NEMOPHILA
Biography and full discography of NEMOPHILA, with a page for every album, on METAL BOOST.
Biography
The Five-Woman Metal Band That Reached the World in the YouTube Era:
The Trajectory and Musical Evolution of NEMOPHILA
Profile
| Formed | 2019, Japan |
|---|---|
| Current Members | mayu (Vocal) / Hazuki (Guitar) / Haraguchi-san (Bass) / Tamu Murata (Drums) |
| Former Member | SAKI (Guitar, 2019-2024) |
| Origin | Japan |
| Styles | Heavy Metal, Melodic Metal, Hard Rock, Alternative Metal |
1. The Present Standing of a "Genuine Female Metal Band"
NEMOPHILA is a Japanese all-female metal band formed in 2019. Armed with outstanding instrumental technique and overwhelming vocal ability, they rapidly broadened their support at home and abroad starting from YouTube, becoming one of the acts leading the Japanese female metal scene of the 2020s. Though named after the flower "nemophila," their music is by no means merely pretty; it is broad and powerful, encompassing everything from heavy, aggressive metal to lyrical melody.
What makes NEMOPHILA stand out is that it is an assembly of members who already held track records of their own. Centered on vocalist mayu, guitarists of sure technique, an undulating bass and explosive drums came together, giving the band a high level of completeness from its very start. Their journey of drawing worldwide attention through YouTube covers and streaming during a period when the pandemic restricted live activity embodies the very model of a band's success in the YouTube era: "even when performance venues are closed, connecting with the world through the force of playing." This article details, in chronological order, the group's formation on mayu's initiative, its YouTube breakthrough, the four-member format after SAKI's departure, and its international expansion in recent years, including a North American tour.
2. Formation: From mayu's Initiative (2019)
NEMOPHILA's story begins with the vision of vocalist mayu. Having left the rock band Lipstick, mayu set out in 2019 to form a backing band to support her at a live session on August 22. She first reached out to her longtime acquaintance, bassist Haraguchi-san, and the two brought in former Soramimi drummer Tamu Murata. Through a friend's introduction, Mary's Blood guitarist SAKI joined, and SAKI in turn brought in fellow guitarist Hazuki (formerly of Disqualia), completing the five-member line-up.
Because each was already an accomplished musician active in the scene, NEMOPHILA quickly transcended the frame of a patched-together session band. Taking their first stage on September 14 and 15, 2019, at "Metal Weekend 2019" at Zepp DiverCity, NEMOPHILA astonished audiences with their playing ability and began walking the path of a genuine band that would not end as a one-off project.
3. Debut and Early Days (2020)
On February 29, 2020, NEMOPHILA released their debut single "OIRAN." Combining Japanese sentiment with heavy metal, the song vividly impressed NEMOPHILA's musical individuality. Depicting the Japanese motif of the oiran (a high-ranking courtesan) with heavy distorted guitars and a powerful vocal, this song became the origin of the "fusion of Japanese sentiment and heaviness" that later NEMOPHILA would make its specialty.
But immediately after the release of "OIRAN," the worldwide spread of COVID-19 began, greatly restricting activity at live houses. Only about half a year after forming, for a new band that was supposed to be establishing its presence through live performance, this was a serious blow. Yet while many bands were forced into stagnation, NEMOPHILA instead turned this adversity into an opportunity to leap toward the world. If they could not perform live, they could deliver their playing through video—that idea led to the next leap with YouTube as its stage.
4. Breakthrough on YouTube and REVIVE (2021)
What made NEMOPHILA's name known to the world was cover performances via YouTube. Reconstructing songs that form important sources of contemporary heavy music—Metallica, System of a Down, Slipknot and Limp Bizkit—with mayu's expressive vocals, twin guitars and a strong rhythm section, those videos were enthusiastically received by metal fans worldwide through a deep understanding of the original structures and NEMOPHILA's own physical playing. NEMOPHILA's journey is symbolic in that it was discovered across borders through the channel of YouTube during a period when live venues were closed by the pandemic.
On June 25, 2021, they released OIRAN: Extended Edition, compiling early works, and on December 15 of the same year they released their first full album, REVIVE. Bearing a title meaning "revival," REVIVE connected metalcore, nu metal, grunge and a Japanese sense of melody without hesitation around a heavy-metal core, presenting a remarkably complete band identity only a short time after forming.
5. Seize the Fate and Growth (2022)
On December 24, 2022, NEMOPHILA released their second album, Seize the Fate. True to the title, it was an ambitious work that pushed further the individuality established on the previous album and greatly expanded the range of songs and the band's expressive power. Live activity also resumed in earnest, and NEMOPHILA steadily converted the recognition gained through streaming and YouTube into real heat on stage. Stacking domestic festivals and headline shows, this was the period in which they solidified their standing as a live band.
