Asian directions of j-rock and visual kei massively begin to capture not only the neighboring countries. So, Japanese bands from guys get their fans all over the world. Below you will find a list of the best of the best that will not leave you indifferent.
Acid Black Cherry
The peculiarity of the Acid Black Cherry team is that the project consists of only one person - vocalist Yasu, who previously participated in the Japanese rock band Janne Da Arc, until she announced that she was going on vacation for an indefinite period.
For studio recordings, filming in clips and conducting live concerts, Yasu invites other musicians as an additional composition.
The only member of the group composes all compositions independently. In an interview, the artist shared that the Japanese hard rock band DEAD END had a great influence on his work.
The soloist Yasu built the name of the group from the Japanese abbreviation, which has a rather indecent characterization:
- A - originally a kiss;
- B - in the process of petting;
- C - at the end of sex.
The soloist chose the first letters of these words to indicate, as the musician explained, his erogenous zone - Black Cherry.
Yasu prefers to sing in the genres:
- pop rock;
- heavy metal;
- Hard rock;
- progressive and alternative rock;
- power pop
EXILE
EXILE is a Japanese pop group of guys. Its peculiarity is the composition, numbering as many as 19 people.
The team performs in the following styles:
- pop;
- j-pop;
- dance pop;
- modern rhythm and blues.
From 2007 to 2009, they won the Grand Prix awarded by the Japan Records Awards three times.
It all started in 1999, when a member of the Hiro team ZOO formed a new team under the name J Soul Brothers. After the idea was born, he invited two more vocalists there.
After 2 years, the ensemble was renamed to its current name. In 2007, the participants released their first single, which was able to conquer the top line of the Oricon music top.
In the same year, Hiro gathers 7 people and unites them in a team called J Soul Brothers.
One of the achievements of Exile is its album Exile Love (2008), which becomes the best-selling album in Japan that year.
In 2009, two existing teams Exile and J Soul Brothers merged into one common group called EXILE.
X japan
One of the brightest bands is the popular Japanese group of guys - X Japan.
This group was founded by drummer Esiki and vocalist Toshi from the city of Chiba in 1982.
Genre choices changed over time: initially gravitating to power and speed metal with symphonic elements, they switched to a more progressive sound with a bias in ballads.
The activities of X Japan have achieved world-class to such an extent that the team even began to attribute visual key directions to the pioneers.
The original name of the Japanese group of guys was different and just sounded X. In 1988, its first Vanishing Vision came out, during the writing of which the team was joined by bassist Taiji, guitarists Lida and Pat. The team gains real popularity after writing the second work of Blue Blood in 1989.
However, after several years of musical activity in 1997, the group gathered for the last time to give a final concert, which would complete the team’s career completely.
However, 10 years later, X Japan reunites again and records a new single IV
The merits of the Japanese musical group of the guys are stunning:
- 5 studio albums, 3 of which fall on the first line of Oricon chat;
- 6 concert recordings;
- 21 single;
- 40th place from the list of "100 best Japanese rock albums";
- over 30 million plates sold worldwide.
Nightmare
Nightmare is a Japanese group of guys who relate to the visual key direction. This group is one of the most popular representatives of this genre, participating in the recordings of the skeleton for popular anime, such as Death Note, Claymore, and Neuro Nogami.
The team arose thanks to the activities of two musicians - Sakito and Hitsugi - in 2000. Subsequently, they were joined by Yuji Baba (bass player), Yemi (vocalist) and Zennin (drummer). However, the latter soon left, and Carino Satoru (Ruka) arrived in his place.
The debut demo of the band sounded like Zange. In 2003, the musicians released their first album with the interesting name no ore wa mono ~ Omae. In the same year, the Japanese label Nippon Crown already agreed to sign a contract with a very young group (at that time). After a couple of months, the Believe record, which ranks 24th in the Oricon top, goes on sale.
In 2004, the musicians released their debut work in DVD format, which featured 3 singles: Varuna, Cyan and Tokio Shounen.
A feature of the collective is diversity in both sound and genres.
The deep voice of the lead singer Yomi can sound heavy and bold, and gentle, and melodious. As for the directions, the group tries itself:
- in alternative metal;
- blues rock;
- hard rock.
The gazette
The Gazette is a Japanese group of guys going in the direction of visual kei.
The name of the group comes from the word cassette, however, the participants modified it a bit, based on the opinion that in the current version it sounds better.
The highlight of the team: everything written and then sounding is their own manual work.
In 2002, future members of Ruki (vocalist), Uruha (guitarist), Aoi (guitarist) and Yune (drummer) formed the world-famous band The Gazzete.
In April of that year, the band released their debut single, Wakaremichi, and even two videos. In 2003, a new drummer, Kai, came to replace Yune, and the group remains a similarly formed band to this day.
Since March 2003, the band signed a contract with the popular label PS Company, collaborating with such famous music bands as Alice nine, Miyavi and Kagrra.
For its activities, which continues to the present time, the group received The Most Requested Artist awards in 2010 and 2012, which means "most sought after artist".
The team is known for its constant genre experiments:
- j-rock;
- visual key;
- nu metal;
- alternative metal;
- Hard rock;
- industrial metal;
- funky metal;
- metalcore.
“Cherry on the cake” is the deep, velvety and rich in timbre voice of the vocalist Ruki, adored by the fans.
Other musicians
All of the above groups are only the tip of the iceberg of Japanese groups of guys. Asian music is full of different genres that a whole host of people want to try.
So, quite popular Japanese artists are:
- Kagrra (1998) - alternative and folk rock, visual kei.
- Kra (2001) - j-pop, visual kei, jazz fusion, j-rock.
- Alice nine (2004) - previously hard and punk rock, now - alternative rock.
- Plastic Tree (1993) - pop rock, power and brit pop, gothic rock.
- Razor (2016) - j-rock, visual kei.
- The THIRTEEN (2016) is a Japanese rock band of guys, which includes only two members: vocalist Mao and guitarist Mizuki.