Japanese Metal

Hello folks. I am new here. I came to this forum because of its affiliation with NLTM, as I have spoken with its owner a few times via e-mail in the past (though he likely doesn't remember).

Having dabbled in japanese music extensively since about 2000, I have become enamoured with many japanese artists from various genres, including metal. Aside from Loudness, Flatbackers, and EZO, the other ones that are less talked about here are Seikima II, Make-Up, X Japan, Lazy (later material), Dead End, Galneryus, Concerto Moon, Terra Rosa, and Bow Wow.

These are all really good artists and I reccomend them.

A few notes:
1. Lazy started off as a very commercial pop-rock band (still good IMHO, but many here might find it to be bubblegum) before evolving into a hard rock/metal sound more akin to Loudness, as Akira Takasaki was on guitar before forming Loudness and recording their first album The Birthday Eve. Vocalist Hironobu Kageyama, with his vibrato voice, became known primarily as a singer for popular anime theme songs with some original material on the side, but even if that's not your thing, his performance in Lazy is pretty good, though unusual if you're not used to that kind of singing. I reccomend starting with their album Uchuusen Chikyuugou (a.k.a. Earth Ark)

2. X Japan is another well-loved group in their hometown. Their first bassist Taiji has also performed with Loudness on later albums, whom the band also cites as an inspiration, covering 'In the Mirror' from Law of Devil's Land on an early demotape. Drummer Yoshiki is reknowned for his proficiency on both drums and piano, even acting as a conductor for some orchestras, and his background in classical music gave him to ability to cross over into the mainstream with tragic ballads like Crucify My Love (one of my favorites of X Japan), Unfinished, and Endless Rain, to name a few, and long, 10-minute epic tracks like Rose of Pain or Dahlia. X Japan is also said, because of their on stage aesthetics, to have coined the term "visual rock", though the actual visual rock scene (or 'visual kei' as its called, kei meaning style) that followed did not follow the same sound as X Japan, but the details on that are a long story as I have also listened extensively to those artists as well.

3. Dead End is another group that's very well known in the visual scene and is probably more influential to the sound of that movement than X was. They did get some brief notice in the US when they released Ghost of Romance and Shambara on LP overseas. Recently, their entire discography has been rereleased and remastered, and that being said I want you to know that if you listened to them on a previous CD release, then you should get rid of them and listen to the remasters because those are very outdated because digital technology then sucked. The remasters actually do them justice. J-rock bands like L'arc-en-Ciel and Luna Sea showed alot of influence from Dead End during their ZERO era, which was their last and probably most innovative album.

Leave me any questions or comments and I'll see if I can answer them. I'll write more about the other artists in my next post(s). Thanks!

I am a big Dead End fan. Haven't heard the newest one though.....Creature Creature was pretty cool as well....welcome to the board.

Welcome
I`m sure Uncle Saxon and Sideshow will take good care of you.

UncleSax is better versed than I am on the whole. I'm just familiar with the Japanese thrash scene really....

I've been meaning to get into more Japanese stuff... I love Ghost (the prog/psyche/folk one), Gonin-Ish, Loudness, Boris..

Japan has some of the best stoner metal around, Eternal Elysium, Church of Misery, Boris, & many more whose names escape me right now....

I dig some of the Japanese thrash bands like Cocobat,Fastkill,etc.

Great bands you named muckie. I like many of them too. SABBRABELLS is an other fave of mine, together with EARTHSHAKER, 44 MAGNUM, ACTION and ANTHEM. Of newer heavy metal bands, that started in the mid 90s i love METALUCIFER or GORGON (both very influenced by the NWOBHM).

Second band that comes to mind for me, after Loudness, is UNITED! Great Japanese thrash metal band.

Welcome, Muckie.

I lived in Yokosuka Japan for many years. Yokosuka was Hide's hometown. They had a Hide museum located in Yokosuka for a long time that was very cool. I took my daughter. She is an aspiring artist and found it inspirational. Unfortunately, it's gone now. Not sure why.

Anyway, they still have a great metal scene in Japan. Seikima II is/was a cool band.

Yes, yes, I know Anthem and 44 Magnum and all these other bands you guys mention. I also hear Jurassic Jade was a good japanese thrash group too.

Quote :

I lived in Yokosuka Japan for many years. Yokosuka was Hide's hometown.
They had a Hide museum located in Yokosuka for a long time that was
very cool. I took my daughter. She is an aspiring artist and found it
inspirational. Unfortunately, it's gone now. Not sure why.

I hear the Hide museum shut down due to lack of funding. What a shame.

I know very little about Japanese metal outside of Loudness, EZO, and Vo Wow.

I like some of the Japanese metal I have heard.

Loudness
EZO
King's-Evil
Fastkill
Ritual Carnage
Galnyrius
Metalucifer
Sabbat
Sigh

Concerto Moon is one heck of band. Not sure if they hail from Japan but they have the whole Yngwie Malmsteen neo classical sound down and sometimes do it better..

Welcome aboard...

The only Japanese Metal I know is Loudness. I do have a Bow Wow and Vow Wow album. The only other stuff that I have is mostly Prog and 70s Hard Rock:

Murasaki
Mariner
Angel In Heavy Syrup
Arsnova
Too Much
Vermillion Sands
Tak Matsumoto Group(but the singers are American Eric Martin and Jack Blades)

and a compilation
Tokyo Symphonic Syndrome


...... I haven't bought the Concerto Moon stuff yet.

BTW welcome aboard

manny wrote:

I know very little about Japanese metal outside of Loudness, EZO, and Vo Wow.

Swap out United for VoWow and that covers it for me too.

Yeah! Finally someone I can relate to!! Welcome!

UNCLE SAXON wrote:

Yeah! Finally someone I can relate to!! Welcome!

**scared**

Lurideath wrote:

I like some of the Japanese metal I have heard.

Loudness
Ritual Carnage
Metalucifer
Sabbat
Sigh

all great choices. add Coffins to that list.

Coffins are great too. Just forgot!!!

For those unfamiliar with Gonin-Ish, they are sort of a demented mix of Sigh and Cynic with a female vocalist who growls in the old style (Obituary, etc).

Zigoku Quartet
Gargoyle
Flower Travelin Band
Ritual Carnage
Sigh
Doom

I trend more oldschool in Japanese thrash bands, such as:

LawShed
Dead Claw
Sacrifice
United
Shellshock
Jurassic Jade
Narcotic Greed
Youthquake

etc.

How can the thread go this long without a mention of Outrage. Not just one of my favorite Japanese bands, but one of my favorites period.

I've also come to really love Terror Squad.