Nippon Noise

• By Tadakatsu, originally posted January 1, 2023.

This article is an introduction to ten forgotten all-female heavy metal acts from Japan’s past. Some were notable in earning significant achievements, others flat-out talented — not one was fortunate enough to see a commercial breakthrough. We’ll be taking a closer look at some of these bands and their stories.

Show-Ya’s Legacy

Before we begin, I’d like to take a moment to talk about Show-Ya, who obviously aren’t specifically featured in this list of forgotten bands. If you ask any fan of Japanese metal to name a metal act from there that consists entirely of women, the immediate answer would likely be Show-Ya, one of the most successful and long-running bands in Japanese metal history.

They were the only Japanese all-female metal act to release a full-length album in the 1980s — and they had not just one, but a whopping seven studio albums between ’85 and ’89; that little stat alone tells you how much of a unicorn Show-Ya were.

A group that caught lightning in a bottle as the only all-woman metal band in the country to truly make it big at any point between their formation in 1981 until the late 2000s, who worked their asses off from day one for every ounce of their success, and to this day stands alone as the best-selling all-female metal band of all time globally, with what I would ballpark as somewhere in the neighborhood of five million records sold.

I felt a need to mention them as the foremost pioneer of the many Japanese women playing heavy metal. Show-Ya’s heavy lifting led to the boom of young female musicians of the late 2000s and their eventual dominance of the Japanese metal scene.

From Show-Ya’s quick ascent through the Yamaha band battle scene to going major and their initial breakthrough in the mid-’80s, to their bold, career-defining decision to become heavier in 1989 when many other metal bands around them were commercializing and turning to mush, resulting in two of the best-selling records in Japanese metal history back to back, they were truly one of a kind in that era.

With that bit of background on Show-Ya and their unique position of importance and influence in Japanese metal history, particularly in relation to this write-up out of the way, throughout this article, we will be exploring ten of Japan’s other pioneering all-female heavy metal acts.

While none of them were fortunate enough to see the staggering success attained by Show-Ya for a myriad of reasons, to no fault of their own, in their own ways, they helped contribute to the woman-dominated metal landscape seen in Japan all these years later.

Flying Vision

Flying Vision were one of a small handful of bands on this list that had a decently strong shot at a breakthrough, though it ultimately slipped through their grasp. Forming in 1983 and releasing an excellent demo tape shortly thereafter in 1984, things were progressing nicely for the band as they were making a name for themselves on the live circuit in and around Tokyo.

Perhaps the young band’s finest moment occurred at the end of that year, as they were billed to perform a special New Year’s gig, sharing the stage with fellow up-and-comers Veil and Murbas, plus eventual Japanese metal mainstays Sabbrabells and Reaction.

The bands played through the evening of December 31, 1984, and into the early hours of the new year and the whole thing was recorded for a variety of releases for each band including live cassettes, VHS releases and a split-live album, Flying Vision’s first vinyl release. A couple of songs from both the band’s demo, as well as the All Night Metal Party ’84 to ’85 split respectively, are “Time Stop” and “Fly“.

Shortly after, with the addition of a new drummer in Michi Iida, Flying Vision would become one of the first bands signed to the then new label Danger Crue Records for the release of a debut single, “Dreamy Night”. It was around this time that the band also began planning for a full-length album. However, it never came to fruition.

Vocalist Shimako “Shima” Tanaka would depart from the band, and in trying to pick up the pieces, Flying Vision brought the talented former T.N.T and Paradise Jade frontwoman Kayoko Inui into the fold, but the band never fully recovered and went on hiatus by 1987, before eventually disbanding.

Former singer Shima would go on to front prog rock outfit Sabrina, while Michi Iida would find some success playing in pop icon Minako Honda’s rock project, Wild Cats. Flying Vision played a reunion gig in 2009, their first show in over 20 years, resulting in a limited DVD release and several of the band’s members remain active in music today.

Magenda / Rose

Magenda formed in 1985 and appeared on the Kansai Keiongaku Sensyuken compilation the following year. Immediately thereafter, Magenda became one of the only bands on this list to sign to a relatively big record label in Vice (now known as J.A.P. Records) who released their debut in 1987.

The self-titled four song EP; a rather nice picture disc vinyl at that, was a competent mixture of heavy metal and hard rock songs, as well as a cover of Aerosmith’s Mama Kin. My favorite song on their first EP would definitely be “Star“. It’s got a brisk pace, good energy, and is an awesome song on what’s an otherwise decent record.

