Metal or metal is one of the varieties of rock that arose in the 70s of the XX century in Britain and the USA.
Its characteristic features: aggressive mood, long guitar solos, energetic and furious tempo songs and distortion effect - this is a maneuver that distorts the sound of the instrument.
Metal has leaked to almost every corner of the world, except for some countries where censorship does not allow the genre to be seen and felt.
Music has many subspecies ranging from soft (heavy and power metal) to the most severe (death, extreme, thrash and black metal).
Japanese rock
Asian music is very characteristic, and distinguishing it from European music is quite simple.
J-rock (Japanese rock) is widespread among fans of Japanese culture, famous for the literary direction (manga) and art (anime). In animated works, j-rock tracks sound on the main screensavers and in the plots themselves.
Japanese metal
Asian metal is a subspecies of the Japanese j-rock trend and has the short name j-metal.
The Flower Travellin 'Band - pioneers of the Japanese heavy metal bands. The band was originally formed in 1967 in the style of psychedelic rock with a different name - The Flowers.
After a name change in 1971, they released their first album, Satori.
The debut Japanese heavy metal bands begin to appear at the junction of the 70-80s:
- Bow Wow - 1975.
- 44 Magnum - 1977.
- Earthshaker - 1978.
In 1977, the Bow Wow band performed in Japanese tours, opening for the bands Aerosmith and Kiss. Subsequently, the team changes its name to Vow Wow. Their 1989 album, Helter Skelter, rises to number 75 in British chat.
In 1980, Earth Ark released his latest work, which clearly shows their favorite genres: hard rock and heavy metal.
The 80s
In the 80s (during the massive rise of European rock), many Japanese heavy metal bands emerged.
The Loudness team (translated into Russian - “Volume”) was formed in 1981 by former members Akira Takasaki and Munetaka Hichuri. In 1983, they toured the United States and Europe and later began to focus more on the international level. Concluding a contract with the American company Atco Records in 1985, they were the first Asian group to be able to do this with a major US label.
Their albums Thunder in the East - 1985, Lightning Strikes - 1986, Hurricane Eyes - 1987 managed to reach 74, 64 and 190 positions in the Billboard charts.
Seikima-II and X-Japan were a new phenomenon in 1982 Japanese culture.
The first team was a follower of the European team Kiss and was very surprised by their images on the stage. In 1985, Seikima-II's debut album, Akuma ga Kitarite Heavy Metal, was released, which could exceed 100,000 sales, which was the first time for Japanese metal.
In 1989, the second album, X Japan Blue Blood, was released, the success of which is ahead of the first. In total, about 712,000 copies are sold and it reaches 6 places on the chart.
Jealousy's third work transcends the previous two and is sold with a circulation of a million CDs.
It is believed that with the advent of the second group, a sharp rise in the j-rock style began. The team, in addition to the standard rock set, also uses classical instruments, such as violin and piano. The guys became debutants of the 1st line on the Oricon chart. Also, the popular magazine Rolling Stone Japan placed one of their works on the 15th place in the list of the best Japanese rock albums.
Both groups stood at the source of the visual key genre (formed as a result of mixing glam, punk rock and metal).
1990-2000s
Japanese metal found its continuation in the groups Boris and Church of Misery, both gained fame outside the country.
In addition to heavy metal, teams are formed with a nu-metal style:
- Rize - 1997;
- Maximum the Hormone - 1998;
- Head Phones President - 1999.
In addition to new collectives, the “pioneers" are also reuniting:
- Bow Wow - 1998.
- Loudness - 2001.
- 44 Magnum - 2002.
- X Japan - 2007.
Versailles is a symphonic Japanese metal band playing in the styles of power and neoclassical metal. The team gained significant popularity after their debut EP Lyrical Sympathy was published not only on the domestic stage, but also abroad.
Japanese metal and girls
The year 2010 was marked by the appearance of the female half of humanity in the field of j-metal. Despite the fact that the Alldious group was not the first, they are considered to be the source of the movement, which led their debut album Deep Exceed in 2010.
Another famous women's “team” was Cyntia, who was the first to sign a major label with Victor Entertainment in 2013.
But a real breakthrough came in the kawaii metal style by Babymetal. The vocal and dance group includes 3 girls. The first of the hits immediately hits the Oricon hit parade.
List of popular acting teams
Japanese metal has reached a level with the European, and among Asian groups there are worthy examples:
- Acid Black Cherry is a project consisting of one soloist - Yasu, who invites other musicians to work together.
- Crossfaith - the group was created in 2006, works in the style of industrial and metalcore;
- D - interesting for her compositions in the genres of symphonic, death and gothic metal.
- Dir En Gray - serious guys work in the styles of avant-garde and progressive metal, one of the most popular bands outside the country.
- Exist Trace is a Japanese female metal team working since 2003 in gothic, doom and death metal.
- The Gazette is a multifaceted team formed in 2002. He is constantly experimenting with new genres: alternative, nude, funk and industrial metal, hard rock and metalcore. Awarded the prize "Most sought after artist 2010".
- Luna Sea - a heavy metal band working since 1989, has released 8 albums.
- Matenrou Opera - the group combines heavy music with classics, as a result, power, symphonic and neoclassical metal styles are born.
- NoGoD - participants play alternative and heavy metal in anti-religious images.
- Sex Machineguns - in the translation "sexual machine guns" - are the main artists on the Japanese metal scene. Their subgenres: speed, power and thrash metal.
Japan is famous for even more teams, which will take a long time to list.
From all of the above, only one conclusion can be drawn: in stiffness, Japanese metal can compete with European.