Galneryus - Kizuna

Just a few months since their latest album, Phoenix Rising, Japanese Power Metal band Galneryus released a six-track EP titled "Kizuna".

Let's start up with the title track, Kizuna (Bonds) is a tie-up song to the pachinko game Souten no Ken (Fist of the Blue Sky). A game which is based on the manga written by Tetsuo Hara which is a prequel to the famous Hokuto no Ken (Fist of the North Star) series.

The track list includes a new version of Owari Naki Kono Uta (The Endless Poem, from the 2008 album Reincarnation) re-recorded with SHO on vocals and Taka on bass. Also included is Across The Rainbow which is a new version of Whisper In the Red Sky (from the 2005 album Advance to the Fall) with modified riffs, extended intro and new lyrics.

We'll also hear two new songs Time After Time and Winning the Honor.

And we've got the final track, an English cover of Masatoshi Ono's departure!, The opening song to the currently running anime reboot of HUNTER×HUNTER

Buy GALNERYUS - Kizuna @ CDJapan.com.

Read More

Animetal USA album review

Animetal is a Japanese novelty heavy metal band famous for covering speed metal versions of theme songs from Anime and Tokusatsu shows. It was formed by vocalist Eizo Sakamoto in 1996 and released a total of 10 albums until they disbanded in 2006.

Earlier this month we were able to lay our ears on Animetal USA's first album. Animetal USA is a newly formed team of American musicians in an attempt to fill in the gap left by the original Animetal band. These musicians are vocalist Mike Vescera (ex-Loudness, Yngwie Malmsteen) guitarist Chris Impellitteri (Impellitteri), bassist Rudy Sarzo (Ozzy Osbourne, Quiet Riot, Whitesnake, Dio) and drummer Scott Travis (Racer X, Judas Priest)

Animetal USA was able to bring up a unique sound in their debut album. They still incorporate some anime songs with riffs from famous heavy metal songs and each musician having a different style in performance. Also, the Japanese lyrics are re-written in English (with some catchphrases and lines left in Japanese).

Anyway, here's a track-by track review for the songs from anime theme songs that I am familiar with:

• Space Battleship Yamato
  Okay, so the intro sounded good on this one. Check a translation of the original Japanese lyrics on the net and you will see that it's close to the band's translation. It's almost as good as the version of Space Battleship Yamato that appeared on Animetal's 2006 album Decade of Bravehearts.
  
  
• Gatchaman no Uta
  One of the songs that I looked forward to hearing. Yay! They used the riff of Iron Maiden's Flight of Icarus on the intro which makes sense because Gatchaman is a series that is related to flight. Good... The translation was also close to the original lyrics except... wait... did Mike just sang "Who is HE?" on the first line and "HE's soaring on with HIS white wings: Gatchaman!" further? It's like referring to Gatchaman as one man. The riffs were also good but the lyrics is what brought this song down.
  
  
• Mazinger Medley
  I was like "Holy S***! Mazinger Z!". The riffs of their Mazinger Z Theme wasn't as good as Animetal's. The lyrics used was similar to original singer Ichiro Mizuki's version. Yeah, My hair raised when I first heard the chorus...
  And the Mazinger fandom doesn't stop there, also included is Great Mazinger's Theme. Yeah, another eargasm when I heard the chorus. The lyrics were just perfect for both songs.
  
  
• Makafushigi Adventure! (Dragon Ball)
  The riffs were similar to the original version. Scott does a series of double pedal beats to make it sound heavier. The lyrics sounded just good.
  
  
• Zankoku na Tenshi no Teze (Neon Genesis Evangelion)
  Okay, the intro was too long and a bit boring. Chris does a good rendition of this popular theme. The lyrics... Bad! Seriously, It sounded like they translated it word for word and used it right away. Ends up, too few words per musical line making it sound complicated. Well you can still enjoy it. Just don't pay too much attention on the lyrics, the lead solos are killer!
  
