Visual kei band GLACIER hails from Okinawa, one of Japan’s islands known for its nearly tropical climate. After only three years of existence GLACIER's activities were halted with the members moving on to form a new band.
Even though GLACIER officially began their career in the summer of 2007, the band had already performed as glasier at the sold-out event Rock in OKINAWA in March of that year. In July, vocalist Makoto, guitarist Nao and bassist Aki started their activities in Tokyo. However, their activities were considered unofficial and therefore kept ‘secret.’
On August 27th, the band made their official start with a performance at a live event. By then they had changed their name to GLACIER and drummer Yuuki had joined the line-up.
Mere months later, the brand-new group released their first maxi-single, Ryūkyū Renka (Ryukyuan Love Songs; Ryūkyū is the island chain that Okinawa is part of.) In the months following the maxi-single’s release, GLACIER performed in various cities, including some outside of Tokyo in order to become more well-known around Japan. It was also around this time that guitarist Kojiro joined as a support member. At the end of the year they performed at a countdown event.
The year 2008 started with more performances in various cities, and the summer brought two new releases: their second maxi-single Nangoku Shōjo and their first original album Ryūkyū Carmen 80's. After these releases the band hit the road again, performing in Nagoya, Osaka, Sendai, Niigata and Sapporo. GLACIER, however, wasn’t done with their releases for the year and, in December, the single SADISTIC LOVE was released.
At the end of the year they performed at a countdown event once again, this time at the well-known stylish wave COUNT DOWN'08-'09, which featured many upcoming and well-known visual kei artists.
The following year started in a similar fashion with the band holding many performances in order to further build their fan base. In November, the group released the maxi-single, Kanasambana. Shortly afterward, on November 8th, the band held a one-man concert. During this concert, guitarist Kojiro, who had formerly been a support member, formally joined the band.
The year 2010 brought a series of digital releases from the band; from April to July they released four singles on iTunes, amongst them an English version of Kanasambana called The Dancing Branches. In November, guitarist Kojiro and drummer Yuuki decided to leave the band. Since then, the remaining three members have put GLACIER's activities on hold while they contemplate the band's future.
Even though GLACIER is still quite a young band, they definitely manage to bring something new to the visual kei scene with their mix of musical styles and their Okinawan background. Hopefully it won’t be long before they reappear in the visual kei music scene.
