Crimson Char - Saikousou Yori Tobu Otoko (最高層より翔ぶ男) (1998)

"Crimson Char", 1998.


Crimson Char formed in 1989. Although the group reportedly formed in 1989, Crimson Char would not seem to start releasing demos until 1993, before seemingly disintegrating by 1994. In October of 1996, Crimson Char returned with the release of their first mini-album, which was self-titled. The album had decent sales in the visual underground and by 1997, Crimson Char had managed to develop a niche following for their sound which blended elements of progressive and doom metal, two sounds that were, and still are, very rarely experimented with in the visual scene. In December of 1997, the group released its first VHS "29 Nichi me no Senketsu (29日目の鮮血)", and later released their first demo in several years, which was self-titled, in early 1998. The demo had decent sales in the visual underground and Crimson Char went on to to tour throughout the majority of 1998, before eventually officially disbanding in February of 1999. Frontman Danna retired from the visual scene after its split and instead started a solo career under his full name of Yutaro Shimizu (紫水勇太郎), which folded by 2003. He then reunited with the keyboardist of Crimson Char, Preshilla, and the two then formed the underground group Imachizuki (居待月), with Preshilla going by her full name of Akiko Sawa (沢亜姫呼). When Imachizuki also dissolved by 2007, however, Akiko then officially retired from the underground music scene, while Yutaro would revive his solo career, which he remains somewhat active in today. The drummer of Crimson Char, Mye, would retire from the visual scene after the group split and seemingly disappeared from the underground music scene in general before returning in 2019 and forming the project Crimson Char Mania, which featured the music of Crimson Char through the stylings of Vocaloid. In 2021, however, the project seemed to dissolve and Mye then seemed to have returned to his respective retirement.