Japanese Metal Essentials

Japanese Metal Essentials

Japan loves heavy metal as much as any other country on Earth, but their appreciation of the genre doesn't end at power chords and throat-wrecking vocals. Since the ‘80s, Japanese bands have dabbled in all of metal's alloys, putting their own spin on the likes of thrash and metalcore. X Japan's stadium-ready theatrical attacks birthed the dramatic subgenre of visual kei, while The Mad Capsule Markets merged drum ‘n' bass into their growled numbers. In the ‘10s, BABYMETAL brought the sugary melodies of J-pop together with speed-metal guitar playing and bone-crunching drum beats.

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