As 2015 draws near, JaME prepares a four-part special to introduce you to up and coming artists whom we think have great potential to make it big in the near future. In the first installment of our "Rising Stars of 2015" series, meet one of the "girls' metal" movement's brightest new prospects.
Introduction
Hailing from the city of Fukuoka,
BRIDEAR was formed in November 2011 by vocalist
KIMI, guitarist
MITSURU and bassist
HARU. Support drummer
KAI became an official member in February 2012, followed by second guitarist
Misa in April. That same month,
BRIDEAR made their live debut at Fukuoka’s Spiral Factory.
On August 1st, the band ventured outside Fukuoka for the first time, playing at
nonLinear Metal DynamiX 2012-Vol.7 in Nagoya. First demo
Pray / Another name was released on August 8th, followed by debut single
Thread Of The Light / Roulette on March 17th, 2013.
Meanwhile, the girls kept up a busy touring schedule, playing lives across Japan. These included an appearance at
WOMEN’S POWER Vol.54 in Osaka in March, and as the opening act at
Yama-B's band
AXBITES’s tenth anniversary live in May.
BRIDEAR rounded off a hectic 2013 with the release of their debut mini album
Overturn The Doom on December 18th, along with a one-man live at Tokyo’s Kichijoji CRESCENDO on December 26th.
In February 2014,
BRIDEAR sponsored their first live event
BRIDEAR Presents Edge Of Infinity -Vol.1-, held at Fukuoka’s BEAT STATION. On March 9th, the band opened for
Yousei Teikoku at the male-only event
GEGENANGRIFF: zweit. Then in July, the girls returned once more to BEAT STATION for a two-man live with
LIGHT BRINGER, part of the latter’s
Lovely Music Tour 2014 ～Reprise The Infinite Fantasy～. On October 22nd,
BRIDEAR released their second single
Light In The Dark / NO SALVATION.
Three years on,
BRIDEAR’s prospects are looking brighter than ever. The band continues to tour relentlessly, and looks primed to soon take their place amongst the “girls’ metal” elite.
Interview
How did the members all first meet?
BRIDEAR: The vocalist, bassist and drummer had already played together in their previous band before we formed
BRIDEAR. We found the two guitarists on a website for recruiting band members.
What inspired you to form an all-female metal band?
BRIDEAR: We thought it would be cooler if women could create cool music with women only. We would like to approach music with a woman's sensibility.
Who are BRIDEAR's main musical influences?
BRIDEAR: Each band member is influenced by different people. As a whole, we are mainly influenced by overseas metal bands, Japanese metal bands or J-rock bands.
Congratulations on your new single. Are there any plans for a full-length debut in the near future?
BRIDEAR: Nothing is currently decided, but we hope to announce something next year.
Please complete the sentence: Dear JaME readers…
BRIDEAR: We are Japanese female band
BRIDEAR. We will continuously send our own music to you, so please support us! If we hold a world tour, be sure to come to our show!
Review
Title of release:
Overturn The Doom
Date of release: 2013.12.19
You often find that within established genres like metal and hip-hop, it can take new artists as many as two or three albums before they find an approach to the genre that works for them. Not in
BRIDEAR’s case. Released barely two years after the band’s founding, having only put out one demo and one single beforehand, mini album
Overturn The Doom shows five young women bursting with confidence, and with songwriting abilities to envy.
It’s standard practice these days for metal bands, both Eastern and Western, to open their albums with some sort of instrumental prelude. Sometimes, this can be little more than four bars of MIDI strings repeated for a minute.
BRIDEAR very much buck this trend with
New Era, a full-blown two-minute orchestral overture that opens the mini album in grand fashion.
First actual song
Pray marks a significant change in style. Gone are the strings and xylophones, replaced by the grinding hard rock riffs of
Misa and
MITSURU’s guitars and
KAI’s driving backbeat. The whine of feedback that ends the track signals another transition;
Thread Of The Light, an extended version of a song from
BRIDEAR’s debut single, is the record’s first proper metal track. Appropriately enough,
Imitation follows suit, and a fair chunk of its five-minute running time is given over to
Misa and
MITSURU’s alternating solos.
The more melodic
Another Name offers a slight reprieve from the aggressive riffing, and features the record’s catchiest vocal hook. Power metal makes something of a return in
Voice Is To Silence, which boasts probably the best display of both guitarists’ abilities on the mini album. A synthesizer also figures prominently in the chorus.
To end,
BRIDEAR go for broke with the ambitious seven-minute epic
Wing Of Hope, a track dominated by
KIMI’s sonorous vocals. Halfway through this towering anthem, the rest of the band each get their moment to shine: the guitarists turn in an impressive harmonized solo,
KAI provides some lightning-fast drum fills and even bassist
HARU lays down a quick solo. Even so, the track ultimately belongs to
KIMI. Towards the end, orchestral elements are added to the mix, adding an extra layer of grandeur to
Wing Of Hope’s closing minutes. Then,
Misa and
MITSURU shred their way through the final thirty seconds, giving
Overturn The Doom a suitably metal finish.
One has to applaud BRIDEAR’s dedication to their chosen genre; unlike some more established “girls’ metal” acts, there’s not a ballad or pop song in sight here. Instead, they keep it raw, pure, and above all, heavy. Long may they continue, for if the six songs on
Overturn The Doom were enough to have these women playing two-man lives with the likes of
LIGHT BRINGER, just imagine the heights a full-length album of this quality could propel them to.
