Six Totally Insane Japanese Metal Bands

The heavy-metal magazine “Revolver” has an article titled: “Six Totally Insane Japanese Metal Bands.

Man With A Mission

I have already written a blog post last year about one of the bands they mention: BabyMetal. (Click here to read my post about them.)

Interview with Rachel Bolan

Do you know who Rachel Bolan is?

He is the bass player of the excellent heavy-metal band Skid Row.

Skid Row. Rachel Bolan is on far-right.

Skid Row are scheduled to play a show in Tokyo on 2014 April 14th to promote their latest album “United World Rebellion: Chapter One“!
This will be Skid Row‘s first visit to Japan since 1995. Nineteen years ago!

Today, Rachel Bolan was kind enough to answer some questions from me for an interview!

My questions are in red.   Rachel Bolan‘s answers are in black.

1. Could you give us a self-introduction, please?

Rachel Bolan, co-founder, bass player and song writer for Skid Row.

2.  The new Skid Row release “United World Rebellion: Chapter One” is quite good.  Will there be a “Chapter Two” ?

Thank you. There will be 3 chapters in all. As a matter of fact, we just finished up recording  “United World Rebellion – Chapter Two”. We are very excited about it!

3.  What music / albums do you listen to most often these days?

Lately I have been listening to an artist named Gin Wigmore. She’s great!
I also listen to the music that I grew up with. KISS, The Ramones, Aerosmith, Queen, etc.

4.  Do you like Japanese food?  Have you ever tried Tokyo’s original dish “Monja-yaki“?

I love food in general, but Japanese is one of my favorites. Japanese meals always seem so well balanced.
I haven’t had Monja-yaki, but would like to try it. I think every culture has a dish similar to it. My Uncle used to make something like it. It didn’t have dough in it however. Just egg as a binder.
I’m getting hungry. Haha.

5.  Skid Row is scheduled to play a show at the O-East club in the Shibuya area of Tokyo, Japan.  Could you give us a preview of what fans can expect at that show, set-list-wise and otherwise?

We usually try to play something from every album. That gets more difficult as time goes on because our catalog keeps growing and I can’t see us playing a 4 hour show. Haha.
We will play all the songs that you would expect us to play. Some new songs as well as some deep tracks. Lots of energy on stage because we love what we do! We may be getting older, but we haven’t slowed down a bit.

チラシ (Flyer) for Skid Row’s upcoming show in Tokyo.

6.  The last time Skid Row toured Japan was in 1995, wasn’t it?  Why did it take so long for you to finally return?

That’s right. Almost 20 years since our last visit. I have no idea why it’s taken so long. We’ve always had such an amazing time.
I wish we were playing more than one show on this trip. We’ll make sure it doesn’t take another 20 years until we play there again.

7.   How many times have you been to Tokyo?  Are there any sites that you’re particularly looking forward to revisiting?  Or some places in Tokyo that you haven’t seen yet that you would like to visit?

I believe I’ve been to Tokyo 6 times.
I hope to get back to Kiddieland if its still there!! (It is. It’s actually not too far of a walk from the venue you’ll be playing at!)
Also, Akihabara. I like to check out all the gadgets.
I have never been to Tsukiji fish market.  I’d really like to see it.

8.  How do the fans in Japan compare to those in other countries?

It’s funny. I’ve been asked that question by many journalists from many different countries.  The answer is always the same. Skid Row fans are awesome in every country we go and very similar except for the language they speak. We have the most dedicated fans in the world.  That’s why we called the trilogy ” United World Rebellion “.

9.  Do you receive a lot of fan-mail from Japan?

We do get quite a bit of email from Japan via Facebook and such.

10.  Do you have a message for the fans in Japan?

I just want everyone to know how excited we are to return to your incredible country. And how  much we appreciate your unconditional support over the past 25 years.
There’s not a night I step on stage that I don’t think how great a life that has been afforded to me because of fans like you. I mean that from the bottom of my heart!

Thanks again to Rachel Bolan for taking time to answer my questions.  These are great answers!  Very interesting interview!  I look forward to your show next month!
Thanks also to Skid Row‘s webmaster, Noel Saabye to getting me in contact with Mr. Bolan.

Here are some relevant Skid Row links that everyone should check out:
SkidRow.com
SkidRow’s Official Facebook Page
Hayashi Promotions Skid Row Japan Tour Info

Playlist

Here’s what is on my most recent random playlist.

What’s on yours?

Baby Metal

Do you know the Japanese band Baby Metal ?

They are a unique “heavy metal” meets J-pop band that consists of three junior high school girls!
The girls are ages 13, 14, and 15…and they’re not even actually heavy-metal fans. They prefer pop music (as most girls their age do).

Not your typical metal band. And, to be honest, I’m not really a big fan.
But, it is an interesting concept for a band, I have to admit.

If these girls aren’t really “metal heads”, then why are they in a band called “Baby Metal”?

They were in a pop band together but their producer, who is a metal-head had an idea to fuse their music with thrashing guitars and metal growls!

Unsurprisingly, the girls weren’t keen to becoming a heavy-metal band at first. In fact, the youngest member asked “What’s ‘heavy metal’?“. But they say that they’ve warmed up to it and enjoy being a totally unique act…and also being able to act “wild” on stage.

The even do a unique spin on the “metal horns” hand gesture that they call “kitsune” (which means “fox” in Japanese).
The reason, actually, is because on their debut photo-shoot, their producer told them to do the “metal horns” (which they had never seen before)…and they mistook the hand gesture for the one that became their signature hand gesture.

