In Japan, “mixture” is the usual word for rock that mixes in rap and other styles. CHRONOMETER, from Tokyo, calls itself a “post mixture” band. The prefix is the interesting part.

The Roots

The band formed around former members of BENTROOT, which its profile describes as a band that made its name in the punk and hardcore scene from the 1990s into the early 2000s. CHRONOMETER went through several lineup changes before its first album. A collection released in 2025, Echoes from the Rest 3 Demo Tracks 2008, suggests the band was recording by 2008.

The band’s own profile does not name its members. The credits on the third album list Yu Kitajo for lyrics and Daisuke Udagawa for music.

Three Albums, Three Turns

Each album has been described as a change of direction.

2015: Construction of Destruction. The debut, built on what the band calls a digital rock sound. (Apple Music lists the album under 2014.)

2019: Evolution into the roots. The second album dropped the programmed sounds and went back to the band’s roots, drawing on rock, hardcore, emo and electronic music. Tower Records described it as a mixture rock record.

2025: EvolAwakening. Released on 4 June 2025 on VD Plus records, eight tracks, 35 minutes. The title joins “Evolution” and “Awakening,” and the Japanese concept title is 覚醒進化論, roughly “a theory of awakened evolution.” It came six years after the second album, and it was the band’s first record with lyrics in Japanese. Tower Records called it loud rock at its core, and a restart.

Since Then

A single, “Light up the darkness,” came out in 2024 and reappeared on EvolAwakening. The music video carries Japanese subtitles. Another single, “DIVE THROUGH THE DARK,” followed on 24 June 2026.

CHRONOMETER is on the bill for MINOR LEAGUE’s thirtieth-anniversary show at Shindaita FEVER on 29 November 2026, alongside SOBUT, DESSERT and T.C.L.

Why It Matters

Plenty of Japanese heavy bands write in English. CHRONOMETER made Japanese lyrics the headline of its third album, a first for the band.

Start with “LIGHT UP THE DARKNESS,” then “Instinctive behavior.”