It was a crossroads.
A reunion without calling itself a reunion.
A collision of futures shaped by the same origin.
For one night, all these paths crossed and synchronized.
Tonight’s SYNCROSS at Shibuya REX is a hybrid event in the truest sense — strange on paper, entirely natural in practice. On one side stands NUL., the phoenix project marking HIZUMI’s return to the stage after eight silent years. Alongside him: Masato from defspiral and Kishi Toyoyuki. On the other side is Luv PARADE, once a casual session unit, now a fully realized band built around the instrumental core of D’ESPAIRSRAY, fronted by TAKA of defspiral. Two bands with different identities, different aesthetics, different energies — yet tied together by long histories, shared members, and overlapping artistic bloodlines. It feels both otherworldly and oddly inevitable. A night slightly out of place, yet exactly where it should be. And although D’ESPAIRSRAY,’s recent reunion announcement lingers somewhere in the collective imagination, tonight is not D’ESPAIRSRAY,. The night belongs to NUL. and Luv PARADE, not as placeholders or echoes, but as two legitimate, fully formed entities with futures of their own.
The result?
A night that is neither D’ESPAIRSRAY nor defspiral, yet undeniably carries elements of both. A night where two descendant projects stand side by side, each tracing a different arc of a legacy that refuses to disappear. A night that sold out because fans sensed — instinctively — that something rare was about to unfold: a convergence, a crossing, a quiet duel of sound and spirit.
Inside Shibuya REX, that anticipation is almost feral like a pressure cooker.
The venue is already overpacked and overheating by late afternoon. Staff push the first rows forward just to carve out inches of space for the fans still entering. Winter hangs outside the doors, but inside the temperature is rising like a sealed boiler. The air is dense, expectant, ripe with the knowledge that this stage is holding two bands whose shared past has never felt so present.
PART I: NUL.
At 17:05, the lights snap into darkness.
Applause surges.
The show begins.
NUL. step onto the stage one by one, guitarist MASATO (defspiral), programming master Kishi Toshiyuki, guest musicians, bassist KOHTA (PIERROT, Angelo) and drummer DUTTCH (UZMK) as well as VJ yukako (HELLO1103) — until vocalist HIZUMI appears last, emerging from the shadows with purpose. “Come, let’s get fired up,” he says — a simple invitation that ignites the room instantly.
The opening song, Yatagarasu, is a slow-burn: mid-tempo, taut, unfolding like a held breath. The bridge lyric — What I’ve destroyed to save my love ones — hangs over the venue like a confession whispered into a storm. It’s a deliberate, simmering start that tightens the crowd into a single pulse. All pumped up HIZUMI screams “Come on, Shibuya!” The second track, HYENA, detonates without warning. Faster, harsher, more serrated at the edges. The lighting plunges into a visceral red — maple red, blood red — casting the pit into a roiling silhouette. HIZUMI leans into the bridge with raw “HEY! HEY!” shouts, then pivots toward the drummer, trading energy like sparks flung across steel.
Next, comes XStream. Blue-green lights shimmer as HIZUMI climbs onto his platform, towering above the hands reaching toward him. He commands the audience with almost ritual precision. The bassist, KOHTA, smiling with quiet mischief, keeps making eye contact with fans — a warm counterpoint to the stage’s cooler tones. “Are you having fun?” HIZUMI asks, though the answer is obvious in the roar that follows. The set takes a heavier turn with CRUMBLE — a track built for headbanging, thick and muscular. Bodies slam gently forward; the pit becomes a beating heart.
Then comes JILL. The band loosen up here, letting their enjoyment bleed into the performance. Kishi, behind his programming altar, begins adding digital percussion, pounding the electronic pad so hard it becomes a second drum kit. The sound thickens, warps, intensifies — like the room itself is expanding under the weight.
Follows THE LAST DAY, a mid-tempo crusher, hypnotic in its repetition. MASATO’s riff coils and uncoils with a ritualistic slow burn. Emotionally heavy, almost meditative in its density. “Shibuya, let’s keep this going!” HIZUMI screams. What follows is a sharp pivot: an electro-driven track that bursts with rave-like ferocity, Dictate. HIZUMI introduces each member in a spoken-scream cadence reminiscent of Rage Against the Machine — a streak of political fury threading through the performance. The energy becomes rebellious, kinetic, almost confrontational. During SUNBREAK, HIZUMI disappears into himself here. Not physically — he’s rooted at center stage — but spiritually. He sings as if walking through memories only he can see. The audience quiets, caught in the gravity of that private moment.
