X JAPAN are the unequivocal heroes of Japanese metal. Emerging from Chiba in the '80s, the pioneering band ushered in visual kei's glam aesthetic while thundering through ferocious speed and power metal sounds packed with anguished howls and mean guitars. They balance their attack with symphonic passages and progressive flourishes, and genuinely moving piano ballads. The legends broke up in 1997, only to reform a decade later, much to their fanatical audience's delight.