While Dio were only around for about four years, their dark look and heavy sound made them quite popular both in Japan and overseas.
Dio - distraught overlord originally started at the end of 2005 as a session band named Baby Santa. About half a year later, the members decided to change their name to Dio - distraught overlord and became an official band.
Back then they consisted of only four members: mikaru on vocals, kei and erina on guitar and ivy on bass. A support drummer played with them in their first few months but was soon replaced by denka. All of the members had been in various bands before and had already gained a lot of experience, giving them a head-start compared to other new bands.
In May 2006, they gave their very first live as Dio - distraught overlord and, on the same night, distributed their first single, Garasu no umi. More concerts followed for the young band, and in December they released their maxi-single, Byakuya ni Moyuru Hana, which was released in both Japan and Europe.
In May the following year, after the release of their third single, they performed their first one-man live. It was recorded and later released on DVD. Not long after, it was announced that Dio had been invited to perform at the French event Japan Expo, which took place in Paris in early July. It was a great leap forward for the young band as they got the chance to perform for a foreign audience, which consisted of more people than they had ever performed for before.
Their performance at Japan Expo seemed to have pleased both the fans and the band as the quintet returned to Europe in early 2008. This time the band toured across the whole continent, performing over a dozen concerts. At the end of the year, the band returned to Europe once again and performed around a dozen times in various countries.
Of course, the US was also interested in Dio - distraught overlord and their American fans got the opportunity to see them live in December 2008 when they performed at the anime convention Oni-Con in Houston, Texas.
In the same year they treated fans to a number of new releases. Spread out over the whole year, they released a mini-album, a maxi-single and their first full album DICTACTOR. Some of these items were also released in Europe or the USA.
In 2009 Dio - distraught overlord’s hectic schedule quietened down a bit. There were fewer releases and, in July, it was announced that guitarist erina would be leaving the band. Despite the loss of their band member, they returned to Europe once again in October for another tour. After the tour, the band announced they would be pausing their activities while they changed their management and searched for a new guitarist. However, in January 2010 it was announced that the band would cease to exist in its current form. Even though the announcement mentioned there was a possibility the members may continue together under a new name, various band members have started new projects and bands.
Dio - distraught overlord managed to accomplish a lot during their short career, and hopefully the new bands of the members will fare just as well.