They have songs with titles such as 「イジメ・ダメ・ゼッタイ！」, which means “Absolutely no bullying!” (which, although has a good message, I don’t enjoy much), and 「ヘドバンギャー!!」 (“Headbanger!!”) which is a lot better.

Their newest song, titled 「メギツネ」 (“Female Fox”), is their best so far.

Here is the video for Baby Metal 「メギツネ」 (“Female Fox”):

We Are Stars!

I’m sure you’ve heard the USA For Africa charity song from the ’80s that raised money for starving children in Africa called “We Are The Children”.

I know that song was popular but, honestly, I never liked it.

You may not be aware of a much better charity song for African children that was recorded 28 years ago today by some of the biggest names in 80s heavy metal.

On 1985 May 20th, members of Dio, Judas Priest, W.A.S.P., Twisted Sister, Dokken, Queensryche, Quiet Riot, Rough Cutt, Motley Crue, and more got together and called themselves Hear ‘N Aid to record the song “(We Are) Stars “!

“(We Are) Stars“, twenty-eight years old today, is the heavy metal answer to We Are The World.
And it’s much better!

Check it out:

OzzFest Japan

Yesterday (2013 May 12), my friend and I went to OzzFest Japan.

It was great!

We went the second day of the two-day heavy metal festival. There were bands on the first day that I would’ve like to see…namely Slipknot, but I mostly wanted to see Black Sabbath.

Here’s the line-up of bands that I saw:

Black Sabbath played:
“War Pigs“, “Into the Void“, “Under the Sun“, “Snowblind“, “Black Sabbath“, “Behind the Wall of Sleep“, “N.I.B.“, “Fairies Wear Boots“, “Symptom of the Universe“, “Iron Man“, “God Is Dead“, “Children of the Grave”
and the encore was “Paranoid“.

Here’s a photo that I took of Ozzy Osbourne:

(A bit blurry…)

 

Back to the ’80s

I grew up in the 1980s. By “grew up”, I mean from 1980 until 1989, I was between the ages of ten to 19.

Do you remember the ’80s? What do you remember that decade for the most?

Ronald Reagan was the U.S. President for just about the entire decade, it was also the decade of Pac-Man, the Rubik’s Cube, and the (cassette) Walk-man.
The microwave, VHS VCRs, and CD players were invented in the ’80s.
Movies such as E.T., Indiana Jones, Die Hard, Crocodile Dundee, and Back To The Future were released.

And, regarding popular music of the ’80s, there was pop music that I personally never liked…such as Duran Duran, Madonna, Cyndi Lauper, Wham! and Michael Jackson.
And then there was the type of music which I’ve always liked—heavy metal. In the ’80s, some popular metal bands were Whitesnake, Ratt, Bon Jovi, Motley Crue, The Scorpions, Twisted Sister, Quiet Riot and Def Leppard.

Well, there’s a new, young rock band from Australia called “De La Cruz“. They are too young to remember the heyday of these bands…but De La Cruz are obviously fans of ’80s heavy metal.

They sound just like the ’80s bands that inspired them.

I have their self-titled debut EP…and I like their music a lot!

De La Cruz has a video for their song “Back To The ’80s“. In the video, the band members are wearing black concert shirts from the bands RATT, Bon Jovi and Judas Priest. That’s how I used to dress in the ’80s!

Here’s their video for “Back To The ’80s“:

Interview with an Italian Samurai

Have you ever heard of Holy Martyr? My great friend Masa told me about them.

They are a heavy metal band from Italy. But their album titled “Invincible” is quite unique because the songs on that album are about famous Japanese samurai stories and battles!

The guitarist of Holy Martyr, Ivano Spiga, did an interview with me.

The interview is on my website’s “Interviews Page“…Click here to read it.

Even if you’re not a fan of heavy metal, you should read the interview to learn why they decided to make a Japanese-themed album and also if it’s true that Italians use a spoon when they eat spaghetti, as many Japanese people believe.

Of course, I also recommend that you check out the music of Holy Martyr.

After you read the interview, come back to this page and leave a comment to let me know what you thought.

Let me introduce you to…

I have written a number of posts about interesting people. Most of whose stories are related to Japan in some way.
Maybe you haven’t seen many of them…so I decided to put links to all of them on a new page that I titled “Who’s Who?“.

Please check them out and leave comments to let me know what you think.

The new page is here.

Animetal USA

Have you ever heard of the Japanese heavy metal band “Animetal“?

The Japanese band "Animetal".

They were an extra band made just for fun by members of other established Japanese metal bands. Animetal played heavy metal versions of Japanese anime theme songs.

The artwork of the cover of Animetal's first album (released in the mid-90's).

Animetal disbanded about five years ago…but this year, Marty Friedman (who was the lead guitarist of the American heavy metal band Megadeth but quit that famous band so that he could live in Tokyo with his Japanese wife) helped organize the formation of “Animetal USA“.

"Animetal USA"

Animetal USA consists of Mike Vescera (formally the lead vocalist of the Japanese band “Loudness” for a short time), Chris Impellitteri (of the band “Impellitteri”), Rudy Sarzo (from “Quiet Riot”) and Scott Travis (of “Judas Priest”).

Just like the original “Animetal”, this band sings heavy metal versions of Japanese anime theme songs…but, unlike the Japanese band, only some of their songs are in Japanese—the rest are in English.

They will be releasing their debut album on 2011 October 12 and on October 15, they will perform at this year’s Loudpark Heavy Metal Festival in Saitama, Japan.

The cover artwork for Animetal USA's debut album...due for release on 2011/10/12.

Here is the official video for “Animetal USA“‘s first single…the theme song of the anime 「宇宙戦艦ヤマト」 (“Space Battleship Yamato“):