GRANDPA METAL??? NINGEN ISU / Heartless Scat (人間椅子 / 無情のスキャット)

[@happycapy47]

They're one of the only bands keeping that classic guitar tone alive. The insane thing about them to me is how they kept the band alive for 20-25 years off sheer willpower before really breaking out. I feel like that's almost unheard of in metal.

[@dicodec]

Yeah that's pretty amazing. Just goes to show you that you can never give up.

[@davidornberg]

30 years. Got my Ningen Isu 30 years anniversary CD a couple of month ago. ;-)

[@Hunter-dextrodoomer]

Not really. You should check out underground bands. Especially doom bands is black sabbath is your thing.

[@velvetra29]

The guitarist, Shinji Wajima, once duel Kanami from Band-Maid in an educational kids show.

[@dicodec]

Nani? 😮 I must watch now!

[@gringopablo]

That was cool. There are 2 rounds of that "fight" Shinji vs Kanami 😁

[@wolfhound150]

@@dicodec Do a YT search on "kanami sound battle", It's from a Japanese kids morning TV show. It has english subtitles too.

[@hygog]

metal duel in education show for kids... how amazing

[@kekelaward]

That's why you get the kind of stuff that's coming out of Japan now. They have mandatory music classes for kids, so everyone knows something about music. Add the cultural pursuit of excellence and this is what you get.

[@justpanda7478]

Saw them live in their first out of Japan tour in February at the underworld London. My god what a band! 2 and half hours of some of the best metal Ive ever had the pleasure to hear. Amazing band, check out more of their stuff. Shabadabadia!

[@ClawCarver]

That was such a great gig! It was very fortunate that the band managed to do their international mini-tour before the pandemic shut down live shows. It would have been heartbreaking if they'd had to cancel.

[@justpanda7478]

@@ClawCarver I know we were so lucky that it went ahead, and the Babymetal show on the Sunday. Everything after that has been postponed sadly.

[@dicodec]

Oh wow! Sounds like a sick experience. So cool you got to see them!

[@justpanda7478]

@@dicodec that's was a crazy week of shows! Babymetal in Tilburg on the monday, ningen isu on the Friday and Babymetal London on the Sunday. Then covid cancelled all future shows.

[@ClawCarver]

I saw Babymetal in Glasgow on the Wednesday, Ningen Isu in London on the Friday. An amazing few days! I should have seen BM again in Utrecht last month, but of course it didn't happen. Today I got an email saying the Scandal tour that should have happened this September is postponed too. Grim times for live music, and everything else too.

[@ZeroFallout1]

They dressed up as school teacher, yakuza gangster, and undead monk. They been around for 30 years. Glad they seeing more success now. Hope you guys listen to more of their songs.

[@dicodec]

Oh wow they've been around for quite some time. Looks like we missed out on those points in the band's history. We will check out more for sure!

[@autohmae]

@@dicodec They had their first outside of Japan shows this year, in Europe, 2 shows (Germany and UK). And a post on the US Billboard chart website how KZbin helped them become more famous in recent years. Kind of 'going viral' after almost 30 years of doing what they are doing. The only member change is the drummer who is fairly new over a decade if I'm not mistaken. LOL I would recommend: Namahage live.

[@zoerosales891]

Facts: This band is over 30 years in the music scene of japan. curiously this band remained underground in japan until 2013

[@johnnylaroux9517]

"The band played at the Ozzfest 2013, hosted by Ozzy Osbourne, which they as Black Sabbath fans felt honored by. And after that, they have got more and more fans." - Source awemighty wiki

[@dicodec]

Oh wow, that's crazy 😯

[@kekelaward]

Compared to J Pop, Metal has always been "underground" in Japan. Hence Kobayashi's attempt to meld the two with BabyMetal. Which seems to have gone pretty well

[@itsarchie1261]

_Alan describes a perfectly crafted vintage metal rhythm tone as "Kinda weak"_ *Me:* Why do you say these things Alan?