  
• Ai wo Torimodose!! (Hokuto no Ken/Fist of the North Star)
  Again, the intro was too long and was a slightly altered rendition of the original... which reduces the manly energy brought by this song to the fans of Hokuto no Ken. It could have been better if it wasn't altered by a bit. Well, at least you'll hear Mike screaming the famous "You Wa Shock!" line. The English lyrics fits the tune perfectly as well.
  
  
• Pegasus Fantasy (Saint Seiya)
  "Saint Seiya!!" A note-per-note metal rendition of the original. The lyrics went well with the tune but some parts felt a bit lame.

Overall:

To sum it all up, It's good to see that another band plays with the style of Animetal among other bands (Eizo Japan, Sheja) who also do heavy metal covers of anime songs, along with the cool costumes on stage. Animetal USA, some people say that it's a terrible idea, others believe that it's great. Well, it all depends on your preference. If you want to hear heavy metal versions your anime theme songs in a language that you can understand perfectly then it's worth checking this album out.

Pre-order Animetal USA at CDJapan

Read More

Animetal USA, First Album

Animetal is a Japanese novelty heavy metal band famous for covering speed metal versions of theme songs from Anime and Tokusatsu shows. The band also had a few original songs, including the ballad "Eternal Future" (Towa no Mirai) from the Rurouni Kenshin movie.

Animetal was formed by vocalist Eizo Sakamoto in 1996 and released 10 albums until they went on an indefinite hiatus in 2006.

Animetal USA

Animetal USA, a newly formed American counterpart of Animetal, will be releasing their first album titled "Animetal USA" from Sony Music Japan in October 12, 2011. They are also planning a world tour for next year.

Animetal USA's members are all well-known musicians from famous bands.

Vocals: Mike Vescera (Loudness, Yngwie Malmsteen)

Guitars: Chris Impellitteri (Impellitteri)

Bass: Rudy Sarzo (Ozzy Osbourne, Quiet Riot, Whitesnake, Dio)

Drums: Scott Travis (Racer X, Judas Priest)

Arrangement: Marty Friedman (Megadeth)

11 songs will be in the upcoming album and some songs will be sung with original Japanese lyrics and some will be in English. The songs include theme songs from such classic anime series such as

"Space Battleship Yamato"
"Kagaku Tai Gatchaman"
"Kyojin no Hoshi"
"Tiger Mask"
"Mazinger Z"
"Dragon Ball"
"Hokuto no Ken (Fist of the North Star)"
"Kinnikuman"
"Saint Seiya"
"Neon Genesis Evangelion"

Pre-order Animetal USA at CDJapan

Source: NNN24, HOCHI via Crunchyroll

Read More

Loudness, upcoming album

Loudness is best known for their recent contribution for the Mazinkaizer SKL soundtrack (the songs "The Eternal Soldiers" and "The Danger Zone") and for being one of the first Japanese heavy metal bands being recognized outside Japan back in the 1980's.

Loudness will be releasing their 25th studio album next month and it will be entitled Eve to Dawn. It will be their third album with drummer Masayuki Suzuki since 2009's The Everlasting and 2010's King of Pain.

Track List:

1. A Light In The Dark

2. The Power Of Truth

3. Come Alive Again

4. Survivor

5. Keep You Burning

6. Gonna Do It My Way

7. Hang Tough

8. 喜怒哀楽 (Emotions)

9. Comes The Dawn

10. Pandra

11. Crazy! Crazy! Crazy!

Eve to Dawn will be released on September 14, 2011. Audio samples are also available on their website.

Pre-order now through CD Japan: Eve to Dawn / LOUDNESS.

Source: Official Website

Read More

Siam Shade Tribute review

Siam Shade Tribute is a tribute album to Japanese rock band Siam Shade, the band which broke into the visual kei scene back in the 1990's. Siam Shade Tribute is released on October 27, 2010 and consists of covers of their songs performed by Western artists.

Siam Shade had some good songs but all of them are sung in Japanese. In this album all songs (except track 11) was re-arranged with English lyrics. 

Here's a track-by-track view of the songs that I liked on this album.

• Don’t Tell Lies performed by Sebastian Bach (ex-Skid Row)
  Don't Tell Lies originally came out on Siam Shade's third album. It was also one of their heaviest songs. The song turned out fine with Sebastian Bach's powerful vocals and the English lyrics went well with the song's tune.
  
