HAGANE BIOGRAPHY

Female Melodic Speed Metal Bearing the Name of "Steel":
The Trajectory and Restart of HAGANE

1. A Female Metal Band Bearing "Steel"

HAGANE is a Japanese all-female metal band formed in Tokyo in 2018. As the band name "hagane" (steel) suggests, they aim for music that is hard, sharp and supplely strong, with driving melodic speed metal at its axis. Early in their career they described themselves as "harmonic metal," emphasizing a harmonious sound image woven by multiple voices and guitars. As one of the accomplished acts supporting the depth of the Japanese female metal scene, HAGANE has steadily built up its journey.

HAGANE's history is also a story of "resilience," having achieved a restart after overcoming a major line-up change. Facing the difficulty of member turnover, the band was rebuilt around founder and guitarist Sakura and continues its activity with a new formation. This article outlines HAGANE's formation, its early works, its 2024 restart after the 2023 line-up change, and its recent expansion at home and abroad.

2. Formation and Early Years (2018-2022)

HAGANE was formed in Tokyo on June 23, 2018, by guitarist Sakura. Gathering members through an online musician-recruitment platform, Sakura launched HAGANE as an all-female metal band. Its musicality, balancing drive and melody, radiated a distinct presence in the Japanese girls' metal scene, and it broadened its support through live activity. On June 23, 2020, the band released its debut EP, EpisodeØ, five songs including "BRAVE" and "WintrySky."

In 2022, HAGANE released its first studio album, Code; 9021. Becoming a milestone in the band's early period, the work clearly inscribed HAGANE's individuality as driving melodic speed metal and laid the foundation for later activity.

3. Line-up Change and Restart (2023-2024)

In 2023, HAGANE reached a major turning point. Three members left, and the band stood at a crossroads of survival. But founder Sakura and bassist Sayaka chose not to stop. The two welcomed new vocalist Nagi and drummer JUNNA, rebuilding HAGANE as a four-member unit.

In 2024, the new-formation HAGANE resumed activity in earnest. On May 29 of that year, they released the EP Life Goes On!, showing the will of a reborn HAGANE moving forward beyond hardship, true to the title. On June 27 they returned to the stage at Shibuya ReX, demonstrating the momentum of their restart.

4. Top of the Tower and Expansion Abroad (2025-2027)

In 2025, HAGANE released its second studio album, Top of the Tower. Becoming a culmination after the restart, the work showed that the new-formation HAGANE was aiming not merely at revival but at even greater musical heights (the top of the tower). European dates for April 2027 have also been announced. Standing on overseas stages as a Japanese female melodic speed metal band, this journey proves that HAGANE is a band with ambition reaching beyond the domestic scene.

On December 25, 2025, HAGANE played the final show of their first nationwide tour, behind Top of the Tower, at Zepp Shinjuku in Tokyo. That night was released on May 20, 2026 as the live Blu-ray HAGANE Full Album Release Tour「TOP OF THE TOWER」at Zepp Shinjuku 2025.12.25, a three-disc set with two live CDs. On April 11, 2026, HAGANE played their first show outside Japan, at EPIC FEST in Denmark, and in July they took European stages again: ROCKHARZ in Germany on July 2, a show of their own at Privatclub in Berlin on July 3 and ROCK IMPERIUM FESTIVAL in Spain on July 5. The band's ROCKHARZ day and the Berlin show both sold out. On July 9 the band released the EP METAL QUEST (CRIMSON, EACC-5008) together with the CD of the single "Amour Chain" (EACC-5009), which had come out digitally on November 12, 2025. From July 19 to August 29, 2026, the band then played the six-date HAGANE EP Release Tour "METAL QUEST," from DIAMOND HALL in Nagoya to EX THEATER ROPPONGI in Tokyo, where the final show was also streamed live on Niconico Live.

Through the Night, with a release date of December 2, 2026, is HAGANE's second full-length album since the 2024 restart. It opens with the title track and closes with "Glorious," and two of its eleven songs, "The Rising of the Shield" among them, come from the METAL QUEST EP. The Japanese release, on CRIMSON, comes in two editions; the Blu-ray of the Deluxe Edition (CD + Blu-ray, EACC-5010) holds the whole show at EX THEATER ROPPONGI in Tokyo on August 29, 2026, the final night of the METAL QUEST tour. Outside Japan the album's label is Napalm Records of Austria, with which the band announced a worldwide deal excluding Japan on September 30, 2026; the release date there is January 15, 2027, on CD and vinyl.

The album's release tour, HAGANE Full Album Release Tour "Through the Night," is a fifteen-date run opening at HEAVEN'S ROCK Saitama Shintoshin VJ-3 on December 12, 2026 and ending at Zepp DiverCity in Tokyo on February 19, 2027. Other announced dates are the one-man show "HAGANE HALLOWEEN LIVE 2026" at Veats Shibuya on October 27, 2026, the "STRIKE BACK 2026" bill at CLUB CITTA' in Kawasaki on November 15, 2026, and "MARQUEE AVALON 30th Anniversary Vol.3 Legends of AVALON" at the same venue on March 22, 2027. Abroad, the band has announced THROUGH THE NIGHT / EUROPEAN TOUR PART1: EPIC FEST in Roskilde, Denmark, on April 9, 2027, then Berlin (LIDO) on April 13, Hamburg (Markthalle) on April 14 and Cologne (Club Volta) on April 16.

5. Detailed Member Profiles

Sakura — Guitar (founder)

The founder of HAGANE and the guitarist carrying the band's musical core. Having formed HAGANE in 2018 by recruiting members online, she is the central figure who did not stop even amid the crisis of the 2023 line-up change and rebuilt the band. She leads its driving melodic speed metal.

Sayaka — Bass

A bassist who continued to support HAGANE alongside Sakura even through the line-up change. Carrying the band's low end, she is an important presence forming the foundation of the new formation after the restart.

Nagi — Vocal

A vocalist who joined at the 2024 restart. As the vocal face of the new-formation HAGANE, she places a sure voice atop the driving metal sound.

JUNNA — Drums

A drummer who joined at the restart. With powerful, precise drumming she drives HAGANE's speed-filled songs.

6. Conclusion

Bearing driving melodic speed metal worthy of the name "steel," HAGANE has built a distinct presence in the Japanese female metal scene since its formation in 2018. Overcoming the difficulty of the major 2023 line-up change through reconstruction centered on founder Sakura, and powerfully restarting as a four-member unit in 2024, its journey embodies the "unyielding strength" symbolized by the band's name. Expanding to Europe after Top of the Tower, the story of HAGANE will continue as the figure of a female metal band that keeps moving forward, turning adversity into a springboard.