Unfortunately, things quickly went sideways for Magenda after the debut. Both singer Hiromi Kosugi and bassist Sumiko Miki left the band, I can only assume due to creative differences. The band hired new members and softened their sound considerably. And though they lost their record label, they stuck around long enough to release a single and one more EP before the band called it quits.

From Magenda to Rose

While Magenda lost its metallic bite with the departure of Kosugi and Miki, the duo stepped things up a year later with their new band Rose (they were very briefly known as Artemis when they began). If there was any doubt as to Magenda’s most important members, it was made abundantly clear on Rose’s debut EP.

Vice even dropped Magenda from their roster to sign the newly formed Rose, which lends heavily to the idea that the label stuck with the Magenda members they had more confidence in. Their self-titled EP (1988) was everything good about their previous band, but cranked up a notch and without its inconsistencies, (i.e. Magenda’s dodgy Aerosmith cover).

Boasting a nimbler heavy metal sound with more bite than Magenda (“No Way Out” for example), Rose was a great record and felt like a natural progression of Kosugi and Miki’s careers. Unfortunately, we never got to see the direction they’d go next as Rose disbanded shortly after the release of the EP — though a couple members resurfaced in other projects later on.

You can’t help but connect these two bands thanks to the impact of their shared members, in fact, I enjoy listening to the first Magenda EP and Rose’s EP back to back, and they fit together as a fairly coherent full-length of sorts. It’s a shame the duo of Kosugi and Miki never got to follow up with anything.

Valkylie

The fastest and arguably most aggressive band on this list, Valkylie were never particularly close to a commercial breakthrough of any kind. Instead, they were just talented, extremely fun, and easily one of the most collectively skilled bands in this article.

While they didn’t have much in the way of music, at least this iteration of the band, what they did make was excellent. Noted for their Lamia Shock! demo tape, Valkylie played an abrasive heavy and speed metal not all that far removed stylistically from bands like Venom, Atomkraft or Acid.

There’s a pretty cool story that was forwarded by a friend as he spoke with former Valkylie singer Ray (a.k.a. Aya). She said that a friend of the band, Kerry (noted for a short stint in X Japan) actually wrote the first song on the band’s demo for them.

Valkylie were set to record Lamia Shock!, and while hanging out with them in the studio, Kerry wrote “Shouting to the Hell”, in the breakroom of the studio. So, if that particular song reminds you a bit of the blistering speed metal X Japan were putting out in that era, there’s fascinatingly a direct tie to that sound. It’s my favorite track on the demo, as well. A couple other examples of this band’s music include “Crazy Avenue” and “Liar Boy“.

Of all the bands on this list, you might be surprised to learn that despite their obscurity, this is the lone band on the list to reform in the modern era, remaining active since 2015 under the slightly revised name, Valkyrie. They even released a proper debut album in 2018, albeit playing thrash instead of the heavy/speed metal of old, which I admittedly preferred.

Vixen

Though I’ve seen the name pop up randomly for quite a few years now, this is probably the group I know the least about on this list, despite my best efforts. Vixen formed in Osaka in 1983, and from what I’ve been able to glean, were quite possibly the first all-female metal band to emerge from the sprawling Osaka metropolis.

I think that’s a pretty cool feather in their hat, given that everyone else on this list — with the exception of Battle Axe — came from Tokyo. Active in the mid 80s, Vixen’s lone work ended up being their 1986 demo.

Spanning five songs and a surprising amount of stylistic depth, Vixen I is actually quite an enjoyable listen. Though it’s a rather lo-fi demo and made on likely the smallest budget of anyone else on this list, the music holds up well and for the band’s only surviving work this is quality demo fare.

The first track, “Cross Saber“, is a fairly standard, mid-tempo galloping metal track, though to its credit it’s well-executed and packs a punch. My favorite track is “The Wild Heart Gone to Earth“, which boasts a wonderful pounding bassline and utilizes doomy, Sabbathian elements throughout.

Velle Witch

Velle Witch were probably the most unique band on this list, incorporating themes of horror in their aesthetic, lyrics and overall sound, a stark contrast to most of the other bands we’ve discussed thus far. Just look at that band photo, they had a definite vibe that they pulled off quite well.

Velle Witch generally played an ominous, melancholic heavy metal style laden with doom metal influence, capped with the haunting wails of singer Yukie Furuya, who served as a convincingly creepy and effective vocalist for this band; see “Titus Groan” for arguably her best performance. Even on the band’s faster tracks such as “Rosenkreitz” there was still a healthy dose of doom influence.

While you would never call Velle Witch famous, they did quite well as an underground act. At one point the band was on Explosion Records’ roster for the recording and release of the Blood Noblewoman demo. They also garnered features on two of Explosion’s Heavy Metal Force Special split live albums, which generally featured bands that frequently performed Rock House Explosion live houses.

