MASK was originally formed in June 2003 with the lineup of: Aoi on vocals, Michiru (ex Aioria), and Sana on guitars, Kazutake (ex Aioria) on bass, and NANA on drums.
There’s not too much information available for what has been dubbed the "Aoi-era", but that incarnation of MASK had many releases. Their first release was the distribution maxi Call No., which was given to the audience at their first live on June 23rd, 2003 and was limited to 250 copies. They followed up with a few singles over the next couple of months and appeared on many omnibuses. MASK finished up the year with the release of Awase Kagami no Ura no Kamen, their first mini album, on November 11th. The band started 2004 off with a oneman at Harajuku Astro Hall with new singles being sold. At this time Michiru announced a forthcoming evolution for the band, and that Aoi and Nana were leaving MASK.
Until MASK recruited new members, the remaining members took turns on vocals. Sana and Kazutake took over on the release of Kitakaze to Taiyou while Michiru handled Michiland. Michiland consisted of songs from Michiru’s old bands as well as new songs with vocals by Rame (bassist of Vidoll) and Kaila (Aurora), as well as Michiru himself.
Finally, on August 23, MASK debuted with new members Jin on vocals and Minami on drums. The "new" MASK's first live was August 28 in Club CITTA Kawasaki and they played two more concerts there before playing Shibuya O-West the next month. Jin really proved his worth as a vocalist with the release of their Tamago single in November. To date, it is one of the band's most popular releases. A fifteen date oneman tour immediately followed the single's release.
MASK started off 2005 with a two-man with Shulla on January 6th. The coupling was so popular that the two bands had to schedule another live later on in the month. In March, the band’s second maxi, was released and it was received very well by critics and fans alike. June saw the release of another single while the band's first live album, Tokyo Dilemma, was released a month later. In September, they released their first PV, and two singles in November. They finished up 2005 with another live DVD which was limited to 5000 copies.
2006 started off roughly for MASK. Jin was hospitalized in early January with lung problems and he missed a live at Ikebukuro Cyber on the 15th. However, he recovered very quickly and was present at their February 2nd live where they announced an upcoming oneman at Shibuya O-West. They then released the set MASK Valentine BOX, which contained four CDs and one DVD and was more or less repackaged versions of their earlier releases. As things were finally looking up again for MASK, more bad news came. At their Shibuya O-West live, the band announced that they were disbanding.
The band stated that while they’re all working towards the same goal, their methods and paths differ from each other. MASK wished to view their separation not as a bitter disbanding, but as a graduation. Their final live, which was ironically titled START, was held on May 1st at Zepp Tokyo. A DVD containing footage from this live was released in August.
MASK’s disbanding had come as a shock to all of the band’s fans. Everyone had quickly warmed up to Jin and were constantly looking forward to new releases and content from the band. Since the dissolution, several of the members have moved onto other bands, and are still active in the indies scene today.
