Galneryus is a Japanese
power metal band, formed in
Osaka in 2001 by guitarist
Syu and vocalist Yama-B.
Originally the only official members, the two utilized several support
musicians until bassist Tsui, keyboardist Yuhki, and drummer Jun-ichi
officially joined for the release of their debut album in 2003. Yama-B
left the group in 2008 citing musical differences, and Yu-To, who
replaced Tsui in 2006, left the following year. Galneryus recruited
Sho on vocals and Taka on bass, and released the album
Resurrection in 2010. The band's highest charting studio album is their eighth,
Angel of Salvation, which was released in 2012 and reached number 17.
2001–2002: Formation and indie days
Galneryus was formed in 2001 by guitarist and
bandleader Syu (formerly from Valkyr,
Animetal,
Aushvitz, and Masaki Project) along with vocalist Masahiro "Yama-B"
Yamaguchi (frontman of AxBites and solo artist of Rekion, River End and
Gunbridge).
Both veterans of the metal scene, they formed Galneryus with the
intention to "express both of their musical tastes/ideas" and so they
started looking for additional members to complete the band. They
recruited A on keyboards (who had previously played with Syu in Valkyr),
Shôgo Himuro on bass, and Toshihiro "Tossan" Yui (formerly of Cemetery,
Honey Quest) on drums.
In October 2001, the band released a 2-track
demo titled "United Flag". The demo was self-produced and released independently. This
EP started gaining the attention of both fans and independent record labels as well.
After playing with other metal bands like Fairy Mirror, Mephistopheles, Galactica Phantom, Mastermind, and
Concerto Moon, Galneryus went back to the studio to record a second EP titled
Rebel Flag
which was released through the independent label Iron Shock in August
2002. The EP again used support musicians to fill the band slots, with
Shôgo Himuro again on bass, Toshihiro Yui again on drums, and Yoshinori
Kataoka on keyboards (replacing A).
After this EP, the band started receiving several record deals and
started touring more. In 2003, they were invited to play the Melodic
Metal Festival in Japan which featured
Swedish power metal band
Dragonland,
as well as Australia's
Dungeon. As a result, Dragonland invited Galneryus to play with them the next time they toured Japan.
[citation needed]
Galneryus was also invited to perform on two metal compilation cover albums with other bands such as Masaki Project,
Saber Tiger, and Mephistopheles. Galneryus performed the song "Black Diamond" (originally from
Finnish power metal band
Stratovarius) on the compilation album
Stand Proud! III and performed the song "Soldier of Fortune" (from Japanese heavy metal band
Loudness) on the compilation album
Japanese Heavy Metal Tribute Tamashii II.
For these songs, the band used supporting musicians Toshihiro Yui on
drums, Yusuke on bass, and Yuhki on keyboards. Both compilation albums
were released simultaneously in December 2002 on the same day through
Iron Shock and distributed through the record label
VAP.
2003–2007: Gone major and formal members
VAP itself signed Galneryus and the band set to work on writing and recording their full-length debut album
The Flag of Punishment which featured all 5 EP songs re-written and re-recorded and also cover art by famed
Final Fantasy artist
Yoshitaka Amano.
At this time Galneryus ceased using temporary members and permanently
recruited Ryosuke "Tsui" Matsui (formerly of AxBites) on bass, Yuhki
(formerly of Ark Storm and Marge Litch) on keyboards and Junichi Satoh
(formerly of
Concerto Moon) on drums. The album was finally released in October 2003. In March 2005, Galneryus released their second album
Advance to the Fall, and later released their third full-length album
Beyond the End of Despair... in July 2006.
After the Live for Rebirth tour, Tsui left Galneryus and Yu-To (later known as Leda of
Deluhi)
was recruited to fill in for bass. The band shortly after released their fourth album
One for All - All for One on August 22, 2007. On October 27, they released their first cover album
Voices from the Past. Galneryus then debuted on
iTunes Store, making their material available worldwide.
2008–2011: Yama-B's departure and Resurrection
In February 2008, both sides of their double A-side single
"Alsatia/Cause Disarray" were used as the opening and ending themes for
the six-episode
anime series
Rin ~Daughters of Mnemosyne~.
On October 10, 2008, it was announced that vocalist Yama-B was leaving the band at the end of the Back to the Flag tour. The decision was made during the recording/releasing of their fifth full album,
Reincarnation. According to Yama-B's note left to the fans on Galneryus' official site, he left due to the band's growth and change.
