INHALE

In May 2006, after guitarist Takahiro Hashimoto's former band K.O.D came to an end, he quickly started searching for new musicians to work with.

That August, Hashimoto was joined by vocalist Shoichi Sakamaki and bassist Akira Tateyama, who had been a support member in thrash metal band Grim Force, and INHALE was born. Tateyama brought to the band his technical playing and live performance skills, which had drawn much attention during Grim Force's visit to Taipei’s biggest rock festival in the summer 2006. The drummer position was filled by Tatsuya Fujimori, who had parted ways with the melodic death metal band Endemic Fear, which was active in the Kansai area.

In late 2006, INHALE released their first songs on the Japanese indie music site Audioleaf. Their talent was immediately noticed and their songs' daily play count started to increase. By the end of the year, they earned their place as one of the most played metal bands on Audioleaf.

At the same time, they played live shows that spread the word all around the underground metal scene. Hashimoto soon earned a guitar endorsement with well-known Japanese guitar maker Fujigen and appeared in Japanese guitar magazines.

INHALE released their first untitled demo in December 2007, and it quickly sold out. The band started writing songs for their first full length album afterward, and it is worth noting that they personally took charge of the production of their work—even the engineering and mixing was done by Hashimoto. The mastering was done by world renowned recording engineer Ted Jensen, of Sterling Sound.

On September 16th, 2009, INHALE were featured on Zestone Records's compilation album. Zestone Records also announced that they would release the band's debut album. In October 2009, the first track from the coming album was uploaded to the band's official Myspace. Finally, by the end of November, much to their fans' delight,INHALE's debut album Heaven & Hell was released in Japan.

Unfortunately, May 2010 would see Sakamaki leave the band, halting their momentum. After auditioning about thirty people, that November, INHALE announced that they had chosen English vocalist Jeff Allen (ex-They Speak In Swarms) to be his replacement. The band then announced that they would begin work on their second album the next spring.

In January 2011, INHALE posted a new song called Sanctuary on Audioleaf. That summer, they embarked on a successful tour of Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya with METAL SAFARI and EACH OF THE DAYS.

As promised, in April 2012, INHALE began recording their second album. Sadly, their progress was stopped in its tracks once again that June when Jeff was forced to return to his home country due to a family emergency. The band held two auditions later in the year, and in July 2013, they announced that they had recruited a new vocalist and would get back to work.

The new singer was later revealed to be RYO, of hard rock/metalcore band Unveil Raze, and INHALE's first two performances with him took place on September 27th and 28th, in Osaka and Nagoya respectively. These dates also featured performances by original vocalist Shoichi's current band Ghouls Attack!.

INHALE released their first new single with RYO, The Darkest Days, on October 4th. Unfortunately, it would also prove to be their release last with him, as RYO announced that he would be leaving the band the next year due to musical differences. His last live with INHALE was at Shinsaibashi VARON in August. To make matters worse, longtime drummer Tatsuya Fujimori announced his departure at the same time due to personal reasons, leaving the band after their performance at Imaike CLUB 3STAR on May 3rd. Support drummer Yasuo Kanemoto (Shatter Silence) filled in for him during the rest of their scheduled gigs.

Still, the remaining members of INHALE were determined to carry on. They quickly began auditioning vocalists, hoping to find the right person to complete their second album. To help draw in applicants, in April 2015, they released an instrumental version of a new song called RISE on Youtube and distributed demo CDs featuring the track for free at music shops.

In September 2015, they announced that their search had finally come to an end. They have been joined by Natsurou Inada, the frontman of the Osaka-based metalcore band Roar.