Archive 2020 - Raijin Rock
BAND-MAID: Different (English Language Review)

BAND-MAID: Different (English Language Review)

The first thing you hear is vocalist Saiki singing, “Let’s go! it’s show time!” What follows is an absolutely relentless aural onslaught. The rock riff that follows…

Lovebites: The Devil is in the Details

Lovebites: The Devil is in the Details

Lovebites is as precise a mechanism as a Grand Seiko timepiece. Lovebites is as powerful an industrial machine as a Lexus LFA. Lovebites is as finely tuned…

CARBONIC ACID: H2CO3 「リンゴの殺し屋」

CARBONIC ACID: H2CO3 「リンゴの殺し屋」

The sound is irresistibly poppy, yet relentlessly heavy. The brainchild of Unlucky Morpheus and UNDEAD CORPORATION guitarist Jinya, the band begins with a formula of memorable high-speed…

GLIM SPANKY: Walking On Fire Album Review

GLIM SPANKY: Walking On Fire Album Review

Remi is without question one of the best songwriters of the 21st Century. There may be no one in the world who writes better songs in the…

ALDIOUS: EVOKE!! 2010-2020 Review

ALDIOUS: EVOKE!! 2010-2020 Review

As soon as the final song ends on the new Aldious greatest hits album EVOKE!! 2010-2020, you want to hit the “RE:fire” button on your device and…

yonige: Power Pop Perfection in “Saikin no Koto”

yonige: Power Pop Perfection in “Saikin no Koto”

最近のこと Clocking in at a cool one minute and thirty-three seconds, the drums kick in the beat, and singer Arisa Ushimaru wastes no time in getting to…

Aldious: “Evoke 2010-2020” Album Review – Rami, Re:NO and R!N

Aldious: “Evoke 2010-2020” Album Review – Rami, Re:NO and R!N

But when one heard previous vocalists Rami or Re:NO for the first time, the reaction was, “Yikes! That is a such a unique voice.” Those reactions are…

Disqualia: Disequilibrium in “Over the Destruction”

Disqualia: Disequilibrium in “Over the Destruction”

In Disqualia, the vocalist and songwriter IBUKI, who previously guested on songs by Rie a.k.a. Suzaku and toured with DESTROSE, is backed by a formidable group of…

BRIDEAR: The Classical Sensibility of Mitsuru

BRIDEAR: The Classical Sensibility of Mitsuru

While continuing to work in this vein on subsequent releases, the band, then composed of charismatic vocalist Kimi, inventive guitarists/songwriters Mitsuru and Misa, funky bassist Haru and…

CYNTIA: THE ART OF THE TIME WARP

CYNTIA: THE ART OF THE TIME WARP

The band CYNTIA achieve something of the impossible with the song “幻覚の太陽” (“Genkaku no Taiyō”), from its debut album Endless World (2012). With an unusual lyrical structure and…

BAND MAID: AKANE’S ADVANCED TECHNIQUES FOR THE METAL DRUMMER

BAND MAID: AKANE’S ADVANCED TECHNIQUES FOR THE METAL DRUMMER

BAND-MAID drummer Akane Hirose approaches rhythm as something of a chimera. Under normal circumstances, a rock band expects the drummer to provide a solid grounding in the…

Rie a.k.a. Suzaku: Rudra – Album Review

Rie a.k.a. Suzaku: Rudra – Album Review

The eclectic composer/guitar virtuoso/keyboardist Rie a.k.a. Suzaku recently released a CD-ROM of demo tracks and outtakes called Rudra. Available only upon e-mail request to Rie’s record company…