Japan Metal & Hard Rock Albums of the 2020s - Page 2

A live album from the band's London show — and the record whose release moved their Japanese home to IYT RECORDS.

East Of Eden’s debut EP, placing violin and heavy rock on equal footing while introducing the five musicians’ technique, melody and international ambition.

Between Dread and Valor compresses new songs, instrumentals and a re-recording into a special GALNERYUS release with the density of a short, sharp statement.

The major-label breakthrough that expands Harajuku-core through space, games, escape, everyday anxiety and rebirth, establishing HANABIE. on an international scale.

The self-released debut EP — the first five songs put out by a band that had already been invited to a festival in India before it had any recordings at all.

A second EP arriving barely five months after the first, its five songs — from “Inside” to “My Breath” — each issued in turn as official audio.

A tense digital single that turns the decision to end a damaging cycle into heavy rock momentum and emotionally direct vocals.

A melodic digital single that holds onto a shared sense of “blue” and future possibility while the band moves through change.

Judgement Day introduces LOVEBITES with Fami in the lineup and drives forward with speed, precise ensemble playing and big melodic payoff.

A cover EP that rebuilds songs by Metallica, System of a Down, Slipknot and Limp Bizkit through NEMOPHILA’s own attack.

The third digital single, closing the band's first year; its video passed 110,000 plays within a fortnight of going up.

A three-song first digital single put out barely two months after the band began playing; the free headline show that month drew over a hundred people.

A three-song second digital single arriving six months after the band started; all three songs went on to later records.

STMLT’s six-track debut EP, joining the group’s accessible video-creator identity with heavy loud-rock and metal arrangements built for the live stage.

A five-track EP that turns the act of pulling a dream into reality into loud-rock force, bright melody and future-facing momentum.

A one-track digital single issued on 1 April 2023. The song had been written for the singer Tokoyami Towa under sponsorship by Nissin's Yakisoba U.F.O.; this is Unlucky Morpheus playing it themselves, the band whose Shiren composed it and whose Fuki wrote the words.

A 2022 EP that lives up to its title, unleashing the band’s technical rock energy through compact, immediate songs.

The third and last of the avex albums, carried into a SUMMER SONIC 2022 appearance; guitarist MOE joined after it.

Dir En Grey's eleventh album, released on 15 June 2022: eleven tracks running 53:45.

HAGANE’s first full-length album, expanding the band’s twin-guitar sparkle, speed, heavy riffs and dramatic storytelling.

Lonesome_Blue’s first pre-debut single, joining ominous tension, heavy rhythm and a large melody to announce the band’s arrival.

A pre-album single that turns the decision to confront fear into sharp riffs, forceful rhythm and a large melodic chorus.

Lonesome_Blue’s debut EP joins voice-actor expression and professional rock musicianship through metal, progressive detail and pop melody.

A pre-debut single featuring Ayasa, expanding Lonesome_Blue’s sound through psychedelic color, violin and progressive movement.

Lonesome_Blue’s first full-length album joins loud rock, metal and progressive detail to strong, immediate melodies.

A second album capturing NEMOPHILA’s international momentum through heavy riffs, wide melodies and an unrestricted mixture.

A five-track EP centered on “CRY OUT,” moving between heavy confrontation, playful tension and a more lyrical sense of connection.

The second re-recording EP, rebuilding earlier material through TRiDENT’s current trio sound across five songs of impulse, resistance, utopia and renewal.

The fourth album, distributed by Disk Union on 27 April 2022. It carries an album version of "“M” Revolution", the digital single from 2021, and four of its songs — "Amaryllis", "Welcome to Valhalla", "The Black Death Mansion Murders" and "“M” Anthem" — were given music videos. Ten tracks.

A three-song single — the title track with "火花" and "Corallium" — all three of which carried over to the following year’s EP Unleash.

An album that sharpens both aggression and melody, presenting BAND-MAID’s musicianship on a world-class hard-rock scale.

The second avex album — twelve songs, followed three weeks later by a European edition on Setsuzoku Records.

Union Gives Strength gathers Galneryus's dramatic melody, complex development and virtuosic playing into one record with a strong sense of unity.

The first full album turns miso soup, dating apps, sweets and obsessive everyday life into a reform manifesto powered by metalcore and electronic color.

Sunburst, released on 29 December 2021, marks the band's fortieth anniversary. It is their first double album and the first record issued on their own label, Katana Music; earMUSIC released it worldwide in 2022.

A four-song mini-album finished under the pandemic, and the most openly positive record the band has made.

A fan-voted best-of spanning 2017 to 2021, closing on "Nameless Warrior" — the last song the original line-up recorded.

An international early compilation collecting NEMOPHILA’s three independent singles plus an English version of “DISSENSION.”

NEMOPHILA’s debut album, rebuilding its early independent songs into a worldwide statement of the band’s “hellishly heavy, otherwise fluffy” sound.

TRiDENT’s first full album after the name change, establishing the trio’s restart, future-facing outlook and physical intensity across twelve tracks.

A three-track EP that imagines emerging above ground through forward motion, the clarity after rain and a quieter moment of reflection.

A five-track re-recording EP that rebuilds songs from the band’s earlier era as future-facing music for the three-member TRiDENT lineup.

A three-track EP that turns confinement and survival into low-end weight, urgent speed and a determined wake-up call.

Evoke 2010-2020 is the ALDIOUS decade-anniversary project, recasting the band's earlier songs with its current lineup, twin guitars and clear vocals.

Evoke II 2010-2020, the companion to Evoke 2010-2020, marks ten years of ALDIOUS by recasting its songs and familiar material in today's sound.

Explosive!! -studio jam- is credited to Anthem featuring Graham Bonnet and was released in 2020. It grew out of a friendship of more than twenty years: eight songs recorded in Tokyo, drawn in roughly equal measure from Anthem's own catalogue and from Bonnet's.

BABYMETAL’s first best-of collection, tracing ten years of transformation from early shock to global-scale metal spectacle.

Three tracks — the title song, "Don't be long" and an 89-second version — and the band's last single for Nippon Crown.

Released for the band’s twenty-fifth anniversary, Expansion reinforces BLINDMAN’s identity as a melodic and emotional hard-rock band with a stronger sense of ensemble.

HAGANE’s debut EP, condensing clear melody, speed and technical guitar work into a concise first statement.

Electric Pentagram shows Lovebites’ unity as a five-piece through both speed and drama.

The first single cut from Electric Pentagram, with two previously unreleased songs and an orchestral version alongside the title track.

Outrage's thirteenth album, out on 15 April 2020. Jay Ruston mixed it, and it closes with two tributes to the NWOBHM.

An original EP put into national distribution on 29 April 2020, its three songs built around Takiyashahime, the figure held to be the daughter of Taira no Masakado. The CD adds instrumental versions of all three for six tracks; the streaming release carries the three sung songs alone. The title track got a music video and "Tetsuou" a lyric video.

The third album, distributed by Disk Union on 29 July 2020. Six of its nine songs were given official films, more than any other Unlucky Morpheus record, and at Toyosu PIT the following year the band played all nine of them almost in album order.