Rebirth

 (2002 – 2007)

At the end of 2002 Kamijo resumes his solo activity under the name of LAREINE. On October 30 and 31, Applause Records, the production company founded by Kamijo, organizes two Halloween evenings with artists from the bands RIBBON (Emiru's group bassist LAREINE), New Sodmy and Chantons l'Amour (Machi's group, LAREINE's drummer) and of course LAREINE with Kamijo. Emiru, Machi and Mayu as special guests. On November 27th, a new album "Chou no hana / Lesson" was released before LAREINE's second album Solo: "STUDY". On this album, Mayu, Emiru and Machi participated but in a secret way, without officially joining LAREINE again they are credited as guests. The album was promoted during a series of events in stores in January 2003.

 
On March 26 of the same year, a special concert entitled "? ? ? ?" - (Saikai no hana) was given to Shibuya-AX. During this concert, Emiru who has just left RIBBON announces his return to LAREINE. A new drummer, Kazumi, was also introduced to the fans. He was also a member of RIBBON. To celebrate this event, a VHS video "? ? ?" (Saikai no hana) was distributed to the public, and the following days two compilations came out: "Queen of Flower I" and "Queen of Flower II" as well as a new release of the single  "????”(Sakai no hana).

The date of March 26 is not innocuous for this return of LAREINE on the stage, it is indeed a March 26 that the band gave its first live under this name after the 
Lalienne period.

LAREINE - Saikai no Hana [ORIGINAL DVD Tour Scarlet Majesty FINAL 2003.8.13 SHIBUYA-AX ]
 

On May 17, a new concert of the group's return, hit ? ? ? ? ?? (Mou hitotsu no yakusoku, meaning Another Promise), was given to Shibuya-AX where they
were joined by Mayu. LAREINE officially resumed her activities.

?     

After his reunification, LAREINE toured Japan, the "Scarlet Majesty" tour in August 2003. The final concert was recorded for a DVD release. 
They also participated in many live events.

live complet - Chaine Youtube de "Le Vent Express"
 

The band also recorded many singles that were distributed in stores or during concerts. Their most important title at that time was the single "Scarlet Majesty" and a 
three-part story "Majesty" "Knight" and "Princess". These three mini had releases distributed over time.

These releases announced a new album, "Never Cage", released on September 5, 2004, after an intense period of concerts and studio recordings. This album was very successful for a release of the independent scene and a "Deluxe" edition was released in November after the exhaustion of the first copies.

"Never Cage" promotional vidéo 

  

    

In 2005 LAREINE celebrates 10 years with two commemorative concerts at Holliday Shibaura on March 26th and Meguro Rockmayran on the 28th.

At the same time, UNDERCODE productions released a tribute album for LAREINE "Anamorphosis" accompanied by a special event at Nihon Seinenkan. "Anamorphosis" features 5 songs sung by other vocalists and Kamijo. The titles on it are "? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?" - "Dir in Gray" - "Destiny" - "? ? ? ?" - "Darkness" 

Just after that LAREINE left for a new tour "Trough a Deep Forest" which ended with a concert at Shibuya O-WEST on October 16, 2005. This concert was recorded for the live album « Deep Forest » .
Between 2005 and 2006 LAREINE continued to shoot and produce titles. The DVD "Legend of Fantasy" released in 2006 compiles some of the concerts that took place in 2005: that of March 26 at HOLIDAY SHIBAURA, that of June 30 at Shibuya O-WEST and that of October 16 Shibuya O-EAST.

While they were looking for a new drummer, the group performed with ? ? (Kazami) as a replacement musician. It was during this period that Mayu was no longer shown during the work sessions and appearances of the group.

That's why in October the group decided to split up after their last in-store event on February 17, 2007. The band made its last concert at the 2006 Halloween party, with Hizaki as a replacement guitarist . The evening was produced by Kamijo and Kisaki.

I found quite a bit of information about this second period. When we look at the discography of the band, it is characterized by many compilations of the tubes of the first period, reels, albums compilations of singles ... There are novelties but quite little compared to the first era of the group. The visual is also different, before it was easy to identify the periods because each single, each album had its own costume, there are as few costumes. Live Kamijo alternates between the blue mantle of Metamorphosis, that of Etude or that of Barawa. Outfits like "Sakai no Hana" or "Winter Romantic" do not seem to have been worn on tour. We recycle the songs too, the single "Sakai No Hana" is not a novelty, it's one of the oldest songs of the band.

For me, it's a period in half-tones, with less iconic things and yet a much more successful sound, more rock and skewed. We are more in the naivety and freshness of the previous era. There is kitsch, it's Kamijo and he likes this style but in the "Story Series" as in "Imperial Concerto" we feel a real evolution towards a stronger sound, more symphonic.

We also see a real evolution in the pockets of the discs. Kamijo is still often in photo, but there is also a very large part of visuals more abstract, more poetic or worked. We see the emergence of several castles that will be present in his future production, such as "Chambord" for "Imperial Concerto", which will be featured on the single "Castrato" in 2017 or the Conciergerie on "Cinderella Fantasy" ... which evokes the terrible destiny of the royal family under the revolution and the plot of the history of his solo career.

It is also at the end of this period that draws the character of the vampire already evoked in "Vampire Scream" and "Miss Carmila" with this look very sober white shirt big century, leather pants and now eternal laced boots. The single "Vampire Romance" and many shots of a Kamijo very in the spirit of the characters of Anne Rice, Lestat and Louis ...

To find out what happened to the former members of LAREINE, clic HERE !