The drummer, DUTTCH, snaps everyone back to life by clacking his drumsticks together during Awakening. Clap with me — that’s the unspoken command, and the audience responds instantly. HIZUMI screams, the crowd rises to meet him, and the pit becomes a wave of motion: headbanging, shouting, sweating, surrendering. Follows HYBRID BEAST, a strange and fascinating hybrid (as the name suggests) — the guitar dips into old-school phrasing while the overall structure is drenched in digital pulse. Analog grit meets cyber-industrial sheen. Kishi attacks his drum pad with a ferocity that borders on percussive violence.
The last track of the set, IMAGICAL TATOO, a sudden shift in atmosphere ripples through the venue as the NUL. logo (designed by HIZUMI himself) materializes on the back screen, stark and luminous. The opening bars of the next track slither out — a dirty industrial number, drenched in distortion and grit. HIZUMI’s voice turns plaintive, almost wounded, as if dragged through gravel before reaching the mic. The combination is devastating: harsh electronics grinding under vocals that ache rather than soar. It’s a song built to bruise the air. Then comes the solo — raw, mournful, almost keening. It cuts through the density of the mix like a memory you didn’t want to remember. Around the room, faces shift. People stop moving. For a moment, Shibuya REX is suspended in a kind of collective trance, each person transported to whatever difficult chapter of their life speaks to this song.
As the final notes decay, HIZUMI steps forward. “Since it’s someone’s birthday tonight… please wait until the end of the concert,” he says, voice carrying a hint of mischief beneath the exhaustion.
NUL.’s set was heavy, straight, full-force. The kind of performance that leaves no room to breathe.
Part II: Luv PARADE
By 18:30, the lights fall again and the curtain rises with a force that feels almost theatrical. The room has swelled even tighter; the humidity of bodies and anticipation is nearly edible. A shimmer of tiny LEDs erupts across the sea of wrists — fans lifting their arms, glowing like constellations stitched into the dark.
When Luv PARADE step onto the stage, it is with the poise of these long-time friends who know exactly who they are and exactly what their audience expects. Black silhouettes against a storm of white backlight: razor-clean, unified, deliberate. Vocalist TAKA cuts through the dark in black leather, mirroring MASATO’s earlier look — a small but striking symmetry between the two halves of this night. “Shibuya! Shibuya!” he roars, snapping the atmosphere like a whip.
Set starts with, SHOOT IT DOWN. What hits first is the sheer weight of TSUKASA’s kick drum — a blunt, chest-collapsing force that dominates the room like a second heartbeat. This band doesn’t creep into their set; they detonate it. Energy is volcanic — a continuous, rolling boil. Follows FREAK PARADE, guitarist Karyu strolls to the edge of the stage and lowers himself into a crouch, staring directly into the front row with the intimacy of someone speaking through a scream. Behind him, the humanoid woman on the big screen motions for the crowd to clap — an eerie, digital conductor encouraging flesh-and-bone bodies to move. The audience collapses into headbanging, synchronized and feral, as if the entire venue had been waiting all day for this exact moment to let go.
TAKA leans into the mic: “Are you having fun? Do you want more? Then let’s get to it.” He doesn’t have to ask twice. When Hameln kicks in, ZERO and Karyu let loose — full spinal-whip headbanging, hair flying like turbine blades. Their chemistry is undeniable, sometimes chaotic, sometimes perfectly synchronized. The stage becomes a wind tunnel of motion. JOKER tightens the air. Luv PARADE’s music built for headbanging and they never lift their foot from the accelerator. Bassist ZERO leans into the crowd, shouting, “More! More!” His expression leaves no room for negotiation; he looks at the front row like he’s daring them to meet him at his level.
Then, the room shifts inward.
EDELWEISS draws everyone into that strange space between contemplation and hypnosis — the sensation of falling through your thoughts while simultaneously anchored to the stage. The lighting softens, and for a moment, the violence of the room evaporates. It feels like moving through a dream you didn’t know you still remembered.
The calm doesn’t last.
Heaven or Hell crashes in, resurrecting the tension instantly. The band snaps back into high voltage: ZERO and Karyu swapping positions, crossing paths like predators changing territory. At the bridge, they converge with TAKA at center stage — three silhouettes merging into one strike of motion.
