Versailles

Versailles is the type of band that thinks "pompous" is a compliment. However, their melodic metal sound and the flamboyant visual approach quickly caught on with the public, especially since the band was smart enough to capitalize on both modern technologies and the growing world-wide demand for J-rock (the showier, the better). The act was established in 2007, being something of a visual kei supergroup: the founders were Kamijo of Lareine (vocals) and Hizaki of Sulfuric Acid (guitar), and the lineup also included Hizaki's bassist Jasmine You, as well as guitarist Teru (of Aikaryu) and drummer Yuki (of Sugar Trip), both recommended by the management of the Rockmaykan venue in Tokyo. The group began by taking the unconventional route -- eschewing the boring club/demo phase, they posted a trailer on YouTube, which soon gathered a lot of attention outside Japan. The band was swamped by tour and interview proposals, although the Japanese media only noticed them when a TV crew traveled all the way from Germany to shoot Versailles. Soon, their name entered the Yahoo top searches list, and only then did Versailles finally debut live, releasing the debut CD/DVD single The Revenant Choir (2007) on the same day as well. The EP Lyrical Sympathy followed before the end of the year, coming out, unsurprisingly, in both Japan and Europe, which the band toured in 2008 with Matenrou Opera. The U.S. live debut followed suit, and their debut full-length, Noble (2008), came out immediately after, promoted in America under the moniker Versailles Philharmonic Quintet due to name conflict with another stateside band called Versailles. In 2009, Versailles was signed by Warner Music, which is due to release the band's second full-length the same year. ~ Alexey Eremenko, Rovi