[@dicodec]

I don’t know, I like a lot of 70s bands tones better. Steppen Wolf, Boston, Rush, genesis, and foghat are some of my favorite tones from that era of “perfectly crafted vintage tones”

[@robertrijkers4923]

@@dicodec don't those bands have twice the number of guitars? ;p

[@puffdadico6063]

The legend !! Never under estimate the grandpa metal from Japan since they have been around for more than 30 years. You’re right. Sabbath is still alive..

[@dicodec]

We sure did and boy were we wrong!

[@JoaoBosco-yd3ln]

More Ningen Isu, Namahage

[@dicodec]

You got it chief!

[@cyberpotato63]

They are very much a throwback to early 70's hard rock, metal, and progressive mixed with various forms of Japanese traditional music. Topics are Japanese classic literature and folklore, EDO period history and legends, western science fiction, H.P. Lovecraft, Buddhist themes. Very heavy Black Sabbath influence. Big King Crimson influence circa 1973 to 75. Musically, you could put them into a time machine and transported them to England in the early to mid 70's, before hard rock, metal, glam and progressive started to separate into clear genres. Although you would probably have a few cultural barriers with the language and cultural material.

[@cyberpotato63]

They don't have a lot of music videos, but there are a lot of live clips of them available on KZbin. Feel free to post both live and studio material. I've heard versions of a few things that were so different that I didn't recognize them as the same song right off the bat.

[@dicodec]

Very interesting analysis there chief!

[@cyberpotato63]

@@dicodec By the way Shinji Wajima the guitarist was born in Dec of 1965, so they aren't that terribly old. I think is the timeless sage look he's got going that makes him look ancient. The others are born in 1966. I'm a few years older than that, and I don't have the timeless sage look :-(

[@Xargantuan]

Saw them live in London, Awesome! More to react to: Color out of space Voice of nothing Namahage (live)

[@ClawCarver]

Yes, yes, and yes.

[@dicodec]

You got it!

[@NewAeonWarlord]

Ningen Isu! always AWESOME! :)

[@dicodec]

They are dope for sure!

[@rockonjapan454]

I was waiting for you to react Ningen Isu. Thank you for your reaction! They look older than they are, but they are 53/54 years old now. They have released 22 albums, 5 best albums and 2 live albums since their debut. Songs composed by them reached over 250. As you pointed out, their style is influenced by Black Sabbath. And sometimes they use the dialect and accent of Tsugaru district (Aomori prefecture) in their songs. The song 'Namahage' is sang in this way. For your information, Tsugaru/Aomori is a place where the guitarist Wajima Shinji (Wajī) and the bassist Suzuki Ken-ichi (Ken-chan) was born and bred. Heartless Scat (Mujō no Scat) is one song of their latest album 'Shin-Seinen(New Youth)'. This title comes from the old Japanese magazine published in 1920 (in1950, it was discontinued). This album has 14 songs. They are the largest number among all of their albums. Wajī composed 7songs, Ken-chan composed 6, and the drummer Nakajima Nobu (Nobu) composed only one (Jigoku Kozō/Hellish Kid). Nobu has composed one song per one album. Wajī wrote 10 lyrics, and the rest of them are written by Ken-chan in Shin-Seinen. Wajī studied Buddhism at Komazawa university. So he has often written lyrics regarding it. And he likes to read profound books, for example, philosophy books and classical literature etc. So 5 song titles and contents come from books in this album. On the other hand, lyrics written by Ken-chan are mostly related to hell. IMO, they associates to the old Japanese arts about hell. So there are many themes in one album of Ningen Isu. The limited first edition of this album has the DVD titled 'The path to Shin-Seinen '. Its contents are their recording situation and one-to-one conversations by the members. According to them, Heartless Scat is too long, so it took 2 days to record. Wajī made 100 riffs for this album, but he finally adopted only 10. And he was moved to tears at his home alone when he made a nice guitar solo part for the song 'Kagami Jigoku (The Hell of Mirrors)'. How pure he is! Each member of Ningen Isu gives details of this music video with English subtitles on their KZbin official channel. If you are interested in them, you should watch them. They released a new song ’Mugen no Jūnin Butō-Hen (Blade of The Immortal Battle series)’limited to distribution services 3 days ago. It is the theme song for the same title anime 'Mugen no Jūnin (Blade of The Immortal)' season 2. It is a good song too. They have many nice ballads. I hope you will keep checking Ningen Isu and listen to their albums!

