Last June I wrote a post about upcoming heavy metal shows in the Tokyo area.
Some of the concerts I wrote about in that post have already occurred but Metallica will have a concert in Japan later this month and next month will be the annual “Loudpark 2010” heavy metal festival with bands such as Ozzy Osbourne, KoRn, RATT and Motorhead scheduled to perform at this year’s event.
But before either of those concerts, the “Thrash Domination 2010” festival is coming to 川崎 (Kawasaki, Japan).
This is a two-day event with five thrash metal bands scheduled to perform.
Saturday, September 18 is called “Kill Night”…Agent Steel will go on stage first, then Outrage, followed by Nevermore, then Exodus and Overkill will headline.
Then, Sunday, September 19 is called “Brutal Night”…the line-up is nearly identical but rather than Nevermore, Sanctuary will be the third act on the bill and then Overkill will be fourth, with Exodus as the headliners.
Also, on the day before the festival, Overkill will have their own concert in Osaka on September 17th…and Exodus will have their own concert on September 20th (the day after the festival) in Shibuya, Tokyo.
The official "Thrash Domination 2010" T-shirts
Do you like heavy metal? How about “Thrash Metal”? Would you attend this heavy metal music festival?
Tokyo Five 
Wow… I have not heard Quiet Riot or Motley Crue on any retail P.A. here in the U.S. yet. (Hot Topic is an exception to the rule). Classic Rock has found it’s way into the “retail soundscape” here though… plenty of it and it’s a great start! (Boston, ELO, Styx, etc.).
How about the legendary… Loudness? They MUST be HUGE over there, of course. I still have their 80’s releases on vinyl. 🙂
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J-Pop and K-Pop are popular among a lot of kids in my school (more than 80% of people there are of asian decent, mostly Korean and Chinese, and then Japanese; actually caucasian is seocnd smallest only above Native-American, so I am unique and I listen to Heavy Metal and Hard Rock of course) which are mostly girls of course. I ahve even seen some girls with imported amgazines with boyband like people with their hair died blonde or some other unnatural color for people of asian decent. I think they all look, hot do I say this, not gay, but maybe weird, but that is just their culture. I want to hear Glam Metal in restaurants and department stores, well I ahve ehard Bon Jovi, but they are more on the pop side of Glam Metal, even kids in America seem to like soem fo their songs, mostly Livin’ On a Prayer (thair most overplayed songs, besides Wanted Dead or Alive and You Give Love ABad Name, but the former two get annoying a lot to me becuase of their popularity among people my age)
@Mark I agree with you on the grammy’s, it is a joke nowadays, only the biggest of big bands like Metallica and Iron Maiden can get in it, I think the Final Frontier is in the Grammy’s somewhere, and Metallica got a lot of nomination stuff last year with Death Magnetic. On the side, MTV is no longer Music Television, they dropped that and is now just MTV, luckily I have VH1 Classic which has “That MEtla Show” and music vids, now only Beavis and Butthead and Headbangers Ball need to return.
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>J-Pop and K-Pop are popular among a lot of kids in my school
Really? Have you listened to any of it?
>I have VH1 Classic which has “That MEtla Show”
I don’t know that show…but I like “Masa Itoh’s Яock City”:
https://tokyo5.wordpress.com/2009/05/06/my-favorite-tv-shows/
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>How about the legendary… Loudness?
Their overseas, English-language catalog is only five or so albums…but they have a very extensive Japanese-language catalog of albums.
A little over two years ago their drummer died of cancer.
But they have a new drummer and they continue to release albums and tour Japan.
https://tokyo5.wordpress.com/2008/12/02/loudness-drummer-rip/
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That’s pretty darn cool how Overkill and Exodus each had their “own” headline show. Is Thrash Metal big in Japan? What would you consider the “biggest” or most “popular” Metal genre in Japan?
Here in America, it is difficult to pinpoint… back in the 80’s, Thrash Metal, NWOBHM and Hair Metal did get most of the attention. Van Halen, AC/DC and Led Zep always were revered then and now, yet those bands stood/stand alone. In the U.S. 2011, it seems to be scattered about with Metal, where… “Pop” is unfortunately king. The fans are here, only television and the “mainstream” shy away from Heavy Metal and even Hard Rock on every “network awards show”. This years Grammy’s lineup is enough to make me stomach sick… very biased with the “genre” selection of “live” performers.
