UNITED are one of the heavyweights of Japanese thrash metal. Human Zoo — their 1992 second album, here reissued — is the record that kicked off the band’s run. Driving riffs and weeping melodies cross throughout. A masterpiece you can’t leave out when telling the history of thrash, or UNITED’s own.
The sixth full album from Shellshock, formed during the early days of domestic thrash metal.
Japanese metal band Survive, formed in 1998, documents an aggressive international touring history.
1988 collaboration between Osaka hardcore band S.O.B. and noise unit Hijokaidan, reissued after years out of print.
Japanese loud-scene album that has yet to be surpassed.
A Japanese underground metal compilation featuring Ground Zero, Doom, X, Jurassic Jade, and more.
Switch Style's first full-length album, produced by Don Fury and mastered by Howie Weinberg.
A Japanese hardcore compilation featuring active bands from Kantō, Kansai, and Miyagi.
Tatsuya Yoshida's drum-and-bass duo Ruins plays music that defies genre and rewards obsession.
Tokyo's Zeni Geva have been making brutally confrontational noise rock since 1987, and they deserve your full attention.
Tokyo post-hardcore outfit Survive Said The Prophet have been building something real since 2011. Here's why you should care.
Tokyo's The Mad Capsule Markets built one of Japan's most aggressive digital hardcore catalogs—and the world mostly missed it.
Tokyo metalcore outfit Pay money To my Pain hit hard, hit clean, and left a mark on Japan's heavy underground that hasn't faded.