THE SOUND BEE HD
The band started as DAISUKE's(ex.media youth) solo project in 1998 under the name: LOOSAR POP MART FAMILY. But in early 2000 changed their name to SOUND BEE and became a full band. THE SOUND BEE HD is a band signed to the label Starwave Records. Their music is described as a fusion of electro and heavy rock with a touch of Japanese aesthetics and their albums are usually based on themes such as "poison," "flower" or "captivation." Clad in costumes similar to traditional Japanese clothes but with extravagant and modern elements, their outfits usually have one dominant color which varies with every release.
In early 2000, the group released its first demo "TwoXFour≠Hachi (蜂), and later appeared on the "Non-Standard File ~@6sight~" omnibus that July. In January of 2001, Sound Bee released their first mini-album, "Dol-Bee6", which had impressive sales. In late 2001, however, original drummer Shuntaro left, and was immediately replaced by Makoto. Presumably due to the fact that frontman Daisuke was already considered to be an icon among the visual scene for his role in Media Youth, Sound Bee never had a problem crossing over, and developed a huge following despite the departure of Shuntaro.
In August of 2002, the group released their first full length album, "Bee Cyborn", and although Sound Bee did indeed had a strong following, the album proved to be a disappointment in terms of sales, and can be hard to get a copy of today as a result. Due to the mediocre sales of "Bee Cyborn" and the gap that was caused from the departure of Shuntaro, Sound Bee ended up not releasing any other material for the remainder of 2002 and 2003. To make matters worse, Makoto and guitarist Hideyuki both left by the end of 2003 as well. Hideyuki wasn't replaced, while Makoto was soon replaced by Tatsu. In May of 2004, Sound Bee released their first single "Uchuusen (宇宙船)", and in early 2005, the group then changed their name to The Sound Bee HD. Under this name, the group released its second overall full length album in May of 2005 "Mutation", and two guitarists were brought on-board to replace Hideyuki that October: Gizmon and Yuichi. Finally riding steadily once more, The Sound Bee HD released their second overall single in October of 2005, "Attack of the Killer Bee Battle 20", which was only sold at their live of the same name. Although they were heading down a slight downward spiral, The Sound Bee HD made their comeback by early 2006, and became one of the most popular underground visual bands once more. In October of 2006, the group released their third single "Attack of the Killer Bee Battle 22", which, like the previously titled single, was only distributed at their live of the same name. The Sound Bee HD went on to tour throughout the remainder of 2006 and most of 2007 and 2008, but didn't release any other material during this period. By late 2008, however, Gizmon and Tatsu both left, and Gizmon was replaced by Tak, while Tatsu was replaced by Hiro.
After this, the line up was as follows: vocalist DAISUKE, guitarists Tak (ex. Calmando Qual) and YUICHI, bassist YOU and drummer HIRO. With this line up the band would sign with Starwave Records in Febuary 2010. The very first album released under Starwave Records was Hachi, the third album in their discography. The group participated in a sponsored event at Ikebukuro Black Hole which took place on April 24th. In June, all bands signed to Starwave Records recorded a compilation album to commemorate label's formation in 2010. THE SOUND BEE HD then recorded a song titled "TRANS-FIXION" and also took part in a promotional event at Ikebukuro LIVE INN ROSA. On August 8th THE SOUND BEE HD released second presses of their 1st single "Uchuusen (宇宙船)" and their 2nd album "MUTATION" under Starwave Records.
The next release followed very quickly. In October 2010 they released the mini-album "Doku". The band started to base their albums on some particular themes, this time being "poison." JIN of auncia participated in the recording process as a guest guitarist and a sponsored event was held at Ikebukuro Black Hole to promote the new release.
