 2009 with the release of their third major single and began their nationwide tour Genetic World in early April. By the fall, ASAGI opened "Rozen Kranz," a Japanese website where he could sell not only D's indies merchandise but also his own solo work. The band remained busy through the fall, releasing a new single on December 2nd that was featured on the Japanese mobile dating game "LoveφSummit."
2010 started off with several fanclub only shows before D celebrated their seventh anniversary with the 7th Rose tour and the release of two singles. In May, the band continued on with five special premium lives at Takadanobaba AREA, each produced exclusively by one member of the band. D wrapped up their summer with two lives celebrating their second anniversary since they went major, and then took a break through the fall to focus on recording. When the band kicked off their winter tour in November, they also saw the debut of their new single, In the name of justice.
In January 2011, D embarked on another nationwide tour to promote their new album, VAMPIRE SAGA. For the first time, the album was also released in Europe and in May the band embarked on their first international tour. Their two week long VAMPIRE SAGA in Europe ~Path of the Rose~ tour took them through seven countries and ended with a sold out concert in Finland. In the following month they travelled abroad again, this time to the US where they performed together with BLOOD STAIN CHILD at A-Kon in Dallas, Texas.
Although their partnership with avex had been very successful, with four of their singles reaching top ten positions in the Oricon charts, and they enjoyed complete artistic freedom, D announced shortly after their return to Japan that they would terminate their major career and return to their indies label GOD CHILD RECORDS. As reason for their decision they stated that from now on they also wanted to be active abroad and under the circumstances they would no longer be able to produce as many songs as before. On July 28th, they released Torikago goten ~L'Oiseau bleu~, their first indies single in three and a half years, whose proceeds were used to support the victims of the devastating earthquake that had hit Japan in March 2011. As usual, this was followed by a nationwide tour, with the final on 30 August broadcasted live on the internet via the band's very own Ustream channel. In the same month, they participated in the multi-band event musicJAPANplus Gig Vol.1, which was also transmitted live on the internet. October saw the release of a DVD and a photobook documenting their first European tour and their A-Kon performance and in early November they performed again in the US, this time at Pacific Media Expo in Los Angeles, California. On 21 November, they released a new mini album, Huang di ~Yami ni umareta mukui~, which was followed by another extensive tour.
In 2012, D continue to keep busy. After a number of multi band events at the beginning of the year and a fan club tour in February, they will hold three Mad Tea Party events in April with, amongst others, Versailles, Dolly und Lin as guests. At the end of the month they will embark on their second European tour, which will take them to Austria, Germany, Italy, France, Spain, Belgium, The Netherlands, Finland, Russia and Poland, and May will see them travel to Brazil, Argentina and Chile for their first ever South American tour.
During their remarkable career D have shown that it is possible to stay true to one's ideals, yet also be very successful. We look forward to seeing what this talented and original band will surprise us with next.
A wonderful mixture of metal and melodic rock - that's the best way to describe D's music. It wasn't long after the band's formation that they gained popularity and success, probably because they're quite different from your average visual kei band.
Their strongest points are, without a doubt, the vocals and variety of their compositions. Their discography includes heavy guitar songs, as well as beautiful, melancholic ballads, and even medieval music and folklore from around the world. No matter the style, the songs are always a display of ASAGI's vocal abilities. His voice can truly charm, and no wonder - he's been working on it and improving in various bands even before D.
Aside from their musical activities, the band publishes a magazine called "Mad Tea Party" featuring, amongst others, interviews with artists from the visual kei scene, as well as a vampire novel written by ASAGI, on which many of their songs are based.
