Some bands shrug off genre labels. Take This to Heart invented their own and put it at the centre of everything: Hyper Metalcore.
The Band
Take This to Heart formed in Tokyo in June 2021. The lineup is A.O.Y.M. on vocals, Shinta and Kazuma on guitars, Miyauchi on bass and Roki on drums.
The name Hyper Metalcore is a clear statement of intent. It points at the melodic, technically demanding wing of the genre — the territory mapped out by bands like As I Lay Dying and August Burns Red, where twin-guitar harmony and dizzying riff-work count for as much as the breakdown. The hyper is the promise: more of everything that wing of metalcore is known for.
That technical ambition shows in an odd but revealing detail: Japan’s biggest specialist record chain, Disk Union, files the band under progressive rock as well as metal. It tells you how much of the attention this band draws goes to the guitar work.
Hypernova
The band’s first album, Hypernova, came out on 6 December 2022 — just eighteen months after formation, which is fast for a full-length debut. Loud-rock outlet Gekirock covered the release, and the band has since drawn attention both in Japan and abroad.
The title matches the Hyper Metalcore concept: a stellar explosion, maximum energy released all at once. If you came up on the melodic metalcore of the late 2000s, the Hyper Metalcore banner is aimed squarely at you. Start with the title track.