Their appearance at Nekocon13 in Virginia, USA was a big step for them as they presented themselves to an international audience. A new mini-album titled "Hana" was released the following year, the tracks on this album written with "flowers" as the theme. The promotional event took place at Meguro Rockmaykan and it was the last release with YUICHI as a guitarist of THE SOUND BEE HD. After he left in June 2011, the band continued their activities as a quartet. As a four-member band they will release the new mini-album "A-De" which has "captivation" as the theme on December 14 and a sponsored event took place at Ikebukuro Black Hole for this new release. Before this though, on October 6th "THE SOUND BEE HD" released "BLACK BOX 1 & BLACK BOX 2" Remastered compilation albums containing songs from the bands time as "Sound Bee". "BLACK BOX 1" features songs from :"NON-STANDARD FILE～@6sight～", and "Dol-Bee6" and "BLACK BOX 2" features songs from: "as long as one", and "BEECYBONE" respectively.
While searching for a new guitar player DAISUKE had asked Starwave Records owner Kiwamu to find him someone like Kazuha, one of the members of his own band "BLOOD". To his surprise, Kazuha himself soon volunteered to become a support member of the THE SOUND BEE HD, and also went on to contribute to the song-writing process.
In January 2013 guitarist Tak decided to leave the band because it was becoming too difficult to balance activities between "THE SOUND BEE HD" and his main group, "Calmando Qual". A quartet once again, "THE SOUND BEE HD" returned to the US in February 2013 to perform at Katsucon 19 in Washington D.C. They came prepared with two new EPs to offer the audience: "Sou", which had been released the previous summer, and "cross", which came out just weeks before their appearance.
The band’s first first best album "GHOST WORST FOREST" was on September 18th, and featured reworked, heavier versions of tracks from their previous releases. , it was also sold in advance at their free one-man live "GHOST WORST FOREST" at Ikebukuro CYBER on August 19th.
On August 27, 2014 Gt. KAZUHA (ex. BLOOD) left as their support Gt. after their live at Ikebukuro CYBER, and Gt. 裕-Yuu- (ex-SUICIDE ALI-->lix) would act as their support Gt. since their live at Shinsaibashi FANJ-twice in Spetember. 裕-Yuu- also helped out with the production for their new mini-album "DAWN OF THE DEAD 〜屍の夜明け〜(~Shikabane no yoake~ )" which was released on January 5th, 2015 limited to 1000 and was also sold in advance at their one-man live "Chronicle of Death" at Ikebukuro CHOP on November 29th, 2014. 裕-Yuu- joined the band as an official member on October 1st.
THE SOUND BEE HD announced their new album "BLooD RaiN～血塗られた景色(chinurareta keshiki)～" would be released on January 27, 2016. (2 TYPE - regular edition / live-limited & web-shop edition, 2,700yen, limited 1000), which will include CD+booklet (12 pages) and was also sold in advance at their one-man live "bloody sight 血塗られた景色(chinurareta keshiki)" at Ikebukuro EDGE on November 27, 2015.
On January 25th, 2017 "THE SOUND BEE HD" released their mini-album titled, "WALKING DEAD". Available in two CD+DVD editions featuring different jacket art. Both editions include seven tracks, and both of the DVDs feature the music video for WALKING DEAD. Type A would be released in stores nationwide, while Type B would only be available exclusively at live venues and through Starwave Records' online shop. Each version limited to 1000 copies.
THE SOUND BEE HD announced the release of a new triple album for October 25th, 2017 titled "LIVING DEAD", a compilation of the band’s three previously-released mini-albums: DAWN OF THE DEAD (originally released on January 14th, 2015), BLooD RaiN (January 27th, 2016), and WALKING DEAD (January 25th, 2017). Available in one edition featuring three CDs and 21 tracks in total.
On January 17th, 2018 "THE SOUND BEE HD" released their second single "ENDLESS DEAD" available in one CD+DVD edition. The single features five tracks: birth-M2-125, DaRK to DaRK, signal fire, ENDLESS DEAD, and death-M2-70. The DVD contain the music video for ENDLESS DEAD. Limited to 666 copies. It would also be sold in advance at "THE SOUND BEE HD's" December 9th, 2017 one-man show at Ikebukuro CHOP. Just like "THE SOUND BEE HD's" previous 3 mini albums, this single features the themes: "DEAD", "ZOMBIE", and "HELLOWEEN".
