How girugamesh took over the world one concert at a time.
Starting with a different vocalist and guitarist, girugamesh was formed in 2003. However, it was not until early 2004 that the fated foursome would create today's line up, with Satoshi on vocals, Nii on guitar, ShuU on bass and Яyo on drums.
The band kicked off their career on March 24th 2004, holding their first live at Motoyawata ROUTE14. Their first demo tape, [Shisaku kata enban], which was limited to 100 copies, debuted the same day to the delight of their new fans. girugamesh continued to tour over the next few months and by the end of the summer, surprised fans with not only two free demos that were distributed at events but their first single and maxi single. [Kaisen sengen] ~kikaku kata enban~, the maxi-single, was extremely well received and sold out in both the first and second pressings before climbing to 10th place on the Oricon indies chart. Since Kaisen sengen's success, the band continued to sell out nearly every release over the next two years.
In 2005, the band further established their name with a heavy live schedule, and went on their first tour of the year that March. To this day, girugamesh spends most of the year on the road. By the summer, their hard work had paid off and on July 17th, girugamesh played their first one-man show at Meguro Rockmaykan, which quickly sold out. Their steady touring was maintained through the fall and in October they held a coupling tour with Ruvie.
The band continued their busy lifestyle right into the next year by embarking on their first one-man tour in Spring 2006. By September, girugamesh released their first full-length album, 13’s reborn, which despite being released in two versions, flew off the shelves and is still difficult to obtain today. Subsequently, they finished the year with dying tour 13 to promote the new album.
The year 2007 started out with the girugaze and deathgamesh battle rock tour, a coupling tour for the hardcore duo girugamesh and DEATHGAZE. The tour ran until the end of March and, with just a short break, the band hit the road in April for their one-man tour. With their popularity soaring, it was no surprise that girugamesh participated at JRock Revolution, the American multi-visual band event at the end of May. After their successful performance, the band made their next trip abroad to Europe, where they performed as part of the J-Shock event promoting the European release of 13's Reborn one month later. By July, the band released a new mini-album and toured heavily throughout Japan for the remainder of the year, up until the launch of their second full album, girugämesh, which was released in stores on December 26th.
The year 2008 was the start of the Stupid Tour, a two-part tour that included 47 dates, six of the shows spanning across Europe. At the end of July, girugamesh returned to Europe to play at Wacken 08. Shortly after the Shooting Summer tour, they announced their third full album called MUSIC, which was released November 1st with Japanese, European and American versions. In the fall, the band launched their new tour called Crazy Tour 08-09 that ran from November 2008 until March 2009, with 49 shows total.
April was a busy month for girugamesh, with the announcement of the new single Alive and their successful comeback to the USA at Sakura-con in Seattle, Washington. With just a short break, the boys flew to Europe in May, where they held a nine-stop tour before returning to Japan.
Staying busy through the summer, the band kicked off their Summer Evolution tour after their three single release campaign which began in June. The band stayed busy through the fall touring, and wrapped up 2009 with the release of the new album, NOW. By Christmas, the band had announced their new tour which spanned from the January 2010 until May.
Soon after tickets for the summer tour was announced, all fourteen shows sold out; a new feat for the band. With just a few shows in between, girugamesh kicked off their fall 2010 tour with the release of a new single, inochi no ki. The remainder of the year looks quieter for girugamesh—aside from playing a few events, it seems the guys are winding down until the new year, to prepare for the release of their new album, GO!, which hits shelves in January and their world tour spanning Russia and Europe called here we go! which will begin in March 2011.
With the band showing little sign of slowing down any time soon, it is clear they're ready to take the world by storm in the upcoming year.
