This June marks 5 years since I’ve been doing music festivals here. Thrash Metal, Power Metal, Industrial Metal, Hair Metal, and Power Metal again last year. For 2021, I wanted to travel to a country that I don’t think I’ve covered on my blog before (Outside of the Monster Musume CDs), and the Land of the Rising Sun seemed like a good choice. In addition to exporting stuff like anime & other treats, Japan is also a surprisingly potent hot spot for Heavy Metal, and over the next 3 months I’ll be covering some of the most popular & iconic band to have ever come out of Glorious Nippon. To kick things off, I’ll start our trip to Japan with one of the biggest behemoths of Japanese Metal you’ve likely never heard of before. So, get some Yen for the train, be sure to be respectful to the passengers when you get on, and enjoy my review for Anthem’s.....Anthem. Let’s begin!
Background
Our story begins in Tokyo in the year 1980. A quartet of men would come to form what would be the Japanese equivalent of Judas Priest: singer Toshihito Maeda, guitarist Akifumi Koyanagi, bass player Naoto Shibata (Nicknamed "Ski") and drummer Takamasa Ohuchi (Nicknamed “Mad” due to his drumming style & drinking habits). Koyanagi would actually leave in late 1983, and his replacement would come in the form of guitar god Hiroya Fukuda. In December a year later, Toshihito Maeda would leave as well, and would be replaced by Eizo Sakamoto just in time for the band’s first release. Anthem would be release in July 1985 by Nexus (In Japan) and licensed to Europe by Roadrunner Records, but never released in the United States & the rest of the world (As far as I know).
Basic Description
Badass & Raw.
Anthem’s inaugural release is the ultimate example of pure potential from a new band. The record does have a few issues (More on that below), but everybody in the group show that they got the talent & the skill to be something incredible. Not only that, but they got a no-nonsense attitude that gives them the aura of musicians who shouldn’t be messed with. Sure, the music is about as Engrish as you think it might be, but that’s just a hiccup in what’s otherwise a damn good record. It’s a shame that Anthem has such an obscure cult following here in the United States (And much of the rest of the world by extension), because albums like this would be the catalyst that would turn them into bonafide legends all over! Despite that, Anthem’s first CD rightfully earns it’s place not just in Japanese Music history, but in the illustrious halls of Heavy Metal itself.
Best Track
Blind City is a banger of a song. Perhaps the heaviest thing on the album, everything that’s good about Anthem’s beginnings is here. Guitar & Bass that team up like shinobi, drumming that hits as hard as a truck, and Eizo Sakamoto’s vocals (Despite some issues below) come out like thunder. The pacing is right smack dab in the middle: not too fast, but not too slow. It hits that sweet spot where it doesn’t feel like things are going to fly off the tracks, but at the same time you better get off said tracks before you’re splattered all over the ground. Definitely a song you shouldn’t skip!
Blind City
Worst Track
Nothing! Virtually every song on this album is damn good, and shows off the potential of the fledgling band. However, the album’s only fault, and it’s a rather big one, would be the production quality. To say it’s rough would be putting it mildly: at it’s best it’s still listen-able but it could be better, and at it’s worst.....woof. On top of that, there are in studio screwups in the base tracks that ended up on the final release. However, to crown the issues that plague this release would be Eizo Sakamoto’s vocal work. It’s not the worst that’s out there, and on plenty of the tracks he’s working within the band’s confines, but there are a few songs where it comes across like he’s somewhat straining when hitting the highnotes. Once again he’s not awful, but maybe he needs to not stretch out his vocal cords so much.
About the only other issue with Anthem’s inaugural release isn’t with the music, but with finding the thing. Anthem’s music is difficult to locate outside of Japan, and export costs can make purchasing the thing an expensive proposition. There are some pricings where it doesn’t massively make your wallet bleed, but other times a price listing will make your jaw hit the floor. As sad as this will sound, if you don’t decide to buy this album, then downloading it is a free alternative.
Other
If you’re curious about listening to this album, then click on the link below:
Anthem
Overall Impression & Rating
Anthem isn’t the most perfect beginning record. You got the production quality, the screwups, and Sakamoto trying too hard to hit the higher notes all coming together to cause issues. However, there’s still a great album inside this gunk. Great guitar & bass work, thundering drums, and vocal work that would make an oni shake also come together to create a spark that will burn throughout the decades. It may not be flawless, but there’s something phenomenal here. If you can somehow find this physically, or locate a link to download, then jump on it if you can!
Anthem gets a 7.5 out of 10.
And so ends the first review of the Summer of Japan, and we’re just getting started! Anthem would go on to dominate the Land of the Rising Sun throughout the 1980s, so join me later this week for when we’ll examine a release from their all too brief time in the 90s. See you then!
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