First off: thank you everyone for the suggestions for more metal bands after 10 Most Incredible J-Metal Bands – Part 1!! You are amazing! I know this list is LONG overdue but it’s hard to keep track of it all. Bands disbanded or going on “permanent hiatus”, former members forming other bands and others modeling shoes…yes Kyo I’m pointing at you. But that’s awesome! I can’t at least see what’s going on in the works that way! Then having to keep up with bands switching musical tastes and genres at their whim like some bipolar high school girl working out her feelings for Justin Beiber! But, with all of you lovely people’s help and a little digging I have selected bands whom either people put into the category of metal or are metal by Japanese standards (these people love Jazz by the way…a lot!) to place on the second installment of metal bands!
To begin, what I said above is true. I know a great number of you will give me “real” metal artists and I encourage you to do so but I ask you please keep an open mind. I’m not even too sure I’ll make another “metal” list as opposed to just “music” in general. I find that narrowing artists to genres just upsets the fans (I am one of those) so after this list I’ll just make Japanese music lists to showcase all the wonderful and completely crazy bands that Japan has to offer us! For now, enjoy the second and last J-metal band list. As before suggestions are totally wanted but just be…tolerant. As tolerant as you can be.
Again, this list is not from best to worst but just numbered for my convenience!
10. Bleedead
DarkGoat666 gave me this suggestion. I was not familiar with this band until now but I can say…damn! They are metal! I do believe the comments under much of their videos is “My god! This is fucking brutal!” I have seen some good reviews that mention pig squeals…that alone is worth a listen.
9. UnsraW
This band reminds me a great deal of Dir en Grey if they had kept the visual kei look! The songs are similar but not quite DeG’s style but still so very effective!
8. Exist-Trace
Finally! A girl band (per say)! I could have seen them in Boston a few years ago if I was a week later! As with many bands I was sitting ’round trying to figure out the gender of the band (though it makes no difference) and to my happy surprise…they’re girls! How awesome they are!
7. Mejibray
I’d call this band a group of little Marilyn Mansons mixed with a Japanese rock band. They change their style around so much that you don’t know whether they’re trying to be The Gazette or a shock rock group.
6. OZ
These guys are metal with a lot of fun put behind it. I really dig this band because they use techno elements for only short bits and pieces of their stuff. They also love to use all that grunt stuff sparingly which works well for their songs and style.
5. D
I know I’m going to catch a lot of flack from a lot of you about my decision to put them in the metal category however I have my reasons. So D is not exactly singled out as being metal since they include melodic rock and a lot of visuals in their work but those metal elements make them different in their execution. They’re theatrical and they have great metal riffs so even though they don’t display quintessential metal elements, just check them out! I know Leo likes them and if she likes them they’re metal enough.
4. Nocturnal Bloodlust
So, just finished watching a brand new video of theirs…the lead singer is wrapped in blood in a church. Man does he do a brutal number on his voice too! But I must say this is one of my favorite metal bands. Not only in their sound but, to me, they don’t come off as visual kei (but they are).
3. Reivier
I hear rumors that this band isn’t together anymore so if anyone could help me out with that it would be awesome! This was also another suggestion for me and I really like them! I totally dig how the bass and drums work together! Man, I hope they’re still around and didn’t meet the same fateful end as so many I have loved and lost like some petty college drama!
2. Disconformity
Since this is list the last metal version of my Japanese music lists I shall go all out! You want some hard shit to listen to…this is it! Some people describe this as grindcore but the grindcore fans bitch just like every other fan group about genre selection so I am saying they are…music?
1.Biosphia
Even though this band was also suggested to me I felt this was not really a metal band. I gave them another closer listen and heard the metal there. I suppose I only ever heard the “softer” Biosphia. It does have that metal grunt to it but a very soft melodic side which is different for a metal group. Fuck it! I like them!
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