Aion
Aion (アイオン) is a Japanese metal band formed in 1983 by guitarist Izumi Ochiai. Aion are considered to be important to the
formation of visual kei,credited as being one of the bands to start the movement in the early ’80s. They are also considered
to be one of the most successful heavymetal bands in Japan, touring with big bands such as X Japan and Luna Sea. As of
2010 they have released 15 full albums, 6 singles, 2 EPs andmore than 10 VHS/DVD.
Band history
Aion was originally created in 1983 by Izumi Ochiai, he soon ended it in 1985 to start a new band named Mein Kampf. B ...read more
Aion (アイオン) is a Japanese metal band formed in 1983 by guitarist Izumi Ochiai. Aion are considered to be important to the
formation of visual kei,credited as being one of the bands to start the movement in the early ’80s. They are also considered
to be one of the most successful heavymetal bands in Japan, touring with big bands such as X Japan and Luna Sea. As of
2010 they have released 15 full albums, 6 singles, 2 EPs andmore than 10 VHS/DVD.
Band history
Aion was originally created in 1983 by Izumi Ochiai, he soon ended it in 1985 to start a new band named Mein Kampf. But this
band was short livedas well, only lasting until May 1986. Izumi then decided to try again with Aion, bringing with him Mein
Kampf bassist Tatsuya “Dean” Miwa andvocalist Rod, and adding Jun “S.A.B” Saburi on drums. Rod would soon be replaced by
Salee, whom after a year, would then be replaced by SatoruSasano. And with this line-up they had their first official release,
the 1987 single “Hang on Night”. In 1988 Satoru left and Hisayoshi Hiraga(Rosenfeld) joined, their first album “Deathrash
Bound” was released in 1989 (vinyl only). Hisayoshi left soon after the album’s release, and theyfinally got a steady vocalist
when he was replaced by Nov. In 1990 they released “Human Griefman”, which is basically Deathrash Bound, the
onlydifferences being Nov is singing and he also rewrote the lyrics. Signing a contract with BMG in 1990, Aion gained a
following in the visual kei scene.1991 was the year when they started to succeed, with the release of “Aionism”. At that
time, Aion and Luna Sea used to play a lot of showstogether. This led to Luna Sea providing some backing vocals on the
album. Bigger success would come in 1992 when they changed from theirspeed/thrash metal roots to a more stylized melodic
power metal sound. The first, self titled, album with the new sound was very successful. Alsoin 1992 S.A.B left and was
replaced by Shu. Local magazines and TV showcased them from 1991 until 1995, when their last album, “Freak Out”,was
released. In 1995 they disbanded, although not in the traditional sense, as Nov and Izumi continued to release their own
music using the Aionname.
In 2000 Dean and Shu rejoined the band and they released the album “Magnitude”. Although Shu soon left, he was replaced
with the return ofS.A.B, thus the “classic” Aion line-up was reunited. In 2003 they released the album “Sister”. They
continued to play shows in small live houses,until 2009 when S.A.B left. He was replaced by Youth-K, and in 2010 they
released their first single in 16 years “Black Heart”.
- Courtesy of Last.fm « hide |
