[2] On January 29, 1999, Kuroyume indefinitely suspended all activities due to the severely strained relationship between Kiyoharu and Hitoki.
Kuroyume was formed in 1991 by vocalist Kiyoharu, bassist Hitoki, drummer Eiki (all three former members of Garnet), and former Geracee guitarist Shin.
After a year of performing live, Eiki left the band in June 1992 and they released "Chuuzetsu" the following month on Haunted House Records.
[3] The mini-album Ikiteita Chuzetsuji.... (remastered from a previously released January 1992 demo tape[4]) followed that December.
[5] Kuroyume's first full-length studio album, Nakigara o..., was released in June 1993 and clearly showed the group progressing in a more melodic direction by leaning further toward the goth side of things and doing away completely with any semblance of metal music.
[6] According to Fanatic Crisis guitarist Shun, Kuroyume and Silver-Rose [ja] were the "big two" of Nagoya kei at the time.
[7] Shortly after signing with Toshiba EMI in early 1994, Kuroyume released "For Dear" in February as their major label debut single.
In August 1994, the mini album Cruel and its lead single "Ice My Life" introduced a pop rock side.
The band now dressed more conservatively, being reminiscent of 1980s New Romantic fashion and seeming to give off a more palatable image to mainstream buyers.
I think we were able to change our concept, sound production, and visual aspects each time because we didn't get on board and take a million-seller kind of route.
[4] Hitoki later revealed that Cruel was initially planned to be recorded with Shin taking lead as the band self-produced, but the guitarist never left his bedroom.
1997 heralded another transformation for Kuroyume, who were a punk influenced rock 'n roll band both visually and musically for the album Drug Treatment released that June.
", "When you are working and money is involved, there are always things that cannot be done solely from the artist's point of view, and there is the possibility of 'selling one's soul' in the process.
[16] It was initiated by the 2009 death of Masato Tōjō, former editor-in-chief of the music magazine Fool's Mate, who was a supporter of Kuroyume since their indie days.
It features covers of the band's songs by popular modern visual kei acts, such as Abingdon Boys School, Plastic Tree, The Gazette, Sid and Cascade.
Following the relative success of these two singles, they released an album entitled Headache and Dub Reel Inch on November 2, 2011.
[27] As part of Kiyoharu's celebrations for his 30th anniversary in music, Kuroyume performed at the Tokyo Garden Theater on February 9, 2025.