[@dicodec]

Oh wow! That's quite a lot of info. Thank you for the crash course in Ningen Isu my friend! 🤘

[@rockonjapan454]

@@dicodec You are welcome! Thank you for reading such long sentences!

[@Kiiroihana-e5s]

@@rockonjapan454 英語できる方が人間椅子の事を説明してくれる事がありがたくてしかたないです！！

[@kekelaward]

They would be so stoked to hear your praise. Their biggest influence is Sabbath.

[@ClawCarver]

"Grandpa metal" indeed! Why, you young whippersnappers, I oughta...!! For your information, the members of Ningen Isu are actually younger than the likes of Hetfield, Ulrich, Mustaine, Marty Friedman, Tom Araya, and Kerry King. (Is Slayer "grandpa metal" now? Surely not.) But you're absolutely right that Ningen Isu's main musical influences are heavy rock bands of the late '60s and the '70s: Hendrix, Sabbath, Crimson, Budgie, Motorhead, etc. Lyrically, they favour fairly erudite themes, especially Japanese literature but also Western horror writers like Poe and Lovecraft. They have a ton of great songs, including The Colour Out of Space, Namahage, Lovers' Suicide in Shinagawa, and Life for Sale. In February this year they played their first gigs outside Japan in 30 years of existence. I saw them in a 500-capacity venue in London and it was a tremendous show with an amazing atmosphere. I don't know who was happier to be there, the audience or the band. Anyway, enough talk. Time for you kids to get off my lawn!!

[@dicodec]

Everyone was calling it that hahahha so that is why we were like ?????? I hear Black Sabbath kinda vibes from them and couldn’t agree more that they have like a 70s feel.

[@johnnylaroux9517]

on da uTube one can search and watch "BAND-MAID KANAMI vs 人間椅子 和嶋慎治 Round 2"

[@johnnylaroux9517]

@@paulwilson7989 ....aHeart warning Redemption in 'Victory' for the Heartless Scat it was... iWas touched, right in da feels, and KANAMI was a great Sport in it all.....

[@dicodec]

Oh my gosh I've gotta see this!

[@TheNibuchin]

shabadabadia〜🤘

[@dicodec]

Babababa!!

[@hotbuzzard]

Excellent song. Try the track Namahage. I think you’ll like it.

[@dicodec]

Alright dope! We will give it a listen.

[@nahuelalvarez3171]

Yes, other excelent and dark song!!

[@dragonvert3633]

Namahage, yes! IMO live version is better for that song and you can see not only fingers but steps of the guitarist Wajima are still agile on stage.

[@HensleyDon]

The first listenin is almost guaranteed to leave you with an earworm.

[@william221221]

Lyrics in this song is really about the tragedy of man’s life. Better to watch it with Eng subtitles. Nice reaction!

[@dicodec]

There were subtitles but we realized too late. We will still look up the lyrics though .

[@dragonslayer5809]

"There's still hope for us" hahahahahhahahaa

[@dicodec]

Hahaha 😂

[@starlightmm]

Its sound really that fuzzy, its because they are trio. To make sound more rich in ears with only 3 people on band. Is that make sense for you? A lot of trio band, I think doing that kind of strategy.

[@dicodec]

Mmm, Rush has an amazing rhythm and lead tone.

[@jacobwaits3559]

Actually gotten Ningen Isu as recommended after MtH

[@1957akash]

"Ningen Isu"("human chair") is from a weird story by Rampo Edogawa (this name is a pun from Edgar Allan Poe - Japanese name is family name first). I hope you have a chance to read some translation (it's pretty pervert!)