(Phew)… I just had to get that off my chest… I don’t know what happened! 😉
– Stone
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>That’s pretty darn cool how Overkill and Exodus each had their “own” headline show.
Yeah, it’s a good idea. Shows respect to both of those excellent bands…and many fans probably went to both shows.
>Is Thrash Metal big in Japan?
Not so big. But maybe more popular here than in the U.S.
Japanese fans are extremely loyal…so many bands put on sold-out shows here long after their popularity has waned in America.
There are a few record stores in Tokyo entirely devoted to Thrash, Black and Speed Metal.
>What would you consider the “biggest” or most “popular” Metal genre in Japan?
That’s difficult to answer. More “mainstream” hard-rock like Bon-Jovi, Mr. Big, Van Halen and Def Leppard have many fans.
I’d say that American metal such as Metallica and Megadeth, English bands such as Maiden, other European bands such as Helloween and Arch Enemy and Japanese acts such as Anthem, Maximum The Hormone and 聖飢魔 II are the most popular metal bands here.
>Here in America…“Pop” is unfortunately king.
In Japan too. Especially “J-Pop” (Japanese pop music) and now currently “K-Pop” (Korean Pop Music).
>(In America) television and the “mainstream” shy away from Heavy Metal
In Japan, “genre” lines aren’t “enforced” like they are in western countries.
Many people will say they like some heavy metal songs…and some “pop” music songs.
A few times, I’ve been in restaurants and even department stores that have played songs by bands like Motley Crue and Quiet Riot over the P.A. system here.
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Curt from Demolish Fanzine emailed me that he heard one or two of the bands scheduled to play in “Thrash Domination 2010” in Japan had been removed from the bill.
So I just checked the official “Thrash Domination” website and sure enough Sanctuary has been removed from the September 19 line-up and replaced with Nevermore (who’ll now play on both dates).
So now the line-up for both dates of this festival are the same…except Exodus and Overkill play in opposites slots on each day.
So each of those two bands headline one night.
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@”rattrocker”
>is it (“Ironbound“) their (Overkill‘s) best (album)?
I don’t know. I haven’t heard their entire catalog.
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ok, well I will check out both.
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Man, I used to listen to heavy metal fairly often. If any of this was going on in Kansai I’d probably try to make it out.
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“Used to listen”? Why don’t you anymore? What type of music do you listen to now?
>If any of this was going on in Kansai I’d probably try to make it out.
As I wrote above, Overkill will have a show in 大阪 (Osaka) a week from tomorrow (on September 17).
And the Loudpark festival will mainly be in 埼玉 (Saitama) (near Tokyo)…but on October 16, there will be a Loudpark show in 神戸 (Kobe, Japan) with Ozzy, Motorhead and a few other bands playing there.
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Oops, missed that Overkill part. Unfortunately I’ll be in Kyushu next weekend.
Yeah, I mean…I still listen to the heavy stuff on occasion, but these days I’ve been more into lighter music like acoustic and alternative rock.
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>…I’ll be in Kyushu next weekend…
You should go to the Loudpark show in Kobe on October 16.
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I am not a fan of any of the thrash bands listed here, alhtough it is quite possible I would enjoy Overkill or Exodus, especially since Kirk Hammet was originallyfrom Exodus.
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Don’t you at least have the Exodus album “Fabulous Disaster”?
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no, apparently I should
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>no, apparently I should
It’s pretty good.
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ok, well have you listened to Metal Church’s The Dark?
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>have you listened to Metal Church’s The Dark?
Yes. Metal Church is good too.
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So what is a good Overjill album?
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>what is a good Overkill album?
Their newest release “Ironbound“.
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is it their best?
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Hey I have finally caught on and I now like Exodus and Overkill, I also like Testament, Death Angel, and Flotsam & Jetsam, beofre I only cared for the Big Fourand Metal Church, and I checked ouy Ironbound and Fabulous Disaster and they are greta albums, so thanks!
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>Hey I have finally caught on and I now like Exodus and Overkill, I also like Testament, Death Angel, and Flotsam & Jetsam
All great bands. Exodus and Flotsam & Jetsam both have Metallica connections.
Did you listen to Testament‘s “Practice What You Preach”.
The first concert that I ever saw in Japan was Death Angel‘s “Act III” tour.
>…Ironbound and Fabulous Disaster…are greta albums, so thanks!
I think so, too.
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I’ve never really listened to any metal music, maybe I should listen to some sometime ^^
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Of course, I think you should. I don’t know why anyone wouldn’t listen to heavy metal music.
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