In the note, Yama-B stated that due to differences in opinion on the
band's style of music, he was leaving. He and the rest of Galneryus are
all okay with this and wished each other well as they went their
separate ways. Yama-B later elaborated in 2013, recalling that while he
and Syu had different musical tastes from the beginning, with every
release the band slowly chased after a new sound "instead of doing music
we loved".
While Yama-B "likes to stick to a certain set of rules, concepts",
particularly Syu would spontaneously abandon a style in order to
incorporate new inspirations. On October 23, 2008, Galneryus released their second cover album
Voices from the Past II, and on March 25, 2009, they released two "best of" albums.
Well-known vocalist
Masatoshi "Sho" Ono stepped in as guest vocalist for a May 30, 2009 performance at the tenth anniversary of Pure Rock Japan Live. In September 2009, bassist Yu-To left the group, and Sho and Taka officially joined. This line-up had their first performance at
Loud Park Festival 2009. Galneryus' song "A Far-Off Distance" was used as the ending theme of the 2010
Rainbow: Nisha Rokubō no Shichinin anime. On April 21, they released the
digital EP Beginning of the Resurrection, which contains a cover of Sho's 1992 hit single "You're the Only...". They released their sixth full-length album,
Resurrection, on June 23 and their third cover album,
Voices from the Past III, on August 20.
2012–present: Angel of Salvation, European tour and new drummers
On January 25, 2012, they released the mini-album
Kizuna. The title song was used in a
Fist of the Blue Sky pachinko game,
and its cover features the series' main character. Galneryus' next
single "Hunting for Your Dream" was used as the second closing theme for
the new
Hunter × Hunter anime adaptation. Ono's solo song "Departure!" (which was covered in English by Galneryus on
Kizuna) was previously the series' first opening theme, while a different version titled "Departure! -Second Version-" was its second.
Their eighth studio album
Angel of Salvation was released on October 10, 2012, and reached number 17 on the
Oricon chart. The title track, which interpolates "
Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 35" by
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky,
is 14:42 minutes long, twice as long as the version featured in its
music video, and features Akane Liv (of Liv Moon) performing backing
vocals. Yuhki, alongside the band, collaborated with acclaimed video
game composer
Daisuke Ishiwatari to create the soundtrack for the Japanese
fighting game BlazBlue: Chrono Phantasma, which released in arcades in November 2012, performing arrangements for most of the series' original themes.
On May 22, 2013, Galneryus released their first self-cover album,
The Ironhearted Flag Vol. 1: Regeneration Side.
It became their highest-charting release to date, reaching number 15,
and is part of their 10th anniversary celebration, which also included a
tour from June 7 to 30. On May 26, they performed at the Pure Rock Japan Live 2013 at Club Citta, alongside
NoGoD,
Saber Tiger and
Onmyo-Za.
Galneryus embarked on their first European tour in July 2014. Beginning in
Germany, the four date tour also took them to
France before finishing in
Spain. They released the album
Vetelgyus in September 2014. Galneryus' song "Attitude to Life" was used as the ending theme for the anime television series
Laughing Under the Clouds. Galneryus released
Under the Force of Courage, their tenth studio album and first
concept album in December 2015. It became their highest-charting studio album, reaching number 13.
In June 2016, it was announced that drummer Jun-ichi had amicably left Galneryus after 13 years.
Syu later said that since Jun-ichi lived in Osaka, taught at a music
school and had other musical projects, it had become difficult for him
to balance them all as Galneryus' activities grew. He was replaced by Fumiya of the groups Thousand Eyes and Undead Corporation. The following year they changed record labels for the first time in 14 years, switching to
Warner Music Japan for the September 27, 2017 release of
Ultimate Sacrifice. It continues the concept of their previous album, and has since become their highest-charting studio album, reaching number 13 on the
Oricon chart.
They released their 12th studio album, Into the Purgatory,
on October 23, 2019. It was supported by the 10-date ~Radiance~ Wailing
in the Flames of Purgatory tour that also celebrated their 15th
anniversary. On June 2, 2020, Galneryus announced that Fumiya had left the band. They also revealed his replacement, Lea of the band 罪號人~Zygote~, who claimed to be influenced by both Jun-ichi and Fumiya. The band released the albums Union Gives Strength on June 16, 2021 and Between Dread and Valor on March 1, 2023.
Both are referred to as "special albums" due to the number of songs
they include, but Syu said there is no particularly big meaning behind
it and they are essentially regular studio albums.
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