Jenny-fa

The title may have prematurely given it away, but… can you identify the people in the below photograph?

They appear to be a Japanese visual kei group, right? Like Malice Mizer or Dir en grey? Right???

Ummmm… no.

他們都是中國人。

Yes… may I have the honor of presenting to you 銀色灰塵, or Silver Ash, the first-ever Chinese visual kei rock band.

The band

Current lineup:

• Ling (凌) — vocals
• Yue (玥) — guitar
• Yu (玉) — bass
• Zhen (楨) — drums
• Bai Niao (白鳥) — keyboard

Former members:

• Hong (虹) — bass
• Lucy — guitar
• Nancy — guitar

The music

So let me cut to the chase. Last Thursday, I finally received my order of Silver Ash's first full-length album, the Never End mini-album, and a VCD containing their two MVs and a "home video."

The group's self-titled Silver Ash album, although a little old ('twas published in 2002), was very lovely. Ling's voice intrigues me for some reason; it's surprisingly deep, similar to those of Japanese rock musicians Gackt or Hyde (for lack of a better comparison)… but at the same time, it's very distinctive, and well suited for the genre. The recording quality sounded a little weak, though, because of the age. And despite the wonderfully rousing performance in their "Liar" MV and the overall dark mood of the album artwork, I discovered that, a little to my disappointment, the pieces were generally softer and gentler than I previously anticipated. However, I dispelled those expectations when I listened to the CD a second time, and subsequently enjoyed it very much.

However, I feel that a few more distorted-guitar-and-screaming tracks wouldn't have gone amiss.

Silver Ash — track listing

1. Gorgeous Devil
2. 風琴 (Organum)
3. 誰 (Who)
4. Liar
5. 風之斷崖 (Wind of the Broken Cliff)
6. 月殘 (Lunar Eclipse)
7. 彌沙 (Suffused Sand)
8. Twins-雙生
9. 疏遠 (Estrange)
10. 6月24日-望 （DEMO） (June 24th~look)

Unfortunately, it appears that the communist Chinese government has been giving Silver Ash trouble ever since the band's formation. Since Silver Ash is the first visual kei group of its kind in China, I expect the hard-liners didn't take kindly to the gothic attire and makeup… so Silver Ash was never given much media promotion or attention (although they are somewhat well known in the Chinese rock circle), and they have constantly struggled to make ends meet. According to their official Web site, the group is currently on "temporary hiatus" and are currently occupied with other engagements.

Sadly, there are also rumors that the group is discarding its visual kei image in order to comply with the government's demands.

MVs

• Liar
• 月殘 (Lunar Eclipse)

Related links

• Silver Ash official Web site (Simplified Chinese and English)
• Ling's blog (Simplified Chinese)
• Broken Cliff ~a silver ash site~
• Broken Cliff — Erste deutsche Fanseite über Silver Ash (German)
• Platinum Dust

And other notes

And this is where all of my excited mutterings subside into disorganized chaos…

• Apparently, Silver Ash has been active recently: a user on YouTube dated one live concert as 4/8/2007. That was about seven months ago, but at least it proves that they're still active.
• NOOOOOOO!!! "海的女兒"? GODDAMMIT! WHAT HAPPENED TO THE VISUAL KEI???

Jenny-fa's verdict: 3.5 stars out of 5. It's a shame these fellow comrades never had a proper chance at stardom, but I don't doubt that they would be highly successful if they weren't repressed by their government.

And for those who are interested (and unable to read Simplified Chinese), I may soon publish a guide for purchasing Silver Ash, Never End, and the music video VCD from Amazon China.