Looking scary by many people's standards, Malice Mizer proves that their appearances are quiet deceiving and are very successful at fooling people into falsely conceiving their music. Malice Mizer is a band with great contrast. Whether it is a unforgetable, strong ballad, like a song called "Le Ciel" or a totally hard-rocked edge of a song called "Beast of Blood," they, time after time, fool their audiences into thinking they are a monotone-type band. Really, how often do you hear violins, organs, electric guitars, drums, and sometimes even a choir at the same time? With Malice Mizer, that is just your everyday lineup.
The group leader is Mana which produces almost all of the songs of Malice Mizer. Clearly, crossdressing has never looked good, but the Master of Japanese Music has not only inspired many by looks or music, but also by charm. Mana is socially outcasted, by never talking during interviews, concerts, or anywhere in the public eye. As much as people concider the visuals of Malice Mizer a bonus, they go hand-in-hand with their single art form. Whether Mana dresses as many different styles, such as a flower, a nun, a cult member, a bad-ass, and even a puppet, Malice Mizer seems their wardrobe becomes even more outrageous and scarier than the next.
It all started in 1992, when Mana recruited Tetsu (vocals), Yu~ki (bass), Kozi (Guitar), and Gaz (drums) to create a band of a totally unique nature. Due to Mana's top demands, Gaz (drums) was excused from the band later that year, and replaced by a new drummer, Kami. In 1994, they then released an first album (Memoire) after playing in clubs for nearly two years. It was more successful than planned that it even was reissued (Memoire DX) including a new song and more pictures. If anyone has heard Tetsu's (vocals) voice, you can see why he was later given the boot by Mana with his terrible vocal array.
After a loss to the band, they were short of a vocalist. Mana, being the band leader, recruited a new vocalist called Gackt. If you are familiar with the Japanese music scene, you may know that Gackt is one of Japan's most popular singers/actors, and he owes it to Malice Mizer in making him famous. After releasing three singles, the album 
(Merveilles) was a inormous success from a band with a terrible vocalist and playing in clubs before. Merveilles stayed top on the Oricon Charts (Japanese Music Billboard) for 4 weeks. This proved to be the heigth of Malice Mizer's career. Even after becoming hugely successful in 1997, they released a single the year that would rock Japan, a song called "Le Ciel." One of Gackt's creations, a different approch from Mana's lead on producing 
all of Malice Mizer's songs. During 1998, the demand for Malice Mizer was so high, they played the Merveilles Album Concert in the Yokohama Arena which is a huge feat, holding nearly 20,000 guests. Truely, it looked like the successes of the band were too good to be true and nothing could stop their huge achievements...until...
Due to financial problems and a different taste in music, Gackt (2nd vocalist) decided to leave the band even after the inormous success and popularity they achieved. It seemed like Malice Mizer had suffered a blow to the head, but something even more tradgic would occur...
