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Moi dix Mois is a Japanese band, and the solo project of Mana, formerly the leader and guitarist of the Japanese band Malice Mizer.

Musical style

Moi dix Mois' sound incorporates some of the elements that Mana previously favored while in Malice Mizer, such as harpsichord, electric guitar, orchestral instrumentation, and operatic vocals. However, the gothic romanticism of late-period Malice Mizer music has largely been supplanted by a harder-edged heavy metal-inspired sound. In particular, Mana has stated that he was influenced by such bands as Slayer and Mötley Crüe. In keeping with the concept of a solo project, Mana's lyrics for Moi dix Mois are more personal than those he has written for Malice Mizer, veering between melancholy romanticism and deep depression.

History

On October 19, 2002, approximately ten months after the breakup of Malice Mizer, Mana announced the formation of his solo project, Moi dix Mois. Their first single, Dialogue Symphonie, was released a month later. Apart from playing guitar, Mana composes all of Moi dix Mois' music, writes the lyrics, arranges, produces, designs the stage costumes and acts as overall artistic director. In contrast to Mana's previous bands, Moi dix Mois is explicitly billed as Mana's solo project; while the project members have input during the performance and recording of the music, Mana essentially determines the band's artistic direction on his own. All of Moi dix Mois' music is released via Mana's own independent record label, MidiːNette.

Almost nothing is known about the other project members prior to their joining Moi dix Mois, except that K was a guitarist with Grand Zero under the name Takeru (建), and new drummer Hayato was formerly in the bands oxide and Blüe. Former drummer Tohru used to be a member of JILS.

The band's name, which literally translates from French as "Me ten months", has special meaning to Mana. "Moi" stands for his debut as a solo artist; "Dix" stands for the number 10 and while 1 symbolizes the beginning of something, 0 means something similar to "eternity"; "Dix Mois", again, means "10 months", the average time a baby grows inside its mother's womb before being born (the Japanese traditionally count gestation in lunar months), as well as the ten months between the breakup of Malice Mizer and the birth of Moi dix Mois.

Moi dix Mois played their first concerts outside Japan in March 2005 in Munich, Germany and Paris, France as part of their Invite to Immorality Tour. After the tour's final engagement on 24 April 2005 in Tokyo, singer Juka left the band.

Current status

A new stage of the band began on March 1st 2006, when they released the album, Beyond the Gate. This featured a new vocalist named Seth. Before the album was released, Mana indicated that the sound would mean the beginning of a renewed direction for the band, possibly more integrated towards electronic music. After the announcement of the Beyond the Gate release was made, Seth's identity was revealed as the new vocalist, and it was announced that Kazuno (bass) and Tohru (drums) were also leaving the group.

In June 2006, Moi dix Mois headlined the Wave Gotik Treffen (the world's largest Goth festival with 20,000 visitors every year) in Leipzig, Germany. They will next return to touring in Japan; a monthly series of live concerts is scheduled for the autumn.

A prospective 5-city tour in the United States was scheduled for July 2006, but cancelled due to the band citing "differences in policies" with the tour organizer. However, Mana did make a U.S. appearance at the 2006 Anime Expo in Anaheim, CA on July 1st, where he announced that Moi dix Mois is planning to tour America sometime "within the calendar year".

Members

Current

• Mana - Guitar/leader
• Seth - Vocals (Seth is believed to be from the band brain hacker)
• K - Guitar and vocals
• Shadow X - Death vocals
• Hayato - Drums
• Sugiya - Bass

Former

• Juka - Vocals
• Kazuno - Bass
• Tohru - Drums

Discography

Fanclub Limited Release

• Voice From Inferno (Mon+Amour fanclub-only CD) - September 2002

Single

• Dialogue Symphonie - 19 November 2002
• Shadows Temple - 31 May 2004
• Pageant - 6 October 2004
• Lamentful Miss - 4 October 2006

Album

• Dix Infernal - 19 March 2003
• Nocturnal Opera - 20 July 2004
• Beyond the Gate - 1 March 2006

DVD

• Dix Infernal - Scars of Sabbath - 16 December 2003
• Invite to Immorality - Moi dix Mois Europe Live Tour 2005 - 27 July 2005

External links

• Moi dix Mois Official Homepage
• Mana's Official Homepage
• Moi dix Mois International Fanclub
• Mexican Fansite: MoiDixMois.net
• Moi Dix Mois Unofficial Fansite

• Japanese musical groups