The band also were given a small feature on the first edition of Explosion’s Rock Video Circuit VHS series. Fans who used to watch them perform back in the day still fondly remember the talented Velle Witch, and the band still garners a decent amount of chatter online as pioneers of both occult themes in Japanese metal as well as the country’s doom metal scene.

Like many of the bands in this article, though, Velle Witch couldn’t escape lineup turmoil, and both the band’s bassist Mayumi Taguchi and singer Yukie left. The latter eventually joined progressive metal act Jerk Empress, which interestingly enough featured star freelance bassist Masaki, later of Animetal and innumerable other projects.

While Velle Witch added new members and attempted to continue, even getting as far as recording another demo in roughly 1989 or 1990, they unfortunately disbanded and the second demo barely made it to the public.

Battle Axe

Formed in 1984 after vocalist Atsuko “Bee” Ose’s departure from the heavy/thrash metal band HellRazor, her new project Battle Axe enjoyed a fairly good run, despite the band never really escaping their demo phase. With an activity period spanning at most three years, Battle Axe released three demo tapes, hoping for a record deal that simply never materialized.

In a translated quote from Atsuko Ose, she stated:

“Battle Axe did many tours. We were featured by Rockin’f several times, appeared at music store concerts, and worked at a really big venue (Citizen’s Hall in Funabashi City), which was unprecedented for us at that time.

We did tour work and participated in many events. Probably the main reason for having those opportunities was because there weren’t many girls’ bands that could manage that kind of a busy schedule. We were a band that worked as hard as possible.”

Battle Axe turned a relentlessly busy touring schedule — and along with it their good reputation as a live band into several magazine features including, as Ose herself mentioned, Japan’s biggest rock magazine at the time, Rockin’f. Additionally, Battle Axe were also showcased on the Go to Eat (Metal Dom) compilation for the Night Gallery label, a compilation that would end up being the band’s only release on vinyl.

A couple examples of the band’s work include “大脱走” and “Fire“. Though Battle Axe ultimately didn’t make it, I think this was a very talented band elevated especially by the strong vocals of Bee. I think the band should be remembered for the quality of their work, even if there wasn’t much quantity.

For some reason, Battle Axe changed their name to Dynamits Smoking for a short period of time before permanently disbanding. Perhaps the much better-known British band, Battleaxe, took issue with their old name.

The only member who seems to have gone on to do anything after Battle Axe was Ose, who fronted a band called Bloody Moon for a short time in either the late ’80s or early ’90s, with whom she released a single.

Angel Kiss

I first heard of Angel Kiss a few years ago when a friend let me hear his copy of the band’s demo tape, and I enjoyed it so much I hunted down a copy and it’s one of my favorite demo finds of the past few years.

Angel Kiss weren’t a big name and they weren’t around long, but like a couple of other names in this article the quality of their music is where they deserve to be remembered. With just a single five-song demo tape to their name dubbed Fallin’ Angel, released in 1987, the same year in which they formed, for the band’s lone release I think it’s a blast.

The first two songs on Fallin’ Angel are a bit of a slow burn, good in their own right, with the first track “Star Dust” actually reminding me a bit of the aforementioned Magenda. Angel Kiss really kick into high gear in the second half of the tape though, particularly with a duo of zippy heavy/speed metal tracks to close out the tape in “Love Story” and “Crazy Dancer”.

Love Story is a bit of a tease, it starts slow enough that you might be fooled into thinking it’s a ballad before it morphs into a punchy and energetic metal track. As for Crazy Dancer, it’s simply just a ripper of a metal song which shows off the band’s skill better than any other on the tape; I especially like the solo section and the buildup leading into it.

Though not attached to the label for its creation and release, I’ve always found it cool that Fallin’ Angel was distributed primarily through the official store of Japan’s iconic Mandrake Root Records.

Carmilla

Carmilla are one of the more obscure bands featured in this article, but they’ve got a cool story and considerable talent. Formed in 1985 from the remnants of a band called Gorgon, at one point in their early days, Carmilla’s members wore face paint and were promptly, though unintentionally labeled as a “Satanic” metal band.

They seemingly embraced this reputation, and while they dropped the face paint, Carmilla continued with themes of horror and evil and began to carve a path forward on the stage, performing live throughout their early years and building a name for themselves. Most notably, the band eventually got to perform at Rock House Explosion venues on multiple occasions, an extremely well-known stage that basically every Japanese metal band of significance performed in that era.