  
• 1/3 no Junjou na Kanjou performed by Jani Lane (ex-Warrant)
  Any anime fan would know this song. 1/3 Junjou na Kanjou was the sixth ending song to the anime Rurouni Kenshin. Probably Siam Shade's most popular song. With Jani Lane's performance, it was good. The lyrics goes well especially with the "Give me smile and shine days" part.
  
  
• Setsunasa Yori mo Tokuhe performed by Richie Kotzen (ex-MR.BIG, ex-Poison)
  I've heard Richie Kotzen sing with Mr. Big before. Richie shows his singing skills and of course, his simple yet awesome guitar riffs.
  
  
• LOVE performed by Eric Martin (MR.BIG)
  Now, I've got my hands down on this one. Just like the songs on his Mr. Vocalist series of albums, Eric Martin did an awesome job on the vocals and the dramatic lyrics didn't turn out being too cheesy. The lead guitar riffs are good as well.
  
  
• Kumori Nochi Hare performed by Mark Slaughter (SLAUGHTER)
  A rendition of the 1999 single, Mark Slaughter did good on this one. I'm not satisfied with the lyrics though.
  
  
• Dreams performed by Mike Ruocco (Cinder Road)
  Dreams is originally from Siam Shade's fifth album. A song that's upbeat, very catchy and could make you want to jump and sing along with the chorus. The version by Mike Ruocco turned out great. The lyrics focuses on "Not giving up" and fits perfectly on the tune. The only downside is that I think the song is too short whenever I listen to it.
  
  
• Triptych performed by George Lynch (ex. DOKKEN)
  This is an instrumental. George Lynch demonstrates his superb skills with the lead guitars. This version sounds exactly like the original, similar to how Daita Ito played it, except with a heavier sound and some added riffs.
  
  
• 1/3 no Junjou na Kanjou performed by Acid Black Cherry
  This song comes as a bonus track. The only one sung in it's original Japanese lyrics. What makes A.B.C.'s version of 1/3 is their rendition of the intro. Yasu's vocals also sounds reminiscent to Hideki Imamura's, thus making it sound like a perfect reincarnation of 1/3.Yes, I can say that I liked this one is better than FLOW's rendition, sorry guys.

Overall:

Siam Shade Tribute, it was a good experience hearing Western artists give tribute to one of Japan's influential rock bands. Some fans may hate the English versions and some fans may love them but if you loved Siam Shade, give the Tribute album a listen, you decide on how you will like it.

Read More

Taiji Sawada Passes Away

Taiji Sawada (best known as the former bassist of X Japan and one time bassist for Loudness) passed away today, Sunday, July 17, 2011 at the age of 45. Circumstances leading to his passing is yet to be confirmed but Wikipedia references stated that Sawada was arrested on July 11th "for interference with a flight attendant" due to an incident on a plane en route from Japan to Saipan and was facing federal charges in the US for this incident. On July 14th, Sawada was taken to an intensive care unit after attempting suicide by hanging himself, thus delaying his court appearance.

Taiji was a member of X Japan from 1985 to 1992. He composed the songs Phantom of Guilt, Desperate Angel and Voiceless Screaming in his stay with X. He left the band after the On The Verge of Destruction tour due to musical differences with founder/drummer Yoshiki. He went on to record one studio album and one live album with Loudness featuring ex-EZO frontman Masaki Yamada on vocals.

Sawada also recorded and performed with Dirty Trashroad, launched CLOUD NINE with guitarist Shu Yamagishi, and had stepped back into the spotlight as of 2010 with his own band, TAIJI WITH HEAVENS, recording one EP and performing live.

After almost 18 years, in 2010, Sawada was invited to join X Japan as a guest musician for their Nissan Stadium shows in Tokyo on August 14th and 15th, 2010.

From all of us here, we would like to share our deepest sympathies to his family and friends. Taiji's music and his skills in playing the bass guitar will never be forgotten.

