GYZE is a Japanese metal band from Hokkaido. The band is inspired by acts such as DRAGONFORCE, CHILDREN OF BODOM, CARCASS and incorporates traditional Japanese music styles in their music. The band released their new album “Asian Chaos” on 12 July 2019 through Out Of Line Music.
The album starts off with an almost traditional Japanese instrumental track and sets a great mood for the album to kick off with the title track of the album. What is already clear to me, is that the band manages to create a unique style that is very unfamiliar to European metal. The guitar solo in “Asian Chaos”, for example, is surrounded by Japanese traditional elements, and these lift the solo to a higher level, almost as if it’s taking you on a trip to South East Asia. Wonderful. “Eastern Spirit” opens up with a great heavy guitar riff that drives the song forward into a power metal riff. Perhaps I forgot to mention but the band takes their main components from genres like melodic death metal, power metal, speed metal, and folk metal. The song “Eastern Spirit” is a perfect example of that mixture, it has a little bit of everything, but more above all it is just GYZE. Another one of my personal highlights on this album is “Dragon Calling”, a high on energy song that with a lot of folk influences, that’s surprisingly catchy and often reminds me a little bit of ENSIFERUM. “The Rising Dragon” features Marc Hudson vocalist from DRAGONFORCE, whose voice blends in perfectly with Ryoji‘s. Another song that blew me away was “1945 Hiroshima”, the closer of the album, it has a beautiful kind of melancholy that makes the song linger for a while after it ended. Ultimately, it was the best choice to end the album with.
All-in-all I really enjoyed “Asian Chaos”, I really like it when people mix in their own culture with music, and the Japanese traditional elements sure go well with the melodic death metal setting the band has. What I especially love in this album are the guitars, from riffs to solos, every single little detail is perfect and it amazes me. So, those who like the bands that I have mentioned above, and have a heart for Japanese culture, this band is certainly one you should check out!
Tracklist
- Far Eastern Land
- Asian Chaos
- Eastern Spirits
- King Kamuy
- Dragon Calling
- Camellia
- Japanese Elegy
- The Rising Dragon – Reiwa
- The White Territories
- 1945 Hiroshima
Lineup
Ryoji – Guitar & Vocals
Aruta – Bass & Vocals
Shinkai – Guitar
Han-nya – Drums