Signed to Starwave Records since February of 2010.
Current Members:
Vocal: DAISUKE (ex-media youth)
Guitar: 裕 -Yuu- (ex.SUICIDE ALI as (Joshua(裕))
Bass: YOU (FEMALE)
Drums: HIRO
Past Members:
200x~2011 Guitar & PT: YUICHI
2012~2014 Guitar: Kazuha (ex.ＢＬＯＯＤ) (support)
2001~2007 Guitar: Shuntaru (support)
2001~2007 Drums: tatsu
2007~2013 Guitar: Tak (ex. Calmando Qual)
2001~2003 Drums: MAKOTO
2000~2003 Guitar: HIDEYUKI
Discography:
As SOUND BEE:
(2000.??.??) TWO×FOUR≠蜂 (Demo)
(2000.07.16) NON-STANDARD FILE～@6sight～(Various Artists Tracks: 1.)SLIPPING TO THE HOLE 2.)cupid in black
(2001.01.26)「Dol-Bee6」(Mini-album)
(2002.07.24) as long as one (Various Artists Track 6.) DEAD CAN DANCE
(2002.08.28)「BEECYBONE」(1st Full-album)
(2004.05.07) 「宇宙船」(1st single)
As THE SOUND BEE HD:
(2005.05.01) 「MUTATION」(2nd Full-album)
(2005.10.21) ATTACK OF THE KILLER BEE BATTLE 20 (free distributed)
(2006.10.09) ATTACK OF THE KILLER BEE BATTLE 22 (free distributed)
(2009.09.13) Darkest Labyrinth Promotion CD (Various Artists Track 7.) Errorrrr....
(2010.05.12)「蜂」(Hachi) (3rd Full-album)
(2010.06.30) Starwave Records(Various Artists Track 3.)TRANS-FIXION)
(2010.09.08)「宇宙船」(Uchusen) (1st single) (2nd Press)
(2010.09.08)「MUTATION」(2nd Full-album) (2nd Press)
(2010.10.27) 毒(DOKU) (Mini Album)
(2011.02.02) Alamode Magazine CD Vol.03(Various Artists Track 10.)すべてに光を すべてに愛を(Subeteni hikari wo subeteni ai wo)
(2011.06.01) 華(HANA) (Mini Album)
(2011.10.06) BLACK BOX 1 & BLACK BOX 2 (Remastered compilation albums) (Contain songs from the bands time as Sound Bee.) BLACK BOX 1:NON-STANDARD FILE～@6sight～, Dol-Bee6 and BLACK BOX 2: as long as one, BEECYBONE
(2011.12.14) 艶(A-De) (Mini Album)
(2012.04.30) StarwaveLOID vol.01
(2012.07.11) 葬(Sou) (Mini Album)
(2012.08.01) Starwave Records Vol. 2(Various Artists Track 7.)darkness
(2013.01.23) cross (Mini Album)
(2013.09.18.)GHOST WORST FOREST (Best album)
(2015.01.14) DAWN OF THE DEAD 〜屍の夜明け〜(~Shikabane no yoake~ ) (Mini album)
(2016.01.27) BLooD RaiN 〜血塗られた景色〜(~chinurareta keshiki~) (Mini album)
(2017.01.25) WALKING DEAD (Mini album)
(2017.10.25) LIVING DEAD (3 CD Set) (Contains: DAWN OF THE DEAD 〜屍の夜明け〜, BLooD RaiN 〜血塗られた景色〜, and WALKING DEAD.)
(2018.01.17) ENDLESS DEAD (2nd single)
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You can listen to their music on Spotify here: https://play.spotify.com/artist/2CR8TSosTKbIdui0J7oxPC
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