Artist Plan
The Band
The band Demon’s Blade have exceeded far past their origins
of Kabuki-cho, Tokyo. A black metal band, Demon’s
Blade consists of three members, who don themselves in lavish makeup, a
homage to their hometown known for its over-the-top performances. There is the
guitarist Kazuya, the bassist Tatsuda, and the drummer and vocalist Oni. These
are all stage names, another by-product of the birthplace of Demon’s Blade. Their strange infusion of
folk melody with wailing guitar and oppressive bass invokes feelings of bands
like Kiryu and Ensiferum, but the screaming guitar solos bring obvious influence
from bands such as Slayer and Cannibal Corpse. They manage to fuse old
and new in a way never seen before, bringing a fresh sound to the metal
landscape. Demon’s Blade have released two albums so far. Their first was
recorded in Kazuya’s garage, which encapsulated the raw, violent sound of black
metal. Their second was studio recorded, and perfectly infused their now iconic
sound with the production quality of a chart topper.
The Members
Guitarist Kazuya is a performer, plain and simple. He feeds
of the crowd’s energy in order to create his magnificently epic solos, while
keeping the crowd’s attention the entire time. His stage presence leaves
viewers in awe and shock, and his skill on guitar impresses his peers and idols
alike. Off stage, Kazuya takes a much calmer approach. His warm personality and
light sense of humour make him popular with people of all ages, and his
appearances on Japanese television reflect this.
Bassist Tatsuda is a similar character to Kazuya. He projects
a presence on stage that has not been truly seen since the great Cliff Burton.
His style drifts more toward crowd hype than pure, face-melting bass, and this
creates an incredible alchemical fusion of energy on stage. Tatsuda knows
exactly what to say and do in order to really rile up a crowd, a skill that is
under-appreciated by many modern bands.
The drummer known only as Oni, or Demon, is the real draw of
the band. Having founded the band in 2004, he has managed to stay completely
anonymous to everyone except his two band-mate. His ability to meld explosive
drums and haunting vocals with Kazuya’s symphonic guitar has captured the
attention of metal fans across the world. Oni never takes part in interviews or
TV appearances without his signature blue demon mask, creating the sense of
mystery that fuels the band’s popularity in the Japanese underground music
scene.
Their Appearance
The band takes a lot of visual inspiration from their home in
Kabuki-cho, and from the very popular Japanese genre called ‘visual kei’. For
their live performances, the band dresses in lavish garb predominantly made of
leather, the colours mainly being black with highlights in a brighter colour,
like purple or green. Both Kazuya and Tatsuda wear makeup in the ‘visual kei’
style, while Oni wears his blue demon mask. In photo shoots and TV appearances
however, they choose to wear suits and ties in order to look professional,
while still wearing their makeup and masks respectively in order to keep up
their mysterious image.
Why are they appearing in my magazine?
Dragon’s Blade are releasing a new album, titled ‘Raid of
Sound’, and are hoping to use it to kick-start their careers in the west. They
believe that appearing on the cover of and being featured in a magazine will
give their band the coverage they need in order to sell their album, and
perhaps organise a world tour.
Other band names for contents page and front cover:
Laceration Plague - A metal core band from the USA, popular for their high-energy live performances
Edition - A popular British metal band that has found some chart success.
Cobalt - An Eastern European metal band that produces albums with no lyrics. Popular among avant-garde fans.
Crescent Sun - A Mexican band that fuses mariachi with metal. Their music never sells particularly well, but their fun attitude is popular among most music fans.
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