Western heavy metal has dragons, wizards and Norse gods. Matatabi looked at that and asked a simple question: why should a Japanese band borrow someone else’s legends?
The Idea
Onmyo-za formed in Osaka in 1999. Its concept has a name, yokai heavy metal, and a clear statement behind it. As Matatabi has put it, if Western metal sings of Western fantasy, then Onmyo-za will sing of Japan’s own folklore and its world of yokai, the spirits and monsters of old stories.
Everything follows from that. The lyrics are written in an old, literary register of Japanese. The members perform in traditional dress. The band’s name comes from Onmyodo, the old Japanese cosmology of opposing forces, and the songs are full of oni, dragons and ghosts.
The Man
Matatabi (瞬火) is from Yawatahama, in Ehime Prefecture. He plays bass, sings, and leads the band. He also writes it. Between eighty and ninety per cent of Onmyo-za’s songs, words and music, are his. One of the two guitarists, Maneki, is his younger brother.
His influences are the ones you would guess, and one you might not: Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, Metallica, and Rush. What he has said he took from Rush was an attitude, the willingness to do whatever the band wanted to do.
The Record
Onmyo-za made its major-label debut in December 2001. In May 2004 it played a Noh theatre, the first rock band to do so. In 2005 its song “甲賀忍法帖” became the theme of the anime Basilisk, and brought the band a wider audience.
The albums have kept coming for a quarter of a century, from 鬼哭転生 in December 1999 to 龍凰童子 in January 2023 and 吟澪御前 on 6 August 2025.
He shares the vocals with Kuroneko, and the pairing of a male and a female voice fits a band whose name is about paired opposites.
Why It Matters
Plenty of bands have a gimmick. Onmyo-za has a thesis, and one person wrote it. Japanese metal that sounds Japanese, and sings about Japan, owes a great deal to the fact that he held to it for twenty-five years.
Start with “甲賀忍法帖,” then 吟澪御前.
