Schwarz Stein

Schwarz Stein was a Japan electronic music band, formed by Hora and Kaya in 2001 (as "Rudolf Steiner") and disbanded in 2004.

Schwarz Stein was a darkwave/electronic-based project, creating a variety of decadent and broodingly dark songs during their three years of activity

History
The group consisted of Kaya on vocals (ex-ISOLA) and Hora (ex-Velvet Eden) as keyboardist. The two originally worked together under the alias Rudolf Steiner until their signing to ex-Malice Mizer guitarist Mana's record label Midi:Nette. Upon their 're-formation', Mana discarded the name Rudolf Steiner and christened the duo "Schwarz Stein" (pseudo-German for "Black Stone").

Prior to their name change, two demo tapes (Queen of Decadence and Perfect Garden) had been released. A re-worked version of Perfect Garden was later created as their Midi:Nette debut single. Schwarz Stein went on to release their first full album New Vogue Children in June 2003, the single Current in November of the same year, and their final album Artificial Hallucination in February 2004. They opened for Moi dix Mois on several occasions, played at numerous events, and also made a few solo appearances as well.

After their last performance on March 29, 2004, Schwarz Stein officially disbanded due to creative differences between its two members. The band was briefly reunited for the "Dis Inferno III ~Last Year Party~" event on December 15, 2004, hosted by their former label Midi:Nette. The two musicians remain on good terms to this day.

A collaboration CD "Another Cell" was released in April 2006, limited to 1000 copies and only available for order through Kaya's official site. This limited edition CD features re-mixed/re-worked versions of Rudolf Steiner's "kuro ageha" as well as several songs from Hora's first CD "INNER UNIVERSE", making up three of the eight total tracks. It should be noted that this is a one-time-only collaboration and not a reunion of Schwarz Stein.

Present
Both Kaya and Hora have stated they will continue to pursue careers in music as solo artists. Hora has released five albums as a solo artist, his newest album being "ICEBOUND" which was released in mid November. Kaya has released four singles and two albums, his most recent release having been "Carmilla" on Halloween.

Discography

as Rudolf Steiner
Queen of Decadence (Demo) (June 1, 2001)
Perfect Garden (Demo) (November 12, 2001)

as Schwarz Stein

Singles
Perfect Garden (Single) - (July 31, 2002)
Current (Single) - (November 17, 2003)

Albums
New vogue children - (June 30, 2003)
Artificial Hallucination - (February 25, 2004)

as another cell
another cell (April, 2006) [limited to 1000 copies]

Hora's solo
INNER UNIVERSE - (March 29, 2005) [limited to 1000 copies]
THE WORLD - (December 21, 2005) [limited to 500 copies]
PROMINENCE - (September 28, 2006) [limited to 500 copies]
VENOM - (March 29, 2007) [limited to 500 copies]
ICEBOUND - (November 15, 2007) [limited to 500 copies]

Kaya's solo
Kaleidoscope (Single) - (June 28, 2006) [limited to 1000 copies]
Masquerade (Single) - (September 6, 2006)
Glitter - (December 27, 2006) [limited to 1000 copies]
桜花繚乱 (Single) - (April 4, 2007)
百鬼夜行 - (July 11, 2007)
Carmilla - (October 31, 2007)