Japanese Samurai Metal Has Arrived + It’s Glorious
The next historical metal subgenre has arrived to face off in a Deadliest Warrior battle to the death! Joining tried and true genres like pirate metal and viking metal, samurai metal has arrived thanks to Japanese band Gyze.
Gyze have been around for the better part of a decade, writing neoclassical metal with some Japanese folk influence mixed in. The band experienced some success with their 2014 single “Desire,” but their new video for “Samurai Metal” is sure to become their signature cut.
Set in a historic Japanese village, Gyze swing their axes instead of swords in celebration of the Land of the Rising Sun. COVID-era cameos are also made by DragonForce’s Marc Hudson, Battle Beast, Sirenia, A&P Reacts and more.
“I think there is folk metal all over the world. Chinese bands have Chinese sounds and Brazilian bands have Brazilian sounds,” frontman Ryoji recently told Geki Rock. “I happened to listen to a folk metal playlist and thought, ‘I don't have a Japanese band.’ ‘Samurai Metal’ was born when I thought about what I would do if I could make a song that could be cut into that hand. This time, I tried to keep everything simple from the title to the lyrics so that everything was stupid.”
He continues, “The highlights [of ‘Samurai Metal’] are ‘sayonara’ and ‘konnichiwa,’ which are Japanese. I'd like to scream with everyone over there someday live. I think it's a song that has an impact immediately after listening to it, so I think it's a song that can be enjoyed by various people, even if you're not the only one who listened to metal.”
Watch the video for “Samurai Metal” below and click here to follow Gyze on Facebook.
GYZE, "SAMURAI METAL"