An awakening in the Land of the Rising Sun?

Formed in 2016 by guitarist Akihiro Ito and singer Taka in Tokyo, Japan, COVEN JAPAN are inspired by the New Wave of British Heavy Metal and bands such as Angel Witch and Satan, ’80s metal, Mercyful Fate,’70s hard rock, Japanese rock & metal, and Japanese animation songs. The Japanese identity is very strong in the band’s songwriting and they want to spread their own original Japanese metal, so their songs are written in two languages. Verse and bridge parts are written in an old (Medieval) Japanese literary style, and the oriental accents and unique rhythm from old Japanese literary lyrics are also one of their special characteristics. COVEN JAPAN believe that singing along together is one of the best parts of heavy metal, so chorus parts are written in English as the world’s common language for sing-alongs together in the world.
Catchy and hooky melodies are also part of their musical strength, and COVEN JAPAN’s music is based on traditional and classic heavy metal with twin guitars and female vocals, also putting and mixing various elements like catchy Japanese animation songs, creating a unique style. COVEN JAPAN are Japanese animation and comic fans, known as “Otaku”. They have been growing up watching and reading lots of Japanese comics and animation and especially love dark fantasy genres, adding this culture in their visual aspects such as their album covers and layout.
COVEN JAPAN released their debut EP “The Advert” (as COVEN) in 2017 and “Earthlings” is the band’s debut full-length. “Earthlings” was mixed and mastered by Olof Wikstrand of Enforcer. The album cover was created by AnriLancer.

LINE-UP
Taka- Vocals
Akihiro Ito- Guitars
Toshikuni Komuro- guitars
Takachika Nakajima- bass

REVIEW

Japan has long been an unsung stalwart of the metal genre, unleashing such greats as LOUDNESS and GALNERYUS, while also being a pinnacle of diversity for the genre. Black metal like SIGH and the recent wave of idol metal acts like BABYMETAL are a testament to this musical diversity, but, despite that, trad metal has long been lacking from Japan. Enter COVEN JAPAN (known as simply COVEN until 2019), who are dropping their debut record “Earthlings” on November 24th.

Album cover gets an instant 10 from me. I have a weakness for horned succubi with laser eyes, what can I say? I really like the band’s logo as well, the rough font tells you that the record will be heavy (and keeping the kanji writing above the Latin script is always a solid touch).

We begin things with “Land of the Rising Sun”, a proper NWOBHM love letter in every way. From the feeling of proto-thrash that a lot of the genre had. I really love the blitzy tempo of the track and the Ito/Komuro guitar tandem was a stunner right out of the gate. Nakajima keeps a steady and nearly hypnotic bassline throughout the full 4:40 long track. And the vox stole me right away, raw but refined. This was a solid opening song that kept me engaged the whole time.

Following that, we had “What Goes Around Comes Around”. The opening guitar licks heavily recalled those early days of NWOBHM, with bands like SAXON and ANGEL WITCH springing to mind instantly. This track is carried by the hookiness of the main riff, and what a solid riff it is. Aside from the clear influence of NWOBHM, like the above statement said, there is a very obvious influence from anime and video game music. The chorus being in English definitely helps that. Seriously, hot damn, this riff is mint.

Next up, the 6:30 monster “Apocalypse”. The first two minutes were solid, but not spectacular. Then there was a huge tempo shift where everything slowed down, being chugged forward by a smooth headbanger of a bassline, and an eventual fadey guitar solo. This middle portion of the track definitely propels it forward and gives it a solid thumbs up from me.

Then came “Return of the Souls”, which began with some really nice Maidenesque riffage. The mixture of Japanese and English singing really shines in this one, with the rest of the band doing some solid backing vox throughout. This had the influence of Somewhere in Time-era Maiden the whole time, with a hum worthy, if simplistic, chorus.

Beginning the second half of the record with “To Sanctuary – March for the Voiceless”, another behemoth of a track that clocked in at just over 6 minutes. Damn, I love the bass playing on this record. Bass often gets overlooked or underproduced in metal (esp in NWOTHM), but boy am I glad that COVEN JAPAN have bucked that trend. I had to give this one two listens, not because it didn’t click with me, but because it’s just that good. Easily my favorite track on the record thus far (Also, it featured a BIG ROCK ENDING!).

After that banger, we had “Night Flyer”. The vocal intro to this track was freaking golden. It hearkened me back to watching bootleg 80s anime on grainy VHS, sounding just like the opening theme to some classic animation.

Next came the title track “Earthlings”, which started off with some really fantastic leadwork from Ito/Komuro. The intro solo had some real emotion in it, and gave way to what would be the album’s token ballad. Taka’s phenomenal soft delivery in this one cannot be understated, a true highlight. While not the most exciting track on the album, it’s certainly one of the stronger ones.

Bookending the album is “Lost Humanity”. A very 80s intro begins things, making it very easy to imagine a fuzzy music video for this track. Again, I’m entranced by the Japanese singing, it’s a language that perfectly translates itself to metal, just like German, French, and Russian. This track was nothing flashy, but solid, and it felt like something that could’ve easily been a lead single. It’s accessible and the type of track you’d recommend to new listeners.

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, this was a solid debut record from COVEN JAPAN! They’ve perfectly captured how a NWOTHM should feel, without sacrificing anything in the way of production. Plus, it’s always great to see metal coming from places outside of Europe and the Americas. Could this be the beginning of a wave of Japanese metal?

TheNWOTHM Score: 8/10

COVEN JAPAN
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