Zilqy
Biography and full discography of Zilqy, with a page for every album, on METAL BOOST.
Biography
A New-Generation Global Female Metal Band Aiming for the World's Summit:
The Launch and Outlook of Zilqy
Profile
| Formed | September 2025, Japan |
|---|---|
| Members | Anna (Vocal) / Toki (Guitar / ex-Aldious) / Miho (Bass / ex-LOVEBITES) / Kano (Drums) |
| Origin | Japan |
| Styles | Post-Melodic Nu-Metal, Heavy Metal, Alternative Metal, Electronic |
| Name Origin | Zilch (nothing) + Queen (woman) = "Queen of no one / Queen of everyone" |
1. A "New-Generation Global Female Metal" Gathering of Accomplished Players
Zilqy is a Japanese metal band formed in September 2025. Bearing the banner of "a global female metal band aiming for the world," it made its debut as, in effect, a new-generation supergroup gathering skilled musicians who had built track records in the Japanese girls' metal scene. The band name is a coined word combining "Zilch (nothing)" and "Queen (woman)," carrying the will to be a presence unbound by existing frames: "Queen of no one / Queen of everyone."
The sound identity Zilqy advocates is "post-melodic nu-metal." Under a clear concept of blending Western soundscapes, Japanese melodies and the grooves of electronic music, Zilqy has aimed from its very start at activity with the world in view, not merely the domestic scene. This article outlines Zilqy's formation, the backgrounds of its members, the debut EP Vacant Throne, and the first full album Birth of Riot with its national tour.
2. Formation and Member Backgrounds (2025)
Zilqy launched in September 2025. Its greatest characteristic is that each member is an accomplished player who has already built a solid career in the Japanese metal scene. Guitarist Toki is a former member of Aldious, which helped drive Japan's "girls' metal" boom, while bassist Miho is a former member of LOVEBITES, who experienced the stages of major overseas festivals such as Wacken Open Air. Vocalist Anna is bilingual, shaped by spending her childhood overseas, and her language ability and expressiveness embody Zilqy's global orientation on a musical level. With the addition of drummer Kano, Zilqy set out from the start as a band with a high performance standard and an international perspective.
Aldious, a pioneer of girls' metal, and LOVEBITES, which fought on the world stage—this line-up, gathering members who inherit the genes of two bands symbolizing the history of Japanese female metal, and adding a bilingual vocalist and new talent, shows that Zilqy is not a mere newcomer but a "riot" standing on accumulated experience.
3. The Debut EP Vacant Throne (2025)
In 2025, Zilqy released its debut EP Vacant Throne. The title is an ambitious declaration that Zilqy will seize a throne on which no one yet sits. The EP contains songs such as "Carry On," "Disguise," "Bleeding Love," "Cannonball" and "Realize," clearly presenting Zilqy's musical direction, which combines modern heaviness, electronic groove and melodic appeal. Anna's bilingual voice moves between open, expressive lines and sharper moments of tension, while Toki, Miho and Kano build a polished, heavy framework.
Vacant Throne was appreciated as a work that used the members' past reputations not merely by bringing them together, but as fuel for a new identity. Though a first step toward the "vacant throne" promised by the title, it already possessed enough individuality to impress Zilqy as more than a passing project.
4. The First Full Album Birth of Riot and the National Tour (2026)
Zilqy's first full album is Birth of Riot, with a release date of October 7, 2026. The title, meaning the birth of an uprising, develops in full-length form the ambition Zilqy showed on its debut EP. Three songs went out ahead of it: "World's End" on August 6, "CAVEAT" on August 29 and "RUN" on September 16.
The album's national tour, also titled Birth of Riot, has been announced as a run of eight performances from Kashiwa PALOOZA in Chiba on October 11, 2026 to Zepp Shinjuku (TOKYO) on December 16, by way of Sendai, Kobe, Nagoya, Fukuoka and Osaka. Arriving at a finished full album and a national tour only about a year after forming, this journey shows that the will toward the "world's summit" that Zilqy advocates is steadily taking shape.
