La'cryma Christi

La'cryma Christi was born from dreams: college student Taka who aspired to form a band met Hiro through a college room mate, and within a year, the two decided to make their dreams a reality.

In January 1993, five members came together. They were Taka, Hiro, Levin, Koji and Kita-J. The band was Strippe-D Lady and had a hard rock/heavy metal style. Their first live was in Osaka, and they released a demo tape called Hibi Wareta Kagami niwatashi o koroshita ko... which contained three songs. Kita-J decided to leave the band in October 1994, but all was not lost and Shuse took over as the bassist. Taka decided to rename the band, and La'cryma Christi was born.

1995 began with the first live for La'cryma Christi and they participated in several Indies compilations, such as Crymax Pleasure and Cosmic Fields. Their first single Siam's Eye, was released in July and sold 10,000 copies. This soon after followed by their first sold-out live in October.

It wasn't long until their first mini-album was released and snapped up by the fans. Warm Snow sold 15,000 copies and the band moved to Tokyo. Just four months later they played a two-day live, which was also sold out. Things were off to a really good start for the band, and just a month later they released an album called Dwellers of a Sandcastle. Soon it was time for their first tour. Home Sick Child was comprised of 14 performances and ran from July to September. Another tour followed in December, and this time Child of the Holy was made up of 12 performances. Both of these tours were signs of success for the band.

1997 was a busy year: the band traveled to Italy to shoot their first music video, Glass Castle, which took nine days and was released in April. Just a month before, their single forest was used as the theme song for a television drama, and it was during this year that Taka tried his hand as a disc jockey for La'cryma Christi's first radio show, "Sanskrit Shower." Around this time, La'cryma Christi signed with a major label, and their first major single Ivory Trees was released in May.

It seems that Taka rather enjoyed being a radio DJ, and did so for five days in July for the radio show "FM ROCK KIDS." Shortly after on the 30th they released their 2nd major single THE SCENT. A tour entitled Breath of Limelight, consisting of twelve performances took place in August, and on October 29th they released another single, Nangoku.

In November the band released their first major album Sculpture of Time, which reached number eight on the Oricon charts. A small December tour, Night Flight, soon followed, where the band held just three sold-out shows. It was a nice way to end the year for La'cryma Christi.

1998 started off well with the formation of their fanclub SIMPATIA. April saw the tour South Winds 4U and in May their fourth single With You hit store shelves. In July they participated in Break Out '98, and just a month later came the single Mirai Koro which reached third place on the charts. The promotion tour, named after the single, completely sold out.

La'cryma Christi's Lhasa tour, comprised of 17 performances which sold out on the first day. As a result, two additional performances at the Budokan were added, which also soon after sold out. It was a promising beginning for the year 1999.

In May, drummer Levin gained some publicity as the first "Levin-model" drumsticks went on sale around the same time as the band's next single Without You. In July, Taka took 12 days off to do work for his first drama, Tengoku no Kiss. After this a three-week tour called Angolmois began. Eien hit the shelves on August 25th, and not surprisingly it was the theme for Taka's drama, "Tengoku no Kiss." To add to the band's popularity, they participated in the event SWEET TRANCE '99 at the Budokan. By fall of that year, Taka played DJ one last time for his radio show "LOVE PARTY." A month later they began working on a third album in Hokkaido.

At the start of the millenium, La'cryma Christi showed no signs of slowing down. They released their new single Lime Rain in January, held a five-day fanclub-only tour, several local performances and finally finished their third album, Magic Theatre which went on sale on March 15th.

By August of that year, they had their first performance overseas in Korea. On their return, the band took part in the SHOCKWAVE ILLUSION 2000 event. Another tour followed, and they were invited to take part in SWEET TRANCE 2000.

By the beginning of 2001, Taka began hosting TV ASAHI's Satellite music talk show "Heart Rock Cafe." Aside from this activity, this year was a particularly quiet one for the band and for a brief time, their official website Sweet Group was taken down, causing worries among the fans of a possible disbandment. However, by October, the band burst back to life. Their new website came online, and it was followed by the new single JUMP!! in October.

At the end of 2001 the band gave many performances: starting with the AIDS charity concert, they soon after performed at SWEET TRANCE 2001, which was followed by SWEET TRANCE 2nd STAGE on Christmas Eve. They also undertook the three-date tour, JUMPING FLASH .

The following year, activity came to life in February when the single Jonetsu no Kaze was released and subsequently used as the theme song for a television show. By March the band released their album &U, and a tour followed that ran through the spring. While the rest of the year was quieter, the band saw the launch of one more single that year: Hirameki in December.

2003 was another busy year filled with lives and releases. In March came maxi-single Mystical Gliter, then in July followed Groove Weapon. In early November, the album Deep Space Syndicate hit the shelves, soon followed by the box set LOUDNESS TRIBUTE.

Where releases were concerned, things seemed to be holding steady in 2004, which saw the releases of two maxi-singles, an album, and a DVD. La'cryma Christi also announced their summer tour that took place in August, called HIT ROAD. Later that year, three concerts were announced to take place at Sun Plaza in Nakano to celebrate their 10th anniversary. However, the band soon after made the disappointing announcement that the organizers of these concerts had opted out, causing the cancellation of the mini-tour.

2005 was a difficult year for the band: in February Koji announced in the official fan club newsletter that he would be leaving. It was a shock to the fans who feared La'cryma Christi would break up. But just one month later the band released a new single, and by May, it was announced that they would release a new album.

In 2006 it seemed La'cryma Christi might be slowing down after the departure of their guitarist. However, the band then made it clear they’d be continuing activities, reiterating the point at MCs during their spring tour. That summer, fans saw the release of another new single and the album, WHERE THE EARTH IS ROTTING AWAY.

During the winter months of that year, fans took a blow when it was announced in Taka's blog that La'cryma Christi would be breaking up in January 2007, citing musical differences. That January saw La'cryma Christi's final concert at ZEPP Tokyo on the 20th. The footage for that live along with documentary footage of their final tour in 2006 were compiled on the LAST LIVE White Period DVD, which went on sale in August 2007.

Two years after their dissolution, the band suddenly reunited, performing at V-Rock Festival in Japan in 2009. The revival included all five members and during an MC at the show, it was announced they would be holding a revival tour, to the delight of fans. The tour, entitled La'cryma Christi Resurrection ~Final Prayer~ had two stops: ZEPP Tokyo in January 2011, and C.C. Lemon Hall in Shibuya in February. Within two months, La'cryma Christi began taking reservations for a two-type special box entitled RESURRECTION. The DVD box contained their revival and V Rock performances in film, while the CD box contained recordings of the performances.

Since this activity, La'cyma Christi has once again gone quiet, and it appears the group has gone back into another indefinite hiatus.