THE END OF THE CENTURY

This is the second album, out a year after the debut, and the first the band produced itself. It was recorded in January and February 1986 at CBS/Sony's Shinanomachi studio and released by CBS/Sony on 2 April 1986. The line-up is Demon Kogure singing, Ace Shimizu and Jail Ohashi on guitars, Zodd Hoshijima on bass and Raiden Yuzawa on drums. The instrumental side is built on twin guitars and fast songs, with narration and story laid over them, and that method settles here. It reached number 5 on the Oricon LP chart, stayed twenty-four weeks and sold 140,000 copies; the advance single "Rou-ningyou no Yakata" reached 17, and this is the period when the band's television appearances multiplied. They are remembered for the costumes and the conceit, but the playing on this record is fast and accurate by the standards of Japanese heavy metal at the time. The running order here is the original's as printed.