6. The Initial Impulse and EVOLVE (2023-2024)
On November 8, 2023, NEMOPHILA released the cover work The Initial Impulse. Crystallizing into an official physical and digital release the cover performances that had triggered their worldwide attention on YouTube, the album transforms originals such as Metallica, System of a Down, Slipknot and Limp Bizkit into NEMOPHILA's own physical musical language. While respecting the structure of the originals, it bears the band's individuality that does not end in mere imitation.
On January 17, 2024, they released their third album, EVOLVE. On this work bearing the banner of "evolution," NEMOPHILA further deepened and expanded its musicality. Presenting multiple albums and cover works to the world within a few years of forming and raising its presence at home and abroad, this period was a journey proving that NEMOPHILA is a genuine band that continuously builds up a body of work, not a passing topic.
7. SAKI's Departure, the Four-Member Format, and Apple of My Eye (2024-2025)
On March 31, 2024, founding member and guitarist SAKI (Mary's Blood) left NEMOPHILA due to differences in direction. The departure of SAKI—one half of the twin-guitar attack and a key figure in the formation—was a major turning point for the band. Thereafter, NEMOPHILA continued its activity as a four-member unit of mayu, Hazuki, Haraguchi-san and Tamu Murata.
In January 2025, they released a new album, Apple of My Eye. It became a work showing that the four-member NEMOPHILA had turned the change in line-up not into stagnation but into a new starting point. Even while losing one half of the twin-guitar attack, the remaining members redefined their roles and instead strengthened the band's propulsion—a journey proving that NEMOPHILA is a robust band not dependent on any single individual.
Around the same time, they stepped in earnest into overseas performances, including a North American tour, connecting the fan base they had built worldwide through YouTube with the actual stage. The way a relationship discovered online during the pandemic bore fruit years later as real fervor speaks to the solidity of the time NEMOPHILA has accumulated. The unit named after a flower—five members, now four—continues its journey as a presence demonstrating the strength of Japanese female metal to the world.
8. Detailed Member Profiles
mayu — Vocal
The vocalist of NEMOPHILA and the originator of the band's formation. After activity with the rock band Lipstick, she launched NEMOPHILA as a band to support her. With an expressive range moving from powerful screams to delicate singing, she gives a sure spine to the heavy songs as the band's central presence.
Hazuki — Guitar
A guitarist formerly of Disqualia. Joining at formation through SAKI's introduction, she is a core member who continues to support the band's guitar sound even after SAKI's departure. With sure technique and expressiveness, she shapes NEMOPHILA's heavy yet melodic sound image.
Haraguchi-san — Bass
A bassist and longtime acquaintance of mayu who took part from the earliest stage of formation. With undulating grooves and sure technique she supports NEMOPHILA's low end, an important presence carrying the foundation of the band's rhythm.
Tamu Murata — Drums
A drummer formerly of Soramimi. Known for explosive yet precise drumming, she powerfully drives NEMOPHILA's fierce songs. Her physical, forceful playing is the propulsion of the band's performance itself.
SAKI — Guitar (former member, 2019-2024)
An accomplished player known as a guitarist of Mary's Blood and one of the key figures in NEMOPHILA's formation. As one half of the twin-guitar attack she supported the early sound, but left in 2024 due to differences in direction.
9. Discography
| Release | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|
| 2020.02.29 | OIRAN | Debut single |
| 2021.06.25 | OIRAN: Extended Edition | Extended edition |
| 2021.12.15 | REVIVE | First full album |
| 2022.12.24 | Seize the Fate | Second album |
| 2023.11.08 | The Initial Impulse | Cover album |
| 2024.01.17 | EVOLVE | Third album |
| 2025.01 | Apple of My Eye | Album (four-member format) |
10. A Closer Look at Each Release
OIRAN / OIRAN: Extended Edition (2020 / 2021) — The debut single "OIRAN" combined Japanese sentiment with heavy metal and was the first song to present NEMOPHILA's musical individuality. The 2021 OIRAN: Extended Edition compiled the early songs and documented the band during the period when it was drawing worldwide attention through YouTube under the pandemic.
REVIVE (2021) — The first full album, bearing a title meaning "revival." Keeping heavy metal at its core, it connected metalcore, nu metal, grunge and a Japanese sense of melody without hesitation, presenting a remarkably complete band identity only a short time after forming. The band's experience of continuing to communicate through live shows, independent singles, streaming and YouTube covers gives the word "revival" a meaning beyond any single song.
