Schwarz Stein

Biography

The duo that would become Schwarz Stein began as Kaya (vocals, ex-Isola) and Hora (keyboardist and programmer, ex-Velvet Eden), working together under the name Rudolf Steiner. After signing with Midi:Nette, the label run by ex-Malice Mizer guitarist Mana, he discarded that alias and christened them Schwarz Stein, a pseudo-German phrase meaning "Black Stone." Before this rebranding, they had issued two demo tapes: Queen of Decadence (June 1, 2001) and Perfect Garden (November 12, 2001). A reworked version of Perfect Garden later served as their Midi:Nette debut single on July 31, 2002. Their first full album, New Vogue Children, arrived on June 30, 2003, followed by the single Current on November 17, 2003, and their final album Artificial Hallucination on February 25, 2004. During this period, they opened for Moi dix Mois on several occasions, played at various events, and also made a number of solo appearances. Schwarz Stein officially disbanded after their last performance on March 29, 2004, due to creative differences between its two members. They briefly reunited for the "Dis Inferno III: Last Year Party" event on December 15, 2004, hosted by their former label Midi:Nette. In April 2006, a collaboration CD titled another cell was released, limited to 1000 copies and only available for order through Kaya's official site. This limited edition CD features remixed/reworked versions of Rudolf Steiner's "Kuro Ageha" as well as two songs from Hora's first CD Inner Universe, making up three of the eight total tracks. In April 2011, both members announced on their respective web sites that Schwarz Stein would reunite for a single show on July 31 at Takadanobaba Area, to celebrate their 10th anniversary of working together. Tickets were also made available to overseas fans via CD Japan. A new mini-album, Recurrence of Hallucination, was also announced. After the live DVD of the show was released entitled Recurrence of Hallucination -LIVE- via Hora's website. In February 2014, at his final Gothic Elements tour concert in Shibuya, Kaya announced Schwarz Stein would regroup, with their first live performance and a new single in March.