Japanese metal
The number of acts increased significantly in the next decade, but only a few saw their material released internationally, including Europe and North America with their pre-established metal bases.
Satori, which was released a little over a year after Black Sabbath's debut album, has been called "proto-metal"[1] and noted as having "traces of early heavy metal.
[3] Additionally, Satori and Flower Travellin' Band vocalist Joe Yamanaka and guitarist Hideki Ishima's work on Kuni Kawachi's first solo album Kirikyogen (1970) have been credited as "honing the formidable and ominous sound that would become the essence of doom metal.
Heavy metal solo artist Mari Hamada, who released material produced by Loudness drummer Munetaka Higuchi,[16] also saw popularity.
In September 1987, Show-Ya organized, produced and presented the first Naon no Yaon rock festival, featuring strictly all-female Japanese musicians and bands.
United's first international performance took place in Los Angeles at the metal festival Foundations Forum in 1995 and they had a few albums released in North America.
[21] Sabbat (1983) and Bellzlleb (1985), whose original lineup included female vocalist Atsuko Koizumi, both formed concurrent with the first wave of black metal.
Another notable act is Sigh, whose debut album Scorn Defeat (1993) was released by Deathlike Silence Records, founded by Euronymous of infamous Norwegian band Mayhem.
The late 1990s and early to mid-2000s saw many veteran acts reunite with classic line-ups; Lazy (1998), Bow Wow (1998), Earthshaker (1999), Loudness (2001), 44Magnum (2002), Show-Ya (2005) and X Japan (2007).
[24] Likewise, Dir En Grey also entered the European market in 2005 with concerts in Berlin and Paris and a release of Withering to Death..[25] The band and album visited the US the following year, which saw them join Korn's Family Values Tour 2006.
[27] In 2007, X Japan drummer Yoshiki organized the J-Rock Revolution event with Warped Tour founder Kevin Lyman, which saw metal acts D'espairsRay and Girugamesh perform in Los Angeles among others.
[29] Symphonic power metal band Versailles gained a significant worldwide following soon after forming as their debut EP Lyrical Sympathy (2007) received a simultaneous European release and they performed in Europe and the United States the following year.
[30] Loudness has re-entered overseas since 2010, and Galneryus, a power metal band that has been major active since 2003, toured Europe for the first time in July 2014.
[32][33][34] Another notable girls metal band is Cyntia, who are believed to have been the first of the movement to join a major record label when they signed to Victor Entertainment in 2013.
[35] The year 2014 brought the international success of self-described "kawaii metal" idol act Babymetal, through the viral YouTube hit "Gimme Chocolate!!".