Ahead of the tour, Zilqy was the opening act on the PACIFIC STAGE at SUMMER SONIC 2026 (ZOZO Marine Stadium & Makuhari Messe) on August 16, 2026, and on August 22 played its first two-man show with EMNW, Live Natalie "Zilqy × EMNW", at Spotify O-East in Shibuya. Zilqy was also the first act announced for DECEMBER'S CHILDREN 2026 at LIQUIDROOM in Ebisu on December 21.
5. Detailed Member Profiles
Anna — Vocal
The vocalist of Zilqy. Bilingual and shaped by spending her childhood overseas, her language ability and expressiveness embody the band's global orientation. Handling everything from open, soaring lines to sharp, tense expression, she gives Zilqy's sound an international color.
Toki — Guitar (ex-Aldious)
A former guitarist of Aldious, which helped drive Japan's "girls' metal" boom. With sure playing ability backed by abundant experience in the scene, she leads Zilqy's heavy sound image.
Miho — Bass (ex-LOVEBITES)
A former bassist of LOVEBITES who experienced the stages of major overseas festivals such as Wacken Open Air. As a player with experience of competing on the world stage, she supports Zilqy's low end and its global perspective.
Kano — Drums
The drummer of Zilqy. She drives the band's modern, electronic grooves with sure rhythm, carrying the propulsion of Zilqy's "post-melodic nu-metal."
6. Discography
| Year | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Vacant Throne | Debut EP |
| 2026 | Birth of Riot | First full album (October 7) |
7. Conclusion
Zilqy is a new-generation global female metal band that gathers members who inherit the experience of bands symbolizing Japanese female metal, such as Aldious and LOVEBITES, along with fresh bilingual talent. Under the clear sound concept of "post-melodic nu-metal," it presented its ambition on the debut EP Vacant Throne, released the first full album Birth of Riot on October 7, 2026, and has announced a national tour behind it. Though little time has passed since its formation, the will to seize the "vacant throne" embedded in its starting point is clear, and the story of Zilqy is only now truly beginning to unfold.
Trivia
The spelling "Zilqy" was never meant to be the band's name. It began life as an abbreviation. Vocalist Anna built the name outward from Queen, wanting something that suggested a woman, then went looking for a word to put in front of it. Her first idea was Zero, for nothing at all, but it did not sound like much; the slang term zilch did. The plan, then, was a band called Zilch Queen that could be shortened to Zilqy in passing. Somewhere in the conversation they realised they preferred the short form, and the abbreviation was promoted to the real name. Music Natalie's profile glosses the combination as a queen who belongs to no one.
Before there were four of them, there was a single session at a live house in Okinawa. Toki and Miho had known each other for years without ever having shared a stage. Toki, who cares as much about how a player carries herself in front of an audience as about what she plays, found herself watching Miho instead of concentrating on her own part — and decided that if she was going to build a band capable of working abroad, this was the person to build it with. She made the offer. Miho, who says she had long admired Toki in return, accepted, and that exchange is where Zilqy begins.
The name went through at least one casualty on the way. Anna spent a good while championing "Tokyo Astro Babies" — long enough that Miho later teased her about how hard she had pushed it. It did not survive, and not because of how it sounded. Neither Toki nor Kano is from Tokyo, and that settled it.
Early on, Toki and Miho were hunting for a second guitarist. Both had absorbed the idea that a metal band comes with twin guitars. What changed their minds was the music itself: as the sound came into focus, one guitar began to look like the better answer, and the arrival of Anna and Kano — who both prefer a single-guitar lineup — settled the question. Miho has pointed to what she had been noticing at festivals in Europe and the US, where fewer bands bother with a wall of amps and fewer still put two guitarists face to face for the solo.
Kano reached the band through a manipulator Miho had met at a music-industry drinking party, who told her there was someone she ought to go and see. Miho went, watched Kano play, and came away certain she did not want anyone else behind the kit. Toki set out to do the same — and picked a night when a substitute drummer was filling in. She worked this out while she was already on her way to the venue.
"Carry On," the lead track on the EP, was chosen by ballot. Members and staff each brought a melody to the table, everyone shut their eyes, and hands went up for whichever one they liked best — blind, so that nobody was voting for a person. This was the one that won. It was also the first song the band finished, and it kept moving afterwards: Kano joined partway through the process, and her drum parts pushed it somewhere else again. Miho has said that making this single track was how the four of them worked out what each of the others actually wanted the band to be.
