"Kokoro Sou (心葬)", 1999.


Lamiel formed in 1997. That November, the group released its first demo, "Ao (碧)", and later released their second demo, "Shu (朱)", in January of 1998. Presumably due to the fact that some members of Lamiel were previously in the popular visual group Lustair, both demos had strong sales, and Lamiel then released their third demo in August of 1998, "Kuro (黒)", and later released their first mini-album, "Kaigan (開眼)", that October. Both releases soon sold out, and "Kaigan" was repressed for another 2,000 copies soon afterwards. By early 1999, Lamiel had managed to become one of the brightest-shining up-and-comers in the late 90's visual underground, although shortly after "Kaigan" was repressed, Lamiel had their first lineup change when bassist Ruka left. He was then replaced by Hiderou (秀朗), and in March of 1999, Lamiel released their second mini-album, "Toki no Koe (鬨の声)", which was another hit for the young up-and-comers. In August of 1999, the group released their first single, "Naked Eye", and also released their third mini-album "Kokoro Sou (心葬)", that October. Released just 6 months after "Toki no Koe", "Kokoro Sou" ended up beating the odds and had strong sales, despite how close together the release dates were. In the fall of 1999, Lamiel had another lineup change when one of the guitarists and main songwriters of the group, Aie, left. His departure put Lamiel on a slight hiatus, although he was eventually replaced in early 2000 by Iori (依織), and Lamiel then released their second single, "Korekara (是空)", in April of 2000. While the single didn't sell as strongly as their previous releases, it still managed to have decent sales, and the group went on to tour throughout the majority of 2000 heavily. In the summer of 2000, despite their massive cult following and continuously strong sales, Lamiel surprisingly announced its official disbandment. The group then played their final live that October, and officially split afterwards. The drummer of Lamiel, Toki (トキ), went on to join the incredibly popular visual group Deadman, which he was active in until it also split in 2006. After Deadman split, Toki then retired from the visual scene. In 2019, after over a decade of inactivity, Deadman surprisingly reunited, although Toki remained in his retirement. Iori, Hiderou and the frontman of Lamiel, Yuina (維那), all went on to form the visual group Blast, which would have similar success to Lamiel, although Blast eventually ended up splitting as well in 2003. After Blast split, both Hiderou and Yuina retired from the visual scene. Iori, however, went on to join the indies group Siva, which he was active in until it split as well in 2009. He then went on to join the indies group Cocklobin, which would go on to become one of the most popular and beloved acts in the 2010's visual underground up until its split in 2014. He then joined the short lived visual supergroup Femme Fatale, and later joined Sioux under the alias of Ciela. When Sioux also split in early 2019, Ciela then became a support member for the visual groups Umiyuri (ウミユリ) and Crazy Punk Kid, under his original alias of Iori, which he is still active in today.