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I went to my first thrash metal show EVER after being invited by my colleague, who happens to be friends with the drummer, Kazuhiro, from PUNBAA. Having only been to indie rock shows, I tried not to be the ‘lame one’ in the midst of headbangers and went to the show in my leather jacket and baggy jeans. On the way to the venue, my colleague and I ran into Kazu, himself, leaving the nearby Seven-Eleven with two members from the second band playing that day, Ayui.

The venue was small, but I was more surprised by the sparse crowd. My colleague, learned in thrash metal ‘culture’, said that it was pretty standard. With so much room to dance, even when Punbaa began to set up their instruments, I began to wonder if the indie bands I liked were really ‘indie’, after all.

My colleague and I sat at the bar with some long-haired, tatted men who I later found were part of the third band, EYEBLOW. The majority of the crowd consisted of the bands with their girlfriends, which should give you a sense of just how few people there were. It was interesting, though, and who can complain about being able to get right up to the front?

The first act was five-piece band, PUNBAA, which consists of Takuya (vox), Hamada (bass), Tanaka (guitar), Kazuhiro (drums), and Ikeda (guitar). The band describes themselves as “a Japanese crossover thrash metal band”, inspired by names like Metallica, Exodus, and OUTRAGE. In fact, in “SKEWNESS“, one of my personal favorites, the guitar riff and choral chants are reminiscent of Exodus’ “The Toxic Waltz”.

On that day, to be honest, I wasn’t all that familiar with their songs, so a lot of the time I just followed what everyone else was doing. I was pushed close to the stage and in a lot of instances found myself just inches from the band members, who’d occasionally reach out to the audience to rile us up. I was impressed by how aggressive everyone had gotten with so few of us there. As I curiously eyed the other concert-goers, I gawked at the sea of hands that’d gathered behind me, all reaching up towards Takuya, who’d stepped out towards us. Those who knew the song sang on cue and, at one point, seemed excited enough to climb onto the stage themselves. Needless to say that with their magnetic stage presence, the performance set a good precedent for the rest for the night.

The next band was five-piece band, AYUI, which consist of Narumi (vox), Norio (guitar), Hazuki (guitar), Shun (bass), and Daichi (drums). This band is a bit more melodic, likely leaning closer to metalcore with their incorporation of screamo and clean vocals. The guitar work also brings out the vocals more than complex chord progressions that are often associated with thrash and ‘standard metal’. To the Western ear, they may remind you of bands from the early two-thousands like UnderOath and All that Remains. The themes they talk about in their lyrics, however, seem to be a bit more emotional in comparison, as there were moments during the vocalist’s mid-song monologues where I felt he was about to cry. One example of this is in their single, “幸に転ぶ“, which–to the best of my ability—translates to something like, ‘Fall by Fortune’. I couldn’t quite catch all that he was saying, but I felt Narumi was trying to resonate with the deepest parts of our hearts–perhaps out of appreciation. The entire experience was entirely different from what I’d ever imagine at a METAL concert, but it was a refreshing surprise.

Even more surprising was just how sweet these guys were. Throughout the show, since my colleague was friends with the drummer of PUNBAA, I could shake hands with several of the other performers, including Shun and Norio from AYUI.

Following AYUI was five-piece band EYEBLOW. They describe themselves as nu-metal and are comprised of Yuuki (vox), Sun(guitar), Migashi (guitar), Ivan(bass), and Tabaken(drums). They’re inspired by bands like KORN, Slayer, Slipknot, and Bullet for my Valentine. The heavy riffs and characteristic guitar shredding are not lost on this band, as well as the aesthetics of their idols. Different from the other performers, this band had the stage literally saturated with red….LIGHTING , that is. It was a simple effect, but set a nice tone to match the aggression of their set. Their song “Prayer” was particularly notable with how the vocalist, Yuuki, leaned into the crowd to lead us through the chorus. It was definitely a fun song to headbang to, though I was extremely sore afterwards. The bassist, Ivan, was also really interesting to watch, letting the music contort his body and face into strange expressions. From where I was standing, I could get quite close to him, and I enjoyed his unique stage presence.

To be honest, the members of EYEBLOW are all quite handsome, so naturally I was sort of curious about them throughout the night. Eventually I bucked up the courage to approach Yuuki after the show to ask for a photo. Granted, this took a lot of time and consideration, given my shy personality. However, much to my surprise, he not only agreed to take a photo, he kindly gathered the rest of the members for me, too!

The fourth band was a band from Osaka called D.A.M. I didn’t get to talk much with them, but they put on one of the more interesting performances. They’re a three-piece band with members: Shunpei (vox/guitar), Okamura (bass), and Shu (drums). The bassist has seemed to change, though; that or the original bassist on their website is currently away.

Anyway, the show started with the room going black , the center illuminated by a lightbulb incased in a cage-like box. It was then that I noticed Shun from AYUI standing next to me, and later Narumi just behind us. At the time, I didn’t think much of this, but once D.A.M began their emotional set, I could hear the similarities between the two bands. It’s possible they they knew each other, but I didn’t really think to ask. Similar to AYUI, D.A.M can best be described as metalcore, with their interchanging clean and screaming lyrics .There wasn’t much guitar shredding, but a few instrumentals that we’re more on the melodic side.

For the majority of their performance, Shunpei screeching into the microphone with unrelenting emotion, my eyes were completely fixated on the five-string bass. It was my first time to see anything like it and had been so curious about it that I wanted to ask the bassist himself what the hell he was playing. My colleague, however, spared me my dignity and explained that five and six-stringed basses were common in metal because you could play in more than one key simultaneously, lending it that characteristic layering effect.

This band also tends to change tempo a lot, mixing elements of experimental rock. The American listener in particular may feel that this band sounds nostalgic, as their song, “肯定する事によって明日を見出す思想” , for example, reminds me a lot of emo rock group, The Used.

The next band was four-piece band, MINDSAVE. They definitely fit the thrash metal description with their heavy riffs and yelling. They sound similar to PUNBAA, but without the screamo. Most memorable about their performance was when my colleague and I noticed the black ‘X’ written across the guitarist’s hand. When we got a better look at his face, we were shocked to find how young he was. I’m not sure if ‘straight-edge’ is a thing in Japan, but he definitely could’ve passed for a teenager.

They don’t seem to have any videos yet, but their music can be accessed via their website. With their performance full of moshing and headbanging, you won’t be disappointed by their undeniable energy. I couldn’t find any information on the members, though.

Last on the list was three-piece band Back Muscle Power, made up of Yuuki (Vox/Bass), Motoki (Vox/Guitar) and Rakugaki( Drums). They seemed to be the most famous on the lineup with how the crowd thickened; they even got an encore! What was most surprising about them was the fact that these guys, similar to D.A.M, take on the more melodic elements of rock. Frankly, they reminded me a lot of alternative rock band SideChest, especially with their popular song, “Talk With“. With four CDs under their belt, they were probably one of the more established bands, too. Although, now that I think about it, they’re likely able to reach out to more audiences than just ones who like the shredding of metal. Frankly, after all the screaming from the previous artists, ending with something more on the alternative/indie-punk side was kind of a shock. More information on them can be found on their website.

After the show, I bought a CD from each booth and got to talk a bit with some of the bands, who were understandably curious about the two lonesome foreigners amongst the darkly clad locals. While I can’t consider myself a metalhead, I can definitely see myself going to another show for the pure energy of it all.