Vacant Throne is an English-language record with two exceptions: "Cannonball" and "Realize" each break into Japanese. Those lines did not arrive uncontested. The idea came out of a band conversation about "Cannonball" in particular, whose chorus melody struck them as Japanese enough to carry Japanese words. Anna has described being told on the day of the session that the lyrics should stay in English — and holding her ground until they did not.
The band's first show, "Start The Fire," took place on 10 December 2025 at SPACE ODD in Daikanyama, Tokyo, and sold out immediately. Two of the ten songs in the roughly hour-long set were covers, for the plain reason that a five-track EP does not fill a set. One was Paramore's "Hallelujah" — a song from Anna's own roots, and the first cover Zilqy ever put together. The other was Metallica's "Enter Sandman," also her pick. For the encore they returned to "Carry On," with Anna hushing the room and starting it a cappella.
News
Zilqy Vocalist Anna Interviewed By Real Sound About First Full-Length 'Birth of Riot'
Interviewed by Fukuryu, she talks about the band's SUMMER SONIC 2026 appearance and the album's lyrics; this is the first of two parts.
Zilqy Guitarist Toki Interviewed By USEN encore About First Full-Length 'Birth of Riot'
The interview is an original feature on USEN's music site encore.
Zilqy's Anna Gets A Solo Interview And New Photo Shoot In "Ongaku To Hito", Out October 5
The magazine carries a solo interview exploring the roots of the vocalist's expression, with photographs shot for the feature.
Zilqy: A Solo Interview With Vocalist Anna Is Up On rockinon.com
Anna talks about her path so far, her present and the year leading to the first full-length album "Birth of Riot".
Zilqy Cover "WeROCK 115", Out October 15, With A 38-Page Feature Including A Focus On Debut Album "Birth of Riot"
The feature also includes a collaboration with the magazine's "Metal Joshi" series.
Zilqy: The “RUN” Music Video Airs Nine Times On Chiba TV’s “ONGAX” In October
The video is on the lineup of the 30-minute edition of the Chiba TV music-video programme “ONGAX”, which carries it nine times in October: the 1st, 8th and 15th at 25:00, the 2nd at 18:30, the 5th, 12th and 19th at 25:30, and the 29th and 30th at 22:30 JST, the slots past 24:00 falling in the small hours of the next day. “RUN” was the third advance track released from the band’s first album “Birth of Riot”.
Zilqy: Hina Aoki Added To The Bill For "DECEMBER'S CHILDREN" On December 21
Aoki follows Zilqy, who were announced as the first act on September 4, and further names are still to be revealed. The show is at Ebisu LIQUIDROOM and general ticket sales open at 10:00 on November 7.
Zilqy Make Their First Appearance On NHK WORLD JAPAN's 'J-MELO', Airing Four Times On October 4 And 5
The programme airs at 11:10 and 19:10 on October 4 and at 0:10 and 6:10 on October 5, Japan time. Viewers in Japan can watch the simulcast on the NHK WORLD JAPAN website, and the episode will be available on demand from October 4 to December 4.
Zilqy: Exclusive Anna Interview And New Photo Shoot In Rolling Stone Japan Vol.36, Out September 25
The interview covers the meaning behind the album title, the messages in individual songs, Anna's role as the band's lyricist and what sets Zilqy apart from other present-day metal bands. It is accompanied by a newly shot photo session.
Zilqy To Hold Release Events For Birth of Riot (General Edition) At Three TOWER RECORDS Stores On November 7, 8 And 29
The events are for the general edition out October 7 (DCCA-183): Shinjuku on November 7, Shibuya on November 8 and Umeda NU Chayamachi on November 29. Buying the album at those three stores comes with an event entry ticket.
Current Members
Current lineup verified from the official artist source on 2026-07-10. Official profile
Albums
Zilqy's first full-length album: ten songs, every lyric by Anna, mixed and mastered by Lance Prenc, including “World's End”, “CAVEAT” and “RUN”.
Zilqy’s first EP, presenting the Japanese all-female metal band’s post-melodic nu-metal identity with global ambition.