Asian Steel

Talk about Japanese and other Asian metal in general. What are your favorites and least favorites, and why?

Before I get to Japan, my favorites from other Asian regions are from South Korea. Asiana, Stranger, Armageddon, and Idea (이데아) come to mind. One band that I really like from China that's heavy metal is Crystal Zone.

Japanese metal in general is quite unique. There's a lot of weird stuff out there, but I've always been fascinated by their great style of mixing neoclassical elements with rock and metal. I love Loudness, Anthem, the first two Earthshaker albums, and the pre-X Japan era of X, but there's way more to enjoy. Metalucifer, Sabbat, Sacrifice, Rommel, Mein Kampf, Rosenfeld, Action!, Wolf, and a bunch of others that I can think up right now.

Terra Rosa

One of my all-time favorite Japanese metal bands. Kazue Akao has a very raw, albeit soothing vocal tone that reminds me a lot of the singing styles of Ronnie James Dio and Ann Boleyn. All of their releases are essential, but The Endless Basis and the pre-1987 demos are at the top of the barrel for me. The title track, "Petrouchka", and "Visions of the Lake Bottom" are ripping stuff, filled to the brim with hooks and memorability. Honesty is a bit softer, but even that one has some great songs, such as the "Former Sisters" and the epic "Evelyn". Thankfully, Sase was an improvement, and the fact that it contains the majestic "Hi no Naka ni Kage" ("火の中に影") makes it a regular on my CD player. There's probably one song that's a bit Led Zeppelin-ish for my tastes, but it's still catchy stuff. They had the ability to craft some of most intricate music, combining classically inspired riffs with atmospheric keyboards. A lot of extreme metal fans would expect them to sound like "hair metal whack", but the truth is that Terra Rosa's musicians were far ahead of their time, oftentimes showing off their power/progressive metal side. Despite the omnipresence of keyboards, they didn't go to retarded lengths to pull a Rhapsody of Fire. That's what I like so much about bands that were signed to Mandrake Root Records, as Hellen and Precious knew how to balance the symphonic elements.

Sabbrabells

All three of their albums are great, but I'd say that Sailing on the Revenge is probably their strongest effort. The Dog Fight EP is a rarity, but you can hear the thrashing "Metal Saber" on the band's 1986 live album. Unlike your typical metal band from back in the day, Sabbrabells' lyrics were written with total darkness and evil in mind. While they never went as far as Sabbat with the Satanism, they're far from your fun, friendly band a la Earthshaker.

Crowley

Another great Japanese metal band, and like Sabbrabells, their lyrical themes were centered around the occult. The band's The Scream of Death EP and Whisper of the Evil are all essential releases. They're said to be releasing a new album soon.

Vanishing Point

Something more obscure for this thread. Rei Mizuki, like Kazue Akao, is another prime example of a female metal musician with ballsy vocals. Fantasy of Future and Twilight Zone are all great stuff, with the former being the one that I listen to the most. The three demos that came later featured a different vocalist, and the band sounded a tad heavier than before.

Volfeed

Again, another obscure band for this thread. Like Terra Rosa and Vanishing Point, Volfeed featured a female vocalist, although they came as late as 1995 to unleash their four-song EP, Majesty. They were signed to Mandrake Root Records, so expect to hear a lot of keyboards. Honestly, the first song has a striking resemblance to early Warlock, which I like a lot.

All this shit is great, but it costs an arm and a leg to import them to the states.

Totally forgot to mention Abigail. Thanks for reminding me. One band that everyone else seems to like that I can't get into is Sigh.

I agree with you about the high costs of importing Japanese metal. Amazon.com generally has decent prices for common pressings. I got all of my Terra Rosa CDs each for just over ten dollars.

Debating with myself on getting the latest Ningen Isu (人間椅子) album. It's so good. Love the Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Rush, and Budgie vibes all over.

Here is a band that I dig...Tengger Calvary. Mongolian Folk Metal. Originally from China, now based in New York.

I like Tengger Cavalry a lot, I also really like Zuriaake from China

Onmyouza (陰陽座) is great heavy metal with folk influences.

