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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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 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…
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…
Hump Back’s “Kujira” (“Whale”) begins with a chord progression based on Gsus4 that is both sublime and gorgeous. The top notes of the chords in the progression,…
BRIDEAR finally released its second long-awaited album, Expose Your Emotions, in December 2019. Long-time fans had gone through months of anxiety, worry and concern about the future…
With the song “Cleopatra,” from the 2018 EP Ground Zero, Marina Hebiishi and Mardelas achieve apotheosis, in the classical sense of the term. Indeed, Encyclopedia Brittanica defines…