Top 10: Japanese Metal Bands

Upon reviewing Sabbat’s latest album, Sabbaticult, it got me thinking about Japan’s rich heavy metal history: A tale that goes as far back as this music itself. Perhaps like their peers in England and Germany, it was the harsh post-war living conditions that inspired an entire generation to grow their hair, smoke some grass, and turn their amplifiers to 11. Following these heavy ’70s architects was a new generation of denim and leather clad lunatics, hellbent on making this music their own in the ’80s and beyond. Today, we salute these metal mercenaries of the Rising Sun with our Top 10 Japanese Metal Bands. Banzai!

10. Mari Hamada

Germany has Doro. Canada has Lee Aaron. Japan has Mari Hamada! Kicking off her legendary career way back in 1983, Hamada fused fiery traditional metal with an idol aesthetic, making her the country’s undisputable metal queen. Come the latter half of the ’80s, she would double down on the latter, with her musical output taking a sharp turn towards AOR, pop, and soft rock for the better part of 20+ years. That is until the early ’10s when Hamada returned to her metal roots, albeit modernizing her sound to accommodate the times. Her output of the past decade is the cream of the symphonic power metal crop, leaving all other Nightwish-core wannabes in the dust.

9. Bow Wow

If a certain band we’re going to tackle later in this list was the Black Sabbath of Japan, then Bow Wow was the Judas Priest. While the first half of the ’70s was dominated by doomy riffage, morose atmosphere, and psychedelic freakouts, Bow Wow streamlined Japanese metal down to its bare essentials, focusing more on speed, aggression, and energy. Their ’70s output would prove to be crucially influential on the traditional metal crop that arose in the ’80s. Ironically, Bow Wow would find themselves competing with this very wave of bands in a decade’s time, changing their name to Vow Wow and commercializing their sound in hopes of western superstardom. While that big break never came and their commercial era is hit or miss at best, one must acknowledge their initial impact nearly 50 years ago.

8. G.I.S.M.

“A punk band on a metal list? How?!” Well, G.I.S.M. wasn’t just any punk band. Amidst a crowded Japanese hardcore scene, G.I.S.M. clawed their way to the top of the heap, and rightfully so. Their fusion of metallic misanthropy with hardcore anarchy cemented their status as Japan’s answer to Discharge. In other words, they were the country’s premiere metalpunk band. Their live performances were as notorious as their music: Absolutely unhinged affairs that saw frontman Sakevi attacking audience members with firecrackers, chainsaws, flamethrowers, and when his arsenal was depleted, his own bare fists. With his untimely passing just last year, G.I.S.M. are now forever relegated to the past tense, a staple of Japanese metal and punk lore, but their destructive legacy will live on forever.

7. Seikima-II

When Seikima-II first hit the Japanese metal scene, they looked and sounded like no band anyone had experienced before. While their peers were doing their best to keep up with the Priest and Maiden worship of the day, Seikima-II forged their own path, crafting a type of metal that was undeniably their own. Rich, melodic, and bombastic are but a few of the descriptors that can be used to describe Seikima-II’s sound. Such over the top music demands an equally over the top visual presentation. The end result: A stage show that was one part black mass, one part traditional Japanese kabuki. Over 40 years on, Seikima-II continue to captivate Japanese headbangers with their live rituals and truly intense metal.

6. Anthem

Following Atco’s acquisition of Loudness (more on them later), it seemed there was hope for more Japanese metal bands to be picked up by American labels. One such band was Anthem, who released three stunning traditional metal albums in their self titled debut (1985), Tightrope (1986), and Bound to Break (1987) via Restless Records/Medusa, a subsidiary of Enigma. When said deal fell through, did Anthem wimpify their sound in a desperate effort for mass adoration? Nope! They got even heavier, fully embracing power and speed metal come the ’90s and beyond. Their growth as a collective musical unit is no doubt one of the biggest in metal history, and there’s no reason why they shouldn’t be on your power metal playlist alongside Helloween, Running Wild, and Blind Guardian.

5. Flower Travellin’ Band

In the beginning, there was Flower Travellin’ Band. Formed out of the ashes of psychedelic outfit Yuya Uchida and the Flowers, FTB began pushing the boundaries of what was then known as “heavy rock” from the very beginning with their debut album, Anywhere (1970). As noteworthy as the album’s cover which features the band motorbiking naked is their nearly 9 minute rendition of Black Sabbath’s “Black Sabbath”: The first known Sabbath cover and arguably heavier than the original. Mind you, this was October, 1970: Only 8 months since Sabbath released their self titled debut. Of course, FTB wasn’t alone in their efforts. Similarly natured bands of the era like Blues Creation and Speed Glue & Shinki must be acknowledged. However, for their significance of being the first and the crucial importance of their colossal sophomore masterpiece, Satori (1971), it’s FTB who rightfully cracks this list.

4. Sigh

Sigh: The reincarnation of Flower Travellin’ Band as a ’90s black metal band? It’s very possible. For the past 30+ years, Sigh has cemented themselves as not only one of the most innovative acts in black metal, but one of the most innovative acts in metal period. Each album is its own mind-bending voyage into the unknown, blurring the lines between metal, avant-garde, prog, psychedelia, electronic music, and more, sometimes even within the course of a single song! All of this, of course, is the twisted vision of evil genius Mirai Kawashima. Even after all this time, Kawashima continues to find new ways to shock listeners and keep Sigh at the cutting edge of underground metal.

3. Sabbat

When looking back at black metal’s first wave, it’s incredible to think how many now groundbreaking bands burst out in such a short span of time. Between 1981 and 1985 alone, we got Venom, Hellhammer, Celtic Frost, Bulldozer, Sodom, Destruction, and of course, Sabbat. Drawing inspiration from the black metal gods in Venom, Sabbat formed in 1984, eager to attack Japan’s burgeoning wave of traditional metal bands with a sound that was raw, filthy, and most importantly, loud! From the opening bars of their debut single, “Black Fire”, this was not a band eager for the attention or approval of American suits. No, this was a band hellbent on unleashing hell itself, one blast of blackened thrash devastation at a time. 40 years on and I’d say they’ve done a pretty good job at exactly that.

2. X Japan

The rise, fall, and rise again of X Japan is a story so insane that even Hollywood couldn’t make it up. Even after having watched their documentary, We Are X, I still can’t wrap my head around it. Their evolution from speed metal savages to power-prog princes is a marvel in and of itself. Couple this with the fact said evolution coincided with their rise from underground warriors to the biggest musical act in Japanese history and the story becomes even hairier. Yes, you read that correctly. Not the biggest metal act in Japan, the biggest musical act ever. X Japan’s story is one marred with darkness and tragedy, yet unrelenting perseverance and hope. While their studio primary output is brief (five albums, one being a glorified EP/mini-album/suite), its greatness is surpassed by only one other Japanese metal band…

Loudness

You knew as well as I that Loudness was gonna be topping this list. If they had splintered in 1984 after the release of their first four albums, they still would’ve topped this list. Their early output is amongst some of the most ambitiously brilliant in metal history, matched only by the likes of Iron Maiden and Mercyful Fate. Come the mid ’80s, they were signed by Atco and set their sights on western domination. While their sound became drastically more commercial and accessible, the overall quality of the music remained top shelf as ever, now going toe to toe with the likes of Dokken and W.A.S.P. Despite an alt metal slump in the late ’90s, Loudness have prevailed, continuing to release excellent hard and heavy albums to this day. Their last album, Sunburst, was among our favorite releases of 2022. Over 40 years on and Loudness remain the undisputed Japanese metal kings, now and forever. “M-Z-A! M-Z-A!”