Then they scatter back to their posts, but not before another round of synchronized headbanging and footwork that borders on choreographed chaos. The lighting design is immaculate — beams slicing the stage from every angle, creating a crisp geometry that makes every movement visible. TAKA concludes the track with a breathless, ecstatic symbolic declaration: “This is heaven.”
The intro of MIDNIGHT SUN hits like a building collapsing. An almost chaotic, serrated heaviness shakes the room, sending tremors up the walls and into the ceiling. Karyu drops to his knees, back to the audience, hair drenched and whipping as he headbangs with brutal precision. The sheer physicality of the band is astonishing — they’re effectively doing live cardio at the speed of metal, and somehow sustaining it.
TAKA takes a moment between breaths:
“Thank you for coming. This is a special show.
We are Luv PARADE.”
TAKA raises his hand and the band cuts out. The crowd sings the opening lines of TONIGHT TONIGHT TONIGHT a cappella perfectly unified. Then the band drops in and the floor seems to vibrate sideways. ZERO beams — a genuine, unguarded smile. He watches the crowd with clear joy, feeding off each voice. Tsukasa, mid-drum frenzy, subtly mirrors the audience’s left-right hand movements with his own head, like he is dancing with them while playing. One by one, the members unstrap their instruments and slip offstage. Then, the stage goes silent. The drum kit ignites in red light, casting a blood-warm glow across the empty platform. Something is coming — something the entire night has been quietly orbiting.
PART III: Finale — Paths crossed and synchronized
Luv PARADE return to the stage beneath the red glow, greeted by a crowd that refuses to lose momentum. TAKA introduces each member, and the musicians take turns thanking the audience for being part of this rare double-bill with NUL. — dropping hints about new plans for next year. The atmosphere is warm, almost familial. And then the surprise hits. Members of NUL. and the guest musicians suddenly pour onto the stage. HIZUMI appears at the front, cake in hand, as the entire venue erupts into “Happy Birthday” for Karyu. ZERO steps forward with a bottle of wine, offering it with a grin that makes the room roar even louder. After the celebration, the stage clears again, leaving Luv PARADE to deliver their final two songs, Never Ending Story and ARROWS.
The encore is tight and explosive, ending with a theatrical jolt when TAKA grabs Karyu mid-solo and kisses him. The crowd detonates in disbelief and laughter, and the band rides that wave straight into the closing moments of the night.
Two bands built from the same DNA, but evolved in opposite directions.
Two histories that should run parallel, rarely touching.
And yet tonight, under the banner SYNCROSS, they didn’t just touch — they intertwined.
The title suddenly made perfect sense:
“SYNCROSS” — synchronicity and crossover.
A meeting point where past and present aligned, where voices and instruments that once shared a stage — or stood on opposite ones — finally converged again, not as D’ESPAIRSRAY, not as defspiral, but as something new, unexpected, and strangely inevitable. NUL. And Luv PARADE, two separate bands with the same DNA.
It was a crossroads.
A reunion without calling itself a reunion.
A collision of futures shaped by the same origin.
For one night, all these paths crossed and synchronized.
Mandah FRÉNOT
(c) VMJ
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NUL. | Live-Report @ Shibuya REX [JP] (2025)
Yatagarasu (八咫烏)
HYENA
XStream
–MC–
CRUMBLE
JILL (ジル)
THE LAST DAY
Dictate
SUNBREAK
Awakening
HYBRID BEAST
–MC–
IMAGICAL TATOO
⩺ OFFICIAL WEBSITE | HERE
⩺ OFFICIAL X (ex-TWITTER) | HERE
⩺ OFFICIAL INSTAGRAM | HERE
⩺ OFFICIAL YOUTUBE | HERE
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Luv PARADE | Live-Report @ Shibuya REX [JP] (2025)
SHOOT IT DOWN
FREAK PARADE
HAMELN
JOKER
EDELWEISS
Heaven or Hell
MIDNIGHT SUN
TONIGHT TONIGHT TONIGHT
–ENCORE–
Never Ending Story (Limahl)
ARROWS
Photography by Hitomi Katada
⩺ OFFICIAL WEBSITE | HERE
⩺ OFFICIAL X (ex-TWITTER) | HERE
⩺ OFFICIAL INSTAGRAM | HERE
⩺ OFFICIAL YOUTUBE | HERE