Seize the Fate (2022) — The second album, meaning "seize the fate." Pushing further the individuality established on the previous album, it greatly expanded the range of songs and the band's expressive power. In this period, as live activity resumed in earnest, NEMOPHILA steadily converted the recognition gained through streaming and YouTube into real heat on stage.
The Initial Impulse (2023) — A cover album crystallizing into an official release the cover performances that had triggered the band's worldwide attention on YouTube. Important songs of contemporary heavy music—Metallica's "Master of Puppets," System of a Down's "Sugar," Slipknot's "(sic)" and Limp Bizkit's "Stuck"—were transformed into NEMOPHILA's own musical language through mayu's vocals and a strong ensemble. Deep understanding of the originals and the band's individuality, which does not end in imitation, coexist.
EVOLVE (2024) — The third album, bearing the banner of "evolution." A work in which NEMOPHILA further deepened and expanded its musicality, it proved that a band which had presented multiple albums and cover works within a few years of forming was a genuine act that continuously builds up a body of work.
Apple of My Eye (2025) — A new album by the four-member unit after SAKI's departure. Becoming a work that showed the change in line-up turned into a new starting point rather than stagnation, and combined with overseas expansion including a North American tour around the same time, it announced the opening of NEMOPHILA's new chapter.
11. Musicality and Significance
NEMOPHILA's music moves freely among metalcore, nu metal, grunge and a Japanese sense of melody while keeping orthodox heavy metal at its core. The sound woven by mayu's expressive vocals, twin guitars (now centered on Hazuki) and a strong rhythm section makes strength and delicacy coexist. The deep understanding of originals shown in their cover performances is also the backing for the high constructive ability in their original songs.
Where NEMOPHILA's true worth is most fully displayed is, after all, the live setting. The sound pressure created by Tamu Murata's explosive drumming, undulating bass, sharp twin guitars and mayu's overwhelming singing overpowers audiences with an impact beyond video or recordings. That a band discovered online during the pandemic converted that heat into a real stage as venues recovered—broadening its activity to domestic festivals, headline shows and even a North American tour—is the clearest proof that NEMOPHILA is a genuine live band.
NEMOPHILA's significance lies in connecting with the world through the new channel of YouTube during the difficult period of the pandemic, and in converting that support into a real stage once performance venues recovered. Alongside BABYMETAL and Lovebites, as one corner of Japan's female metal bands with the world in view, NEMOPHILA continues to demonstrate the depth of Japanese heavy music at home and abroad.
12. As a Success Model of the YouTube Era
NEMOPHILA's journey symbolizes a new success model for bands in the 2020s. Traditionally, the main routes for a band to break through were paying dues at live houses and exposure through media and labels. But NEMOPHILA opened the path of connecting with the world through the platform of YouTube at the worst possible time, when the pandemic had closed the venues for live performance. By using the "shared language" of cover performances, it crossed the language barrier of Japanese lyrics and delivered its playing ability directly to listeners worldwide who knew the original songs.
What matters is that NEMOPHILA is not a covers-only band. It reliably connected the attention gained through covers to original albums such as REVIVE, Seize the Fate and EVOLVE, and through the songwriting ability and ensemble strength shown there, it built a reputation as a genuine band rather than a passing topic. After venues for live performance recovered, it converted that worldwide recognition into a real stage, broadening its activity from domestic festivals to a North American tour. NEMOPHILA's contemporaneity lies in having made this cycle work: "discovered online, proven offline."
13. The Members' Musical Backgrounds and Position in the Scene
NEMOPHILA's high level of completeness derives from the fact that each member had already built a solid career before NEMOPHILA. Vocalist mayu had activity with the rock band Lipstick, drummer Tamu Murata was formerly of Soramimi, guitarist Hazuki was formerly of Disqualia, and SAKI, a key figure in the formation, is also known as a guitarist of Mary's Blood, a leading name in girls' metal. Precisely because each brought the expressive power honed in another place, NEMOPHILA was able to stand as a single complete band from the very start, rather than a patched-together session group.
In the context of the Japanese female metal scene, NEMOPHILA is counted, alongside BABYMETAL and Lovebites, as one of the important acts operating in the 2020s with the world in view. Whereas BABYMETAL challenged the world with the invention of "idol × metal" and Lovebites with "orthodox metal of formal beauty," NEMOPHILA built international support through a path characteristic of this very era: "outstanding performance ability and discovery through YouTube." As a presence embodying the depth and diversity of Japanese heavy music, NEMOPHILA plays a significant role.