Sources:
Bravewords
TokyoHive
Saipan Tribune via Wikipedia

Read More

Anthem, new album "Heraldic Device"

Anthem is known as one of the innovators of Japanese Heavy Metal along with Loudness back in the 80's. Currently, Anthem's lineup consists of vocalist Eizo Sakamoto (EIZO Japan, formerly of Animetal and JAM Project), guitarist Akio Shimizu, bassist Naoto Shibata (of Konami's Naoto Shibata Project) and drummer Hirotsugu Homma (former drummer of Loudness)

After almost 3 years since their 2008 album Black Empire and several DVD's, the band will bring us a new album. It will be titled Heraldic Device and will be out in Japan on July 6, 2011.

Track List:
1. The Sign
2. Contagious
3. Go!
4. Blind Alley
5. Rockbound
6. Wayfaring Man
7. Code Of The Silence
8. In The Dead Of Night
9. Remains
10. Living Proof

Heraldic Device can be pre-ordered through CD Japan: Heraldic Device / ANTHEM

Sources:
Anthem Official Site

Read More

X Japan Single "Jade" to be released June 28th

Since being performed for the first time back in May 2009, we'll finally get to hear the first track from the band's English debut album in it's finished studio version.

I'm talking about the song titled "Jade".

Written and produced by Yoshiki (the band's leader/producer/songwriter/drummer/pianist), "Jade" was recorded in Japan and at Yoshiki's own Los Angeles studio (the same studio where Metallica recorded its Black album). Also, according to his twitter post, the cover art was shot by Yoshiki himself.

"Jade" will be released as a single worldwide on June 28, 2011. Almost three years since X released their last single "I.V."

So for now, let's enjoy their first performance of this song.

Sources:
X Japan Official Website
AnimeNewsNetwork
JaME U.K.

Read More

Galneryus - Beginning of the Resurrection

"Beginning of the Resurrection" is a 3 song EP from the Japanese Power Metal band Galneryus. It serves as a teaser for their upcoming album simply titled "Resurrection". This is also the first material from Galneryus featuring their new bassist Taka and the new vocalist Masatoshi "Sho" Ono.

Sho?...

Just a little background for the new frontman, Masatoshi Ono. He is a Pop/Rock musician who became popular during the 90's. He also contributed songs for some Anime and Japanese drama shows such as Mama wa Poyopoyo-Saurus ga Osuki (1995) and Anything for You (1992). Fans describe him to sound like Toshi (Toshimitsu Deyama of X Japan).

Beginning of the Resurrection

Fans may find this EP very different from Galneryus' earlier works. Here's a track by track description.

1. DESTINY (MV MIX)

Only one word to describe this song: Awesome!. A very nice opening song with an anime-opening-theme' feel. Fast-paced beats accompanied by guitar, keyboards and bass solos joined in by a powerful voice. The tune is very catchy, it's like Dragonforce meets X Japan.

2. YOU'RE THE ONLY...2010

This is a cover version of a ballad by Masatoshi Ono. Galneryus pulled it off nicely, a lot of guitar solos have been used but the dramatic feel of the song remains.

3. A FAR-OFF DISTANCE

Another song with a slow beat. The intro sounded like the intro for "Shining Moments" (from the 2008 album Reincarnation). It's also used as the ending song to the anime titled "Rainbow" which also started earlier this year. Honestly, this song was good but not as good as the first two.

There we go, that's what I can say about their new material. Galneryus done a great job here, Masatoshi Ono's voice fits the band well.

Current Lineup:

Masatoshi "Sho" Ono - Vocals

Syu - Guitar

Taka - Bass

Yuhki - Keyboards

Junichi - Drums

Watch out for their new album "Resurrection" coming out on June 23rd, 2010. I can't wait to hear it's entirety myself.

Official Site

Read More

new from Loudness, King of Pain

This year, Loudness released a new album entitled "King of Pain". This time, featuring Masayuki "An-Pang" Suzuki succeeding the place of the late Munetaka Higuchi on the drums... Yes, another point of evolution for the band.

Anyway, here's the music video for the title track..

An-Pang is showing off some awesome drumming skills here. Good work by Akira, Minoru and Masayoshi as well.

Read More