Japanese metal is heavy metal music from Japan. The country's first metal bands formed in the mid-to-late 1970s. The number of acts increased significantly in the next decade, but only a few saw their material released internationally, including Europe and North America with their pre-established metal bases. Domestic metal saw its commercial peak in Japan in the late 1980s and early 1990s, with the top acts selling millions of records. Many metal bands from the visual kei scene toured and gained recognition in the West in the 2000s. The 2010s saw a boom of all-female metal bands form and gain mainstream attention.
Loudness charted on America's Billboard chart several times in the 1980s.
Notable black metal band Sigh
Mucc were one of many visual kei metal acts to pursue international activities in the 2000s.
All-female metal band Lovebites often perform international activities in the UK and Europe.
Visual kei , abbreviated v-kei , is a category of Japanese musicians that have a strong focus on extravagant stage costumes that originated in Japan during the early 1980s. Koji Dejima of Bounce wrote that visual kei is not a specific sound, but rather it "revolves around the creation of a band's unique worldview and/or stylistic beauty through visual expressions in the form of makeup and fashion". While visual kei bands can be of any music genre, it is generally associated with glam rock, punk rock, and heavy metal.
Originally a visual kei band, Glay went on to become one of the best-selling musical acts in Japan.
Versailles performing in 2010, wearing costumes inspired by the French Rococo style
Luna Sea in Singapore, 2013
Japanese fans doing X Japan cosplay