[@dicodec]

Oh wow, thank you for that information. We definitely need to look more into the translations in our reactions.

[@Dragon-Believer]

@@dicodec - The cool thing about the lyrics is that they are asking Buddha for help saying that they have never had success. This song gave them success after 34 years and over 20 albums. They were touring Europe for the first time until Corona.

[@nocturnal277]

I like his guitar solo, especially the first part.

[@dicodec]

Same here!

[@DixyRae]

If you check out Colour Out of Space, which you should, don't miss the lyrics.

[@dicodec]

We will keep and eye out for sure.

[@fastskipper777]

The MV has English subtitle.

[@dicodec]

I know we realized that waaaaaay to late

[@shawnadams1460]

Considering they have been rocking for over 30 years, their style makes me think of Sabbath, but also Tool. I hear they are coming to the states, if so I WILL be there!!

[@dicodec]

True, heck yeah if they come to the states that would be awesome.

[@davidornberg]

Asterism /Rising Moon is Jawdropping! (instrumental)

[@dicodec]

Sounds fire! I will add it to the list.

[@FinneousPJ1]

Dude on the right hates it but dude on the left gets it

[@dicodec]

Yeah pretty much haha.

[@ThispodcastisriggedwithJWRiggs]

One day you should come to Memphis for a concert!

[@dicodec]

We would be more than happy to!

[@海ちゃん-h7j]

I have a request. Ask them once. king Gnu Hakujitu king Gnu - 白日

[@dicodec]

We will react to it!

[@Hunter-dextrodoomer]

Guy on the right has obviously never heard much doom metal. His notes about the fuzzy guitar and heavy bass are my favorite qualities of doom.

[@dicodec]

Alan's is extremely picky when it comes to guitar tones fam. You're right though in pretty sure he hasn't heard any doom metal.

[@caggw204]

More Ningen isu, Namahage!!

[@dicodec]

Of course! We will check it out. 🤘

[@カンチ-d1w]

ホルモン、BABYMETAL、人間椅子...なんかまさに日本だから出来たメタルバンド達のラインナップだなぁ。かなりいいチョイスだと思う。正直、人間椅子聴いたら他の日本のメタルバンドは洋メタル劣化版みたいなの多いから聴かなくてもいい。

[@dragonvert3633]

Versaillesも、『ベルばら』と宝塚のある日本だからこそできたメタルバンドだと思うぞｗ

[@motohirosato7370]

八八は別格

[@zoerosales891]

Guys i want the reaction of versailles. Please guys is a awesome band

[@johnnylaroux9517]

V Versailles

[@dicodec]

I've got it on the list. Hopefully we can get to it very soon!

[@Vitericus1]

@@dicodec My Fav of all-time. I'd recommend "Ascendead Master" or "Aristocrat's Symphony" first though before going into "Faith and Decision" Everyone always recommends that one. Great song, but not best representative of their overall style.

[@suguruji9994]

今の鈴木のleadvocalの曲があれば聴いてみたい

[@kgroovr]

On the left,, cool dude, would rock with. On the right, dullard, avoid or punch out.

[@いっちゃんバブバブ]

I knew you would understand. guitarist guy respects Black Sabbath.

[@silverseto1158]

Namahage next by them.

[@dicodec]

For sure man!

[@juantakito9620]

I heard about this band like 3 Wells ago they are awesome

[@dicodec]

Most definitely!

[@zenbra_deutsch3500]

NINGEN ISU is the precursor of Metal in Japan, they're doing it for over 30 years. Though Babymetal atracted attention to Metal in Japan and people discovered Ningen Isu, I knew them because I love many things in Asian culture and in the 80's there were successful Japanese bands that called attention to the Metal there too. But just now NINGEN ISU is getting the status of legend of Japanese Metal it's due to them. React to "The Colour Out Of Space". PS: Guitarist is dressed as a Master Meijei, bass player is a death-touched Budhist monk and the drummer is dressed as an Yakuza member.

[@dicodec]

So dope! Gotta give these guys their proper respect for sure. Excited to hear more so thanks doe the suggestion. Also thanks for breaking down their clothing for us, really cool!

[@basaramasara4797]

Eric you learned some Japanese??) I heard you said ojiichan:)

[@dicodec]

Hahaha you're the only one who caught that. Well spotted. 😂

[@dragonvert3633]

@@dicodec Well, not a few Japanese would catch that, like me. I wonder from where did you get that word.

[@bobbywinkler9455]

You know ever since Beavis and Butthead came out it's a lot of fun to listen to two guys talk about something hahaha hahaha who do you think is the oldest these guys or the metal groups from over here how about AC/DC Metallica Black Sabbath iron maiden Judas priest I bet they're all about the same age, these guys might be younger

[@robertwalker1039]

formed 1987

[@Wirmish]

22 albums

[@dicodec]

Oh wow!

[@johalareewi]

If you are missing japanese rock bands with women, check out Trident. They have a new drummer who is more kick ass than their previous drummer. Latest MV is Continue.

[@dicodec]

Sick! Always down for something new. I'll add it to the list.

[@fishermantom5424]

人間(ningen)→human,椅子(isu)→chair

[@dicodec]

Ah I see. Very interesting band name indeed.

[@autohmae]

@@dicodec The U in Isu is silent, so if you want to do it correctly you need to leave it off, as I understand it.

[@アサヒ-v2t]

please watch ’恐怖の大王（kyofu no daio）’ this songs guitar solo is very nice

[@dicodec]

We will do it!

[@アサヒ-v2t]

Dicodec English name is "great king of terror" have fun !

[@HappyTinfoilCat]

The first part of the song reminds me strongly of something.... It's been bugging me for weeks and I still haven't been able to find it in my music collection. Please, somebody, for the love of God tell me what that is.

[@dicodec]

Hhhmmm....🤔

[@kurtn4819]

Way to make the song as "un-enjoyable" as possible. You paused at nearly every critical transition with mostly meaningless comments. I know you feel you have to comment all the time being a reaction vid, but your disdain was apparent. Yeah, they're kind of a novelty act (like a cover-band with all busty girl band members) and yeah they're heavily influenced by Black Sabbath and such, but they started at the same time as all the classic bands, and their skill is undeniable, their tone is true to the original genre and the song is a masterpiece of composition with an impressive array of good twists & turns. All in all a masterful piece. PS. I'm only keeping the sub because of the other guy. ;) Another good example of their work is "The Color Out Of Space"

[@borntraitor289]

Wajima is but a babe at a spry 54

[@dicodec]

We had no idea he was that young. We retract our rude assumption of his age.

[@dragonvert3633]

@@dicodec Well, I think he looks a little bit older than he is, even to eyes of us Japanese. And the drummer Nobu looks a little bit younger than he is. Surprising is that they are only one year age difference.

[@dananthus]

Check out Strike! by Whispered. Japanese Folk Metal is a whole badass vibe.

[@dicodec]

If it's anything remotely similar to Ningen then we are down!

[@depressiveverekas8919]

lets hv some 陰陽座(Onmyo za), eg 邪魅の抱擁 , 鳳翼天翔, 月に叢雲花に風..mixed both male and female vocals

[@dicodec]

Oh, no way? Yeah we can check it out!

[@sainlovesluppi487]

These guys are all in there 50s if you believe it or not

[@dicodec]

Oh wow, I was way off haha

[@soulfulbread]

Will you do a DAVID BORING reaction?

[@dicodec]

Possibly 🙂

[@Darktemplar101]

Do falling by the gazette

[@dicodec]

Heck yeah we will do it!

[@brucey39]

Hot Rice Rock

[@CoolClearWaterNM]

My grand daughter introduced me to this group about 30 years ago, so I guess I'll give the grandpa metal thing a pass.

[@oneinfinity]

How is this a weak guitar tone? This shit is heavy as fuck!

[@christopherjohnferrer3771]

"saba-sabado iho kain papa!" I just made that up.. Wait where's Chowder, the three Studious isn't complete 😜/,,/🔥🎸👍🎌✌ Yeah they were right you should watch Wajima vs Kanami battle, it's fun 😀

[@dicodec]

Lol! Who is chowder? OMG I must watch that battle!

[@bortwater6755]

こいんどはんぱでねね！

[@gringopablo]

Is this song too long for a reaction? 😏 Yes, they're big Black Sabbath's fans. 🤘

[@dicodec]

It wasn't long enough! Ah dope! I guess Alan was right on that part.

[@juanselainez9828]

Grandpa Metal? Show some respect.

[@AA-ck4lx]

Lyrics are not important to you guys?? You should listen with subtitles on

[@dicodec]

The lyrical content does matter to us. We just forget to turn them on. Apologies.

[@koiyokan5194]

React to dir en grey vinushka please

[@dicodec]

I've got them on the list chief. We've been swamped with request so we will do it as soon as we can. 🤘❤

[@yuudikleonata1148]

You only mention the guitar face, how about the bass face in the video? 😂

[@dicodec]

Haha you right! I noticed it when scrubbing through the video for the thumbnail photo.😂 -Eric

[@gatling216]

I hate to be the contrarian, but I don't really care for this one. None of the individual parts are bad- far from it. They're all amazing musicians, and the vocals are unique. Overall though, the song just doesn't really go anywhere. I like longer songs, but for me at least, they need to feel like they're building to something. If I had to offer an example, I'd point to Justice For St Mary by Diablo Swing Orchestra. It starts off melancholy, but builds in menace over the course of its runtime until it just explodes into a cacophony of violence and madness. Metaphorically speaking, of course.

[@dicodec]

I completely agree-Alan

[@autohmae]

It's a bit odd song to be one of the best known, it's like Gimme Chocolate for Babymetal. The most views, a good song, but maybe not their best according to a good chunk of the fans.

[@cyberpotato63]

If I was going to rank the song among the 150 or so clips I have seen, I would put it in the bottom third (maybe toward the top of the bottom third). I'm not complaining. It's a solid song, but there is a huge amount of better stuff. As far a I know, no one is having problems reposting their material. You will need a little help with the Japanese titles though.

[@dicodec]

I feel you man. It was a dope song for sure! We've gotten quite a bit of request to do that song so we just went for it. We enjoyed it though.

[@フルーツぶどう-h8q]

機械打ち込むの劣化グラミー賞のレベルで、上から目線で評価するんじゃない。

[@Number-one1111]

右側の男は興味無さそうですなｗ

[@dragonvert3633]

いちはやくサバスの影響を聴き取ったのは彼じゃなかったか

[@vipulchavan1320]

Too much pausing on the best parts

[@SubiSkill]

I thought Japan X were the pioniers, or at least they took japanese metal abroad

[@tiaopiak]

X Japan formed at 1982 while Ningen Isu was 1987. Both are pioneer in a sense. But X-Japan was apically humongous in Japan while Ningen Isu is respected but was never financially successful. Only with Mandoro (萬燈籠; Ten Thousand Garden Lanterns) (2013) album that they started to rise in Japan,

[@davidornberg]

The all female hardrock band Show-Ya started 1985 and the all female "punkpop" band Shonen Knife started 1981 and still playing!

[@dicodec]

We have no idea. We are very uninformed in such things. I just remember what I read in our comment section. -Eric

[@william221221]

There are much more rock/metal band before X Japan like Vowwow, loudness.

[@rebel131313]

@@davidornberg A little correction for you Show-Ya founded in 1981. The group disbanded in 1998, but reformed with the original line-up in 2005 and are still playing to this day, in the 80s and 90s they toured extensively in the U.S.A. and worked with band like Vixen, Lita Ford, Led Zeppelin, Rolling Stones, Alice Cooper and others they are a very good band and no what they are doing.