14. Conclusion
NEMOPHILA started as a "genuine female metal band" with a high level of completeness from the very beginning, as accomplished musicians gathered around mayu. Turning the adversity of the pandemic into a breakthrough on YouTube and stacking up multiple albums and cover works, they have steadily raised their presence at home and abroad. Overcoming the turning point of SAKI's departure and stepping forward anew as a four-member unit, NEMOPHILA is broadening its stage overseas, including North America. The story of this band named after a flower will continue, together with the possibilities of Japanese female metal.
Trivia
NEMOPHILA did not start out as a band. In the summer of 2019 the five began as a session project and played two shows in that form. The rehearsals felt as good as the gigs, and as they came to know each other the wish to keep going took hold; after the second show the conversation turned to picking a name. The moment NEMOPHILA was settled on, mayu says, was the moment the five of them locked into place. The band dates its start from August 2019, and its debut was in September as an opening act at METAL WEEKEND 2019 at Zepp DiverCity, on a bill that included LOUDNESS and HAMMERFALL.
NEMOPHILA go by a nickname that translates roughly as "the fluffy band from hell." Their official profile states the formula outright — the sound is as violent as hell and everything else is soft — and mayu explains it the same way: ferocious music, easy-going people. The instrumentation backs it up: screaming vocals, a seven-string guitar, a five-string bass and a double-kick drum kit.
The band's YouTube channel went up on 8 February 2020, and the first thing posted to it was a cover of IRON MAIDEN's "The Trooper." Less than six months after they started, the pandemic wiped out most of what they had planned; mayu's account is that the channel and streamed shows were how they kept working. The covers turned out to have a side effect. Playing other people's material showed them which genres each of them was strong in and how each of them approached things — it was, she writes, a good way to get to know one another.
The rooms grew quickly. On 17 July 2023 the band played Tokyo Garden Theater as NEMOPHILA 4th Anniversary -Rizing NEMO-; when it was confirmed, mayu wrote in her column that it had been one of the stages she looked up to and that she could hardly believe the day had come. That year also brought an eleven-date headline tour and festivals at home and abroad, and in February 2024 came their first show at Nippon Budokan.
NEMOPHILA began with singer mayu assembling people for the music she wanted to make. Her starting thought was that she wanted to play loud music, and that hardly any all-female bands were built around screaming — which meant there was something interesting to be done. The five who answered her calls became the band.
The first person mayu approached was drummer Tamu Murata. They had never met — mayu knew her only from videos and magazines — and she asked on the off chance, and got a yes. Guitarist Hazuki was brought in by SAKI, who had herself been introduced through an acquaintance. Bassist Haraguchi-san was already a friend of mayu's.
Guitarist Hazuki only took up the seven-string once NEMOPHILA started. The reasoning was about staying out of the singer's way: screaming occupies much the same range as guitar, so she decided to go below it. A twin-guitar band with one player permanently on seven strings is not a common shape, she notes, so it also gives the band a signature. What she had grown up listening to was bands full of death growls and screams — ARCH ENEMY, CHILDREN OF BODOM and the like.
Drummer Tamu Murata gave birth in May 2020. Her return was the audience-free streamed show on 22 August that year, billed as exactly that — Murata's comeback. It fell on the release date of the second single, "Raitei," and in her comment at the time she said she was fired up for a first show back from maternity leave and wanted people to see her come back stronger.
News
[Japan] NEMOPHILA Announce The Departures Of Murata Tamu (Dr) And Hazuki (G)
Murata Tamu officially left the band at the end of July 2026 but will continue as a support drummer until October 12; Hazuki leaves on October 12. The October 12 show at EX THEATER ROPPONGI is the final appearance for both.
TRiDENT Announced For NEMOPHILA-Curated 'Tenjo Mukyu Kyokuon Dochu' Show On October 12
The all-female bill takes place at EX THEATER ROPPONGI alongside NEMOPHILA, East Of Eden and NEK!, with the official second pre-sale opening at 18:00 on August 1.
Current Members
Current lineup verified from the official artist source on 2026-07-10. Official profile
Albums
A five-song 2026 EP that condenses the four-piece NEMOPHILA’s physical groove, self-written material and renewed identity.
NEMOPHILA’s fourth album, written by the four members and renewing the band’s heaviness, emotional vocals and free-form mixture.
NEMOPHILA’s third album, concentrating scale, technique, melody and modern heaviness ahead of the band’s Budokan milestone.
A cover EP that rebuilds songs by Metallica, System of a Down, Slipknot and Limp Bizkit through NEMOPHILA’s own attack.
A second album capturing NEMOPHILA’s international momentum through heavy riffs, wide melodies and an unrestricted mixture.
NEMOPHILA’s debut album, rebuilding its early independent songs into a worldwide statement of the band’s “hellishly heavy, otherwise fluffy” sound.
An international early compilation collecting NEMOPHILA’s three independent singles plus an English version of “DISSENSION.”