Eleven years is a long gap between albums. AWAKED released its second, ELEGY, in October 2015. The third, THE RIVER, arrived on 25 March 2026.

The Band

Encyclopaedia Metallum lists AWAKED as a Tokyo band that started in 1999 under the name AWAKE and became AWAKED in 2010, and files it as groove and southern metal. Those dates come from that one database.

The lineup on THE RIVER is:

  • MAZZY, vocals
  • YUKI, guitar
  • NAO, bass
  • HxSxO, drums

The same database links the players to other parts of Tokyo’s heavy underground. HxSxO is listed as the drummer of Intestine Baalism and as a live drummer for Cemment and Unholy Grave. NAO is listed with Cemment as a live player as well.

The Records

All three albums are on B.T.H. RECORDS.

  • BLOOD, 6 June 2012, eleven tracks
  • ELEGY, 21 October 2015, eleven tracks
  • THE RIVER, 25 March 2026, nine tracks

Before that came two demos, one in 2003 as AWAKE and a three-song demo in 2010.

THE RIVER

Every song on THE RIVER has a one-word English title with a Japanese subtitle: “LEGACY – 遺産,” “NEMESIS – 復讐の女神,” “SHADOW – 影,” “OBLIVION – 忘却,” “AETHER – エーテル,” “EMBER – 残り火,” “REQUIEM – 鎮魂歌,” “ECLIPSE – 日蝕” and “FALLEN – 堕ちた者.”

The announcement described a band that takes in heavy metal, hardcore and heavy rock and goes its own way, with an aggressive sound that no longer needs a category. It singled out the vocals as superhuman and said every instrument had moved forward.

The music video for “OBLIVION” appeared on the YouTube channel of DIW, the label of the record chain diskunion.

A Voice on Another Record

In 2024 MAZZY sang a guest part on “Garbage,” from IN FOR THE KILL’s second album Branded To Kill.

Why It Matters

Plenty of bands disappear in an eleven-year gap. AWAKED came back with nine new songs and a singer the announcement called superhuman.

Start with “OBLIVION,” then the rest of THE RIVER.