In 1988, the band recorded a self-titled demo tape. To my befuddlement, the venue’s namesake record label never picked Carmilla for a spot on one of their many Heavy Metal Force compilations, opting to feature several bands who were, in my opinion, vastly inferior.

Carmilla never got the opportunity to take things to the next level as they disbanded. However, their story didn’t quite end there. Guitarist Yoshino Kizakura wisely kept what was left of the band’s music, namely raw audio of some of the band’s late-career live performances at Rock House Explosion between 1988 and 1989. She eventually wrote about the band’s history, sharing that and their surviving music online.

Met with widespread praise from Japanese metal fans, she promptly reissued the tracks on the 2018 compilation, Live Explosion ’88-’89, which included the band’s 1988 demo tape. I have to say, the music on Carmilla’s reissue is superb. Playing a heavily NWOBHM influenced heavy and thrash metal mixture, while the audio can be a bit rough in places (I’m just glad it survived), Carmilla’s considerable talent shines through and the band’s raw energy is contagious.

The guitar work in particular, courtesy of Yoshino Kizakura, is exceptionally strong. A couple of my favorites from this compilation include “Nightmare” and “2000 Maniacs“. I’m also quite fond of the instrumental “Triumph of Death”.

Carry On

The first I’d read about Carry On was just a few years ago when I was digging through an old 1987 issue of Rockin’f magazine, which was promoting the young band. The brief feature unfortunately wasn’t particularly insightful, and while it had a nice photo of the band, it was very to-the-point and essentially just told readers that Carry On had made a pair of demo tapes, plus, if you were a record label, how to contact them.

Additionally, Rockin’f touted the band as an “American-style/L.A. hard rock” band which, knowing the magazine well, honestly could have meant anything. As good as Rockin’f was overall, they had a tendency to be a bit varied in their genre definition at times, and a descriptor like that only calls to mind something like Mötley Crüe or a band of that ilk.

Years later though, upon finally hearing this band, to my pleasant surprise I quickly realized that Carry On were unmistakably a heavy metal act through and through, and a damn good one at that. There’s only one song that can be heard online, that being “Scandal”, the first song from their second demo tape. Even that lone song demonstrates eloquently just how skilled Carry On was though, despite their obscurity and lack of a long career.

A faster paced tune roaring with heavy metal vigor, Scandal is truly great stuff. It’s loud and in-your-face, the riff work crunchy, the vocals emotive and enthusiastic. The drums in particular surprised me with their aggression.

It’s everything you’d want in an 80s Japanese metal track, and though it was just a demo, it was quite frankly lightyears ahead of what a band like Mötley Crüe was making by that point in their career.

Though details on this band’s disbandment are unclear and most of its members wouldn’t resurface in anything of note, bassist Miyuki Masatsugu would, shall we say, carry on, remaining active in numerous projects right through to the present day.

Interestingly, she had a stint in a band called Heartleaf whose original lineup included Aya of Valkylie, Michi of Flying Vision as well as Lily from Gangland, another early all-female metal act.

Jet Maybe

Their unusual moniker aside, Jet Maybe had all the potential to be the next Show-Ya. Honing their craft in the very same Yamaha band battles that launched Show-Ya’s career in 1982, Jet Maybe fared every bit as well at these events. These band battles were gargantuan events with practically Japan’s entire music industry watching.

The events spanned several days of qualifiers, including in some instances other smaller band battle festivals in the months leading up to the important events. Jet Maybe breezed through their numerous qualifiers to land a spot in the prestigious EastWest festival of 1984, where they would win the women’s division of the tournament.

Additionally Jet Maybe’s guitar duo of Tomoko Abe & Harumi Komori won a shared prize as the best guitarists at the whole festival. This impressive victory earned the band a competing slot at Yamaha’s premier tournament of champions, Light Music Contest ’84. Though they didn’t pull out a victory and ultimately went unsigned, Yamaha invited the band back to perform as special guests at EastWest ’85.

Taking their earlier EastWest winnings, Jet Maybe put pen to paper over the next two years, writing and recording new material, producing two demo tapes and a single called Tempest. A couple songs from these releases include “Aphrodite” and the aforementioned “Tempest“. The band’s history quickly gets foggy after this. They seem to have split up not long after the release of their second demo. I can only assume that because a record label didn’t sign them, Jet Maybe broke up. Oh, what could have been.

Honorable Mentions

• Alicia
• Blue Halloween
• Cinderella
• Gangland
• HellRazor
• Iron Face
• Ladia (pre-debut)
• Lady Killer
• Nasty Rose
• Pink Sapphire (pre-debut)
• Primadonna
• Xenolith Oger