How about Heavy Metal Army:

Heavy Metal Army was a good melodic metal band. You'd probably dig those Vanishing Point releases, as they're quite in that vein. I've uploaded the Fantasy of Future EP and Twilight Zone on YouTube.

Another really good female-fronted metal band from Japan is Moonstruck. Got the demo downloaded, and it's just solid throughout. Managed to find one song on YouTube. Enjoy.

Loves me some Japanese thrash bands.  A few I dig on:

Jurassic Jade


Eldritch


LawShed


Narcotic Greed


Hellchild (more death metal, really)


Crash (a Korean band)


There are HEAPS of others, but these are off the top of my head.

It's a bit of a grey area whether Azerbaijan is in Asia or Europe because the country spans the borders of both continents. Which is perfect for Violet Cold because everything about him is a grey area! His music spans everything from what he calls 'euphoric black metal' to ambient, IDM, trance house and even full blown classical pieces!

Ever wondered what would happen if Burzum had a baby with Anamanaguchi? Me neither but it pretty much sums up 'euphoric black metal' and I love it.



And on the subject of the Asian metal scene I've got to give props to the awesome Deng of Pest Productions in China. Guy seems to be scouring the most unlikely places and coming back with gold.

Sideshow listed some good ones. Another I really like is Cocobat.

After spending an hour on YouTube I'm now officially an expert on Japanese underground metal

I probably liked these guys best although the recording sounds terrible

Boris2008 wrote:

After spending an hour on YouTube I'm now officially an expert on Japanese underground metal

I probably liked these guys best although the recording sounds terrible  

It's a demo. That's why.

A whole lotta Nazi related stuff deleted from this thread.

Since some peeps apparently didn't get the memo: NAZI/RACIST MATERIAL IS NOT ALLOWED ON THIS BOARD.

I don't care if you think it's just for "shock value" or it doesn't offend you personally. It obviously offends other members of this board, judging by the number of PM's I got this morning directing me to check out this thread.

Consider this the final warning:

The next motherF'er who posts anything with a swastika in it gets an instant ban. You wanna yap about that stuff, they got a forum over at Stormfront.

Moderator out!

Insanity.

The least Chinese sounding Chinese guys ever!

I myself am an Asian music fanatic. X Japan is one of my all time favorites and I love virtually all their material. There was never a band (from any country) before or afterwards that I was so well-versed, so meticulously obsessed with.

I don't know much traditional-styled Korean metal music. Most of Korea's industry was regulated and repressed during the 80's when they actually had it, but the two most notable artists were Boo Hwal and Sinawe. The first two albums for each are considered classics in Korean metal, before they went soft rock to be commercial. Those records have been reissued and remastered on CD and should be easy to find for sale on eBay.

There was more development for metal in Korea in the 90's when there was a substantial liberation. Nevermind the fact that most Koreans, being conservative-collectivist by default, discouraged the rebelliousness of rock. The popularity of Seo Taiji (who was sort of like a jack of all trades, pop music icon) helped open people up to the more 'wild' music like dance, hip-hop and rock/metal that was shunned in the mainstream during the 80's. It took them that long to really develop or branch out. No punk either, until the mid-90s when No Brain, Cocore, and Delispice came on the scene. Korea also never really had new wave or gothic rock, and such. Even the synthpop that they had in the 80s was much different than your average new wave stuff that we had. But with Taiji's influence came a scene for Korean nu-metal, which is quite far from what most of our users here on the board are into. Linkin Park and Korn also toured with Taiji, who I believe was not only influenced by but helped promote the growth of nu-metal in Korea.

In other news, some other Japanese metal bands I like with song suggestions:
-Dead End (I Can Hear the Rain, Phantom Nation)
-Lazy (Dreamer, Dreamy Express Trip)
-Loudness (Rock and Roll Crazy Nights, Like Hell)
-Seikima II (End of the Century, Stainless Night)
-Sex Machineguns (Mikan no Uta)

Guest wrote:

Their logo is actually pretty similar to the Canadian thrash metal band also called Sacrifice.

Here's Hei Bao's first album from the late 80s/early 90s. The fathers of chinese hard rock/metal: