History of Japanese Metal Part 4 - Rise of All-Female Metal Bands

[@ablazesyba3675]

just a couple of months before you presented this, a metalcore band Crystal Lake suddenly became our ace with one single masterpiece and started a new chapter on our history - Reign of modern metal.

[@woosta1]

Nice job! That's a solid review of Japanese hard rock and metal's foundation.

[@birdup6663]

I think Destrose and Cyntia should have been mentioned. Both bands were VERY important in the earlier years of the current scene.

[@jonsummerville9022]

Of course Sir Christopher Lee is METAL!!! He taught Peter Jackson about what it looks like when you slit someone's throat because of his experiences with the SOI/OSS during WWII...I got to be his escort at one of the last conventions he attended and we were able to bond over our shared experiences (I was a member of the winning team during the last "Professional Hide and Seek game" in East Berlin in October of 1989)...we also talked about music (I'm a late 1st generation Punk...half my sitters in the 70's introduced me to bands like The Clash, Ramones, Sex Pistols etc while the other half introduced me to REM, B-52's, Kraftwerk, Blondie and other New Wave bands) I was also good friends with Dave Brockie (rip) and the rest of GWAR...the Caiafa brothers and other bands that played in Atlanta during the early to mid 90's...while Sir Christopher was a fan of Power Metal, but we bonded and I had the privilege of swapping Christmas and Birthday cards (even for my wife and son) until he passed...but yes Sir Christopher was Metal and was idolized by many Metal groups, judging by the tributes given to him

[@chimchim95serendipity18]

Where is lovebites and bridear ? :(

[@Wordsfrommyfaceofficial]

Lovebites had only recently released their first album by the time this panel was presented in late 2017, and as this was an overview of the whole history of metal in about 80 mins, we unfortunately couldn't go over everyone. In the version of the panel we did this year with 110 mins to work with, we do talk about them though (sorry, those videos aren't up at this time). Bridear we also talk about in a recent panel dedicated to Female Japanese Metal Bands, among many other bands that were not mentioned in this panel (sorry again, that panel is not online at this time).

[@hazwanhashimhjibrahim]

Aldious!

[@gabrielszarose5640]

Lovebites, Destrose, Cyntia, Aldious, Ganglion.------ May well be, the best Femetalist!

[@micv8734]

TELECiDE is my fav!

[@michaelmunno]

thanks for posting, awesome to see this. I'd love to see a similar video about Stereopony, Scandal and Band-Maid. (all-female j-rock bands)

[@Julesrassicpark]

A bit disappointed you didn't mention Mari Hamada (or Terra Rosa) at all, but i get there was probably a time constraint. AMAZING job overall!

[@mogaman28]

What's better than all female japanese metal band? An all milf japanese metal band!!! Show-ya!

[@Julesrassicpark]

This is all kinds of wrong.

[@Buzzramjet]

CHECKOUT LOVEBITES. Serious POWER METAL all girl bands. Songs are Shadowmaker and Don't Bite The Dust.

[@theseed6668]

No Galmet....

[@hironanase20122012]

Baby metal is not an all female band！all of their music are produced by their all male backing band. Baby metal is a metal idol group. They only got one vocal. The other two girls are dancer. If you really want to know more about Japanese metal history, don’t just go the web and find information. You should live in Japan for some months even several years. Firstly you should know more about Japanese culture and how their entertainment industry works. Moreover, you should interview some of their record labels even the metal bands in Japan. You will know what metal be going on in Japan.😓

[@reyc9192]

It's a heavy pop rock band similar to those 80s disco-rock, but with heavy metal backing.

[@Buzzramjet]

There is also BRIDEAR, BAND MAID, MARY'S BLOOD...I mean they are taking over and the idiot rock and metal stations here in the States REFUSE to play any of it.

[@Wordsfrommyfaceofficial]

Yep, there are a huge number of bands in this trend (lovebites, Destrose, Cyntia, A drop of Joker, and many more). But yea, it's very hard for a foreign band to get any play on the radio in the U.S. Some have tried pretty hard, but not many have succeeded.

[@jonsummerville9022]

I know one of the DJ's for Wrek-age Georgia Tech's long running (almost 30 years) metal show...go to their website Wrekage.org and ask them and they'll play it...I know that Paul (one of the DJ's) also does spmething with the 70,000 pounds of Metal cruise...

[@micv8734]

Buzzramjet amen!!! The stations in the U.S. suck!!

[@yugoxgc]

So basically Japanese Ladies have always been slaying in the metal game

[@allanmoger1838]

1981.... 2007. That's 26 years. Most of the girls weren't even 5 in 1981. Show Ya are really relevant to today's bands ONLY in their mentor-ship and as an influence. - They aren't really metal either. You have also missed the absolutely most important band in this genre - Destroya, who became Destrose. Missing them out is like forgetting Motorhead because they weren't as big as Maiden.

[@Grington300]

An interesting and informative talk, thanks. However, I think you were a little too dismissive of Babymetal's backing band as simply playing "metal background music" to idol vocals and many would argue you were also less than accurate in saying the focus is "more than a little" on the pop than the metal side. This was probably true of a couple of their earlier releases, when they were still a sub-group of Sakura Gakuin, such as Doki Doki Morning and Gimme Chocolate (many people don't bother watching any more after seeing those because they are the most viewed videos - at which point they decide it is pretty much idol songs with background metal, much as you described it, which is a real shame as they are missing out on some excellent music, musicianship and entertainment) and does happen to a degree in one or two of the second album's tracks, but since the backing band (aka The Kami Band) made their first appearances in 2012 and then became a permanent feature at all live shows since 2013 or 2014 even those more 'pop/idol' songs have become more 'metal' when played live. Indeed if it were the case they are more pop than idol, in 2014 they would not have had a crowd of circa 60,000 metalheads who either didn't have a clue who they were or at worst some of whom had been prepared to throw bottles and worse at them, at their first appearance outside of Asia at a major metal festival in the UK forming mosh/circle pits during their set on the main stage, cheering them off and calling for "one more song" at the end. You are right that the main focus is on the girls and their vocals (and dancing), that is who Babymetal are of course, but the Kami Band is also considered an integral part of Babymetal and they do a lot more than anonymously provide a vague metal background sound with drums and distorted guitars to pop songs. The Kami Band's members are well known to and revered by Babymetal fans and they also get to show off their talents during live shows with solos and instrumentals within or as introductions to some songs. This really is a fusion of the two genres, not just two opposing things thrown together or laid one over the other. Can I respectfully suggest it will be worth your while watching live versions of at least a couple of these tracks: - Rondo of Nightmare with the Mischiefs of the Metal Gods Intro; Babymetal Death; Tales of the Destinies; Sis. Anger. There are many more tracks that would illustrate my point, but listing them all would add nothing more ... and perhaps having watched one or two of those you may feel more inclined to explore others for yourself anyway. One more point concerning your statement about Babymetal being bigger outside of Japan. This may be completely true, I don't claim to know any better, but from their humble beginnings as a sub-group of Sakura Gakuin and their headline act debut in a venue the size of a broom cupboard they have gone on to become the youngest band (to date) to headline The Budokan. They have also sold out numerous big arenas in Japan such as the Saitama Super Arena and two consecutive nights at Tokyo Dome with 55,000 people attending on each night where no song from the first night was repeated on the second, so two completely different play lists. Sorry for the wall of text, my only intention is to be constructive and to add what little I am able to your otherwise well-researched information.

[@timgove5337]

Many hired guns came thru Kami Band, tho the stable/last one worked together separately. Musicianshipwise I agree, they are way better than ok, world class, & not only in metal. Tales of Destinies alone shows that, or try Boh’s Bass Playing Demonstration or MikioFujioka covering Holdsworth... BM’s Tales Destinies live: kzbin.info/www/bejne/aIHTeJmXlrCch7M

[@r01dtox15]

I think in Japan, music is for girls and sports are for boys, and only girly-boys play music. That's why all their school bands orchestra, marching, jazz, rock, etc. (Pre-K to HS) are 90% to 95% girls.

[@soulexchangemusic]

why do you dislike re:no? i prefer re:no over rami because to be the rami era does not stand out to me sound wise, also i feel the re:no era is more diverse and definitive by incorporating other music styles like Nu metal, Industrial Metal, Goth metal. also i like re:nos vocals more they just have this very clear sound that sounds elegant and she can add slight distortion to add a punch to her delivery, and i think she has great range (i love especially how deep her voice gets). plus they now have Maria Bozzo as their drummer the daughter of Tarry Bozzo (Korn, Frank Zappa) . plus i dont think re:no previously doing pop makes it bad for her to suddenly join a metal band,several Ex Idols are front woman for metal bands like Band-maid and Cyntia.

[@MisakaMikotoLuv]

You Missed the best one, BANDMAID!

[@Wordsfrommyfaceofficial]

Unfortunately, our time was limited, so we couldn't cover that many bands for this section. We may later this year do a panel focusing on All-Female Metal bands that will have time to go over more bands.

[@MisakaMikotoLuv]

Words From My Face check out their live concert videos, there's a few in KZbin. You'll be blown away ;)

[@hironanase20122012]

MisakaMikotoLuv but I think BandMaid music is more likely pop Rock. It can not put into the metal genre.

[@iqbalmuhammad2920]

Bandmaid is primarily a *rock* band, not metal. Even though some of their songs have some elements that are close to metal. But yeah, no. They don't belong here.

[@quyphuongtay]

a lot girl metal band missed, some idiots in internet review to reaction people that babymetal, doll$boxx, ... is good recommend band, after seeing that reaction people don't want to react with another girl bands because it's enough for them, so this guys missing a lot gems in this video...

[@CrowsRevenge1]

I wouldn't recommend doll$boxx as a way to get people into this. That is just a throwaway project. We got really lucky with the second album considering the entire project was just suppose to be a one time deal. I'd recommend Gacharric Spin instead.

[@yugoxgc]

BTW you guys aren't giving enough credit to Kami band. Babymetal may have started with just a background backing nothing metal band but they didn't get really amazing kicking open the internal gates for current bands until Kamiband became their part of Babymetal sound. The Idol cute theme is only half of their strength. Although funny enough Babymetal really only exist cause of the Lead vocalist. She is literally the main reason Babymetal was made at all

[@beepbeep4287]

i clicked like so fast

[@autohmae]

How ironic ?: Show-Ya got an idol producer to work with a rock/metal group. Babymetal got a rock/metal/visual key producer to work with idols. Honestly, I think Japan really doesn't care much about these genre boundaries.

[@Wordsfrommyfaceofficial]

They clearly don't care as much as some other places, but they do seem to care. They just also like when things that are very different are thrown together, because they seem so different. But, big companies don't care, they just want money, so I guess there is that.

[@zam023]

They do care actually. What Japanese music creators like to do is experiment with mixing genres and see what comes out of it. If you don't try you won't know what will happen. In 2016 there was a live show called Double Color which had the idea of collaborating rock bands with idol groups.

[@uwuloluwu]

no remi had real health issue now her replacement has health issue also and they have just finished their final tour before lead singer goes hiatus unknown health issue no babymetal is the biggest atm both japan and world i have seen last bands few music vids

[@jamesk4460]

Which western media that said babymetal started it all ? Cos all the media write just babymetal as the first idol pop mixed with heavy metal girl band , there's no media write about babymetal as the first japanese all female metal band

[@Wordsfrommyfaceofficial]

Right, the line wasn't clear about what we were referring to I guess. We weren't saying the claim is they are the first all-female metal band, but rather that they started this particular recent trend of the huge popularity of all-female Japanese bands from the last 10 years or so, and variations on the claim like that they started Kawaii metal while including bands like Aldious as members of that 'genre' and such. There were several sources making such claims back when we were doing the research for this, but hopefully more outlets have a better history at this point.

[@tylim9623]

Here's how I think BABYMETAL started the "trend" of exposing the Japan girl bands to the world. 1. BABYMETAL video goes viral (either through word-of-mouth, youtube suggestion, FBE....) 2. Then those who watch it, fall into two types; 3. one type watch and just stay on this group, or 4. another type got curious about the music scene behind BABYMETAL, and start to search for more similar groups 5. which leads to discovery of Japan girl bands, like BAND-MAID, Doll$Boxx etc, 6. which in turn increase those girl bands' youtube viewcounts & comments, 7. and with higher viewcounts leads to more chances of getting into KZbin suggestion corner, 8. thus through the KZbin suggestion, more viewers are exposed to these Japan girl bands that's how for these few years, those Japan girl bands' popularity get a boost in the west.

[@zam023]

LOL even that is wrong. Death Rabbits and other underground metal-pop groups were already on the scene before Babymetal.

[@tylim9623]

Isn't Death Rabbits formed in 2013 ? I think the pioneers of idol pop-metal are BiS and BABYMETAL, both in 2010, whereas BiS is an underground group on its own, BM is just a sub-unit within an idol group Sakura Gakuin.

[@mg4869]

BABYMETAL spun off from Sakura Gakuin in 2013, after Suzuka Nakamoto (SU-METAL) graduated. It still exists in name only as a SG sub-unit, but has no members and is considered defunct.

[@Julesrassicpark]

It's so tragic how bands (show-ya, loudness) shamelessly replace the vocalist with an american to get more popularity. Makes my blood boil, really.

[@donkorte80]

kieko seems to be enjoying fronting for gacharic spin on occasion as teradaric spin...

[@Julesrassicpark]

what! that is absolutely brilliant :D

[@yuggg]

You guys should do a part two to this because there are so many more all female metal bands in Japan today. The newest and one of my new favorite bands is Lovebites. Members of this band are from three other rock and metal bands.

[@Wordsfrommyfaceofficial]

Yep, there's a huge number of All-female (and female fronted, mostly female members, etc) Japanese metal bands right now (and in the past). We may decide to do a panel dedicated exclusively to looking at these bands to give this topic more attention (we may also revise this whole History panel to make it longer and more detailed in the future as well).

[@Sabundy]

yuggg you are so right dude. LOVEBITES are damn amazing.

[@Sabundy]

Words From My Face what I'm wondering is if this wave of all female Japanese metal bands will truly break internationally...... Some of them are just so good and Aldious 's most recent album.... Especially a song like "we are" has real international marketability imho...... I'm wondering what you guys think?

[@Wordsfrommyfaceofficial]

I think they have made some headway in other markets, outside the U.S. at least. A few have had attention and been able to do shows in the U.S. even already. There's potential of things getting bigger, but this particular trend has been going on for about a decade now, so if it hasn't hit yet it's hard to say it will get a whole lot further, but still very possible.

[@Sabundy]

Words From My Face right. That is all true. I think it's possible because it seems to me that for quite a bit of this movement that it was predominantly focused on the Japanese market.... such as the style of the music being more Japanese, or the lyrics all being in Japanese. But I think with Band Maid and Lovebites we are seeing a very clear focus on the international market with English lyrics, a more international style, and even bringing in Europeans to do production etc.. Just my two cents