Japan

Angra – Omni (Album Review)

Avatar for Vito TanziVito TanziVito Tanzi

Perhaps Progressive Metal’s best kept secret, San Paulo, Brazil’s own Angra, are set to return with their ninth studio album, Omni. Arriving on Friday February 16, 2018 via EarMusic, with eleven new tracks, Omni acts as the follow-up to Angra’s 2015 release Secret Garden. In addition, it is the second ... Read More

Blade of the Immortal (Movie Review)

Avatar for Day HeathDay HeathDay Heath

Adaptations are a tricky thing to do right. The source material either needs more stuff to bump it up to feature length or, more commonly, stuff needs to be cut out. Then, one has to decide what can be cut and what should remain, and the ... Read More

Interview – VAMPS

Avatar for Jeannie BlueJeannie BlueJeannie Blue

Japan’s hard rocking VAMPS are already a well-known brand in the neon, cosmopolitan streets of Tokyo. With their most recent musical offering, 2017’s Underworld, this sharp duo have spread their musical message even further, bringing their eclectic brand of Rock-n-Roll to North America yet again and ... Read More

MONO – Requiem For Hell (Album Review)

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Experimental Rock quartet MONO (who intentionally stylize their band-name in all caps) hail from the archipelago of Japan. At seventeen years into their careers as an international touring quartet, MONO show no signs of slowing with their newest offering, Requiem For Hell. Formed in 1999 ... Read More

Hotei – Strangers (Album Review)

Avatar for Nina MendeNina MendeNina Mende

With sales exceeding 40 million units in his native Japan alone, and known around the world for his original song “Battle Without Honor or Humanity,” made famous by its inclusion in Quentin Tarantino’s 2003 blockbuster Kill Bill, Hotei (pronounced ‘HOE-tay’) embarks on the next chapter ... Read More