exist†trace is a five-part band made up entirely of women. They got their start five or six years ago in Tokyo, and have since been climbing slowly but surely into the visual kei spotlight. This is remarkable because when they first started, they were disregarded and mocked by a large portion of the v-kei fandom simply because of the fact that they are female. To put it simply, the majority of v-kei fans are young girls who are interested in the genre mainly because it is made up of good-looking men. It wouldn't be inaccurate to compare the genre to that of boy bands in the west, although the sound is obviously very different. So exist†trace was forced to prove themselves on the basis of their musical talents, rather than relying on innate sex appeal.
Luckily, they are talented, and with a string of strong releases they have won over a large group of fans, both female and male alike. This makes me happy, because I think v-kei could benefit from having more female fronted bands (or even the occasional female member). I think this also helps exist†trace appeal to a broader, more mature audience.
Of course, there have been other female v-kei acts in the past: ClothoidDoll and kana instantly come to mind. More recently, Kanon Wakeshima has achieved some level of popularity, but is hardly what I would call famous. Moreover, most of these acts were popular more for the novelty factor than any real talent. (Hebi Ichigo, anyone??) In major acts, there is Inugami Circus-dan (angura-kei, and far different in sound from exist†trace) and Onmyouza (can we invent a Heian-kei for them? They barely fit into any sub-genre.) but both of these bands have only female vocalists and sounds that place them outside the realm of standard v-kei. So, exist†trace is unique in many regards.
exist†trace are:
Jou [vocals]
Miko [guitar]
Omi [guitar]
Naoto [bass]
Mally [drums]
Sound-wise, exist†trace fall into the category of dark metal, although they're rather hard to pigeonhole so easily. Their songs range from melodic to chaotic, and definitely have a gothic sort of feel. Jou's voice is capable of being both gently alluring and full of rage. (However, she is never nasal or squeaky like some female Japanese singers.) The guitarwork is above-par, and the arrangements tend to feature bass and percussion rather heavily. This makes them sound rather dark, but in fact many of exist†trace's songs are quite catchy. They have a nice balance and manage to be both complex and accessible.
If you like bands like D'espairsRay, Phantasmagoria, or D, I recommend you give exist†trace a try!
Recommended Tracks:
