Nightmare (ナイトメア, Naitomea) is a Japanese visual kei rock band formed in Sendai, Tōhoku, in 2000.

They experienced mainstream success with the inclusion of their songs "The World" and "Alumina" in the Death Note anime and are considered a major act in the visual kei scene.

Soon, Ni~ya was invited by Sakito, Yomi by Hitsugi, and Zannin joined after he heard his classmates were forming a band.

They were all influenced by either X Japan or Luna Sea,[7] therefore they started out as a cover band, before they began to write their own material.

Eventually, Ruka (formerly of Luinspear) joined the band as a support member at first, but became the permanent drummer after a short time.

In 2004 Nightmare released three singles; "Varuna", "Tokyo Shounen", and "Cyan", as well as another full album, Livid.

These two songs were used as the first opening and ending themes respectively of the first nineteen episodes of the Death Note anime adaptation.

[5] On 27 February 2007, they released their fourth album, "The World Ruler" and toured for three months around Japan.

They released their next single, "Raison d'Etre", barely a month after finishing their tour (which was used as the opening theme song for the anime Claymore).

The first, Nightmare 2003-2005 Single Collection, was released under their old label, Nippon Crown and was the latest installment of their greatest hits.

The second, Kyokuto Symphony ~The Five Stars Night~ @Budokan, was their first live album, recorded during their tour the previous year.

Nightmare started 2009 with a short two-day tour titled "the 9th new departure" and announced the release of their album Majestical Parade.

To celebrate, Nightmare held a New Year's Eve Countdown show at Zepp Sendai and released Gianizm the next day.

The final show of the tour was held at Nippon Budokan, marking their third time at the prestigious venue.

3 of the tour, they released another best-of album titled Historical ~The Highest Nightmare~, with several re-recorded tracks and one new song.

After a countdown clock appeared on their website, Nightmare announced an unexpected live called Publish!

"Sleeper" was released as a single on September 7, as a collaboration with luxury jewellery brand GemCerey.

The single was released October 17, 2012 and followed by a short tour at Kobe World Memorial Hall.

Their next single "Dizzy", released on August 21, 2013, marks their 10th anniversary since becoming a major label band.

The band abruptly announced an end-of-year hiatus on April 3, 2016, due to Yomi's functional dysphonia.

[15] After a 4 year hiatus, the band officially resumed activities on February 11, 2020, with its "20th Anniversary SPECIAL LIVE GIANIZM ~Sai Aku~" at Yokohama Arena.

[16] On March 3, 2021, they released their 2° Single after the hiatus, Cry for the moon, and shortly thereafter went on tour, NIGHTMARE TOUR 2021, Cry for the moon On November 17, 2021, they released another Single that same year, Sinners, which was used as the second opening theme for the anime Duel Masters King!

X Japan's album "Dahlia" and Luna Sea's album "Style" got Yomi into music,[17] and Yomi covered Luna Sea, X Japan, Laputa, Rouage and La'cryma Christi in his high school days.

Until December 2009, they also hosted a show on CBC Radio called Hyper Nightmare,[21] where they featured tongue twisters, adult stories and phone-in sessions with listeners who could mimic interesting sound effects, TV personalities, anime characters, etc.

Sakito was also a DJ for InterFM's show, UP's Beat, every Monday night in early January 2008.

For a time, the band members took turns writing a monthly column called "Zozzy" which appeared in Shoxx Magazine.

Announced on Nightmare's homepage in July 2013, LSN will be restarting band activities for the little HEARTS.5th Anniversary "MY little HEARTS.

Announced on Nightmare's homepage in July 2013, GREMLINS will be making their debut at the little HEARTS.5th Anniversary "MY little HEARTS.

When they heard about the tragedy, the band held a charity concert on September 26, 2008 at Zepp Sendai.

In light of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, Nightmare held a fund-raising event for the victims called "publish and recover!"