Aion is a Japanese

metal A metal (from Greek μέταλλον ''métallon'', "mine, quarry, metal") is a material that, when freshly prepared, polished, or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electricity and heat relatively well. Metals are typicall ...

band from

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of ...

, formed in 1983 by guitarist Izumi. Aion are considered to be important to the formation of

visual kei is a movement among Japanese musicians that is characterized by the use of varying levels of make-up, elaborate hair styles and flamboyant costumes, often, but not always, coupled with androgynous aesthetics, similar to Western glam rock. Some ...

, credited as being one of the bands to start the movement in the early '80s. They were also one of the most successful Japanese metal bands of the early '90s, charting on the

Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan and Western music. It started as, which was founded by Sōkō Koike in ...

music chart and touring with big bands such as

Luna Sea Luna Sea (stylized as LUNA SEA) is a Japanese rock band formed in Kanagawa Prefecture in 1986. Due to the use of make-up and costumes early in their career and their widespread popularity, they are considered one of the most successful and inf ...

. As of 2010 they have released 15 full albums, 6 singles, 2 EPs and more than 10 VHS/DVD.

History

Aion was originally created in 1983 by Izumi Ochiai. He soon ended it in 1985 to start a new band named Mein Kampf (which included future X guitarist Kerry and

Color Color (American English) or colour (British English) is the visual perceptual property deriving from the spectrum of light interacting with the photoreceptor cells of the eyes. Color categories and physical specifications of color are assoc ...

drummer Toshi). But this band was short lived as well, only lasting until May 1986. Izumi then decided to try again with Aion, bringing with him Mein Kampf bassist Tatsuya "Dean" Miwa and vocalist Kenichi "Rod" Fujisaki, 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 Satoru Sasano. And with this line-up they had their first official release, the 1987 single "Hang on Night". In 1988 Satoru left and Hisayoshi Hiraga joined, their first album '' Deathrash Bound'' was released in 1989. Hisayoshi left soon after the album's release, and they finally got a steady vocalist when he was replaced by Nov. In 1990 they released '' Human Griefman'', which is basically ''Deathrash Bound'', the only differences being Nov is singing and he also rewrote the lyrics. Signing a contract with BMG in 1990, Aion gained a following in the

scene. 1991 was the year when they started to succeed, with the release of '' Aionism''. At that time, Aion and

used to play a lot of shows together. This led to Luna Sea providing some backing vocals on the album. Bigger success would come in 1992 when they changed from their

thrash Thrash may refer to: *Thrashing (computer science), where increasing resources are used to do a decreasing amount of work *Thrash (surname) * Thrash, mascot of the Atlanta Thrashers *'' Thrash Rally'', a top-down perspective rally racing video gam ...

and

speed metal Speed metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music that originated in the late 1970s from new wave of British heavy metal (NWOBHM) roots.K. Kahn-Harris, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'' (Berg Publishers, 2007), , p. 31. It ...

roots to a more

power metal Power metal is a subgenre of heavy metal combining characteristics of traditional heavy metal with speed metal, often within symphonic context. Generally, power metal is characterized by a faster, lighter, and more uplifting sound, in contra ...

sound. The first album with the new sound, '' Aion -Aion-'', was very successful. Also in 1992 S.A.B left and was replaced by Shu. Local magazines and TV showcased them from 1991 until 1995, when their album ''

Freak-Out Freak-Out is the seventh album released by the Japanese metal band Aion. This is the bands "softest sounding" album, the songs are more straight hard rock, with barely any metal edge to them. For this reason it is arguably considered the bands ...

'' was released. In 1995 they disbanded, although not in the traditional sense as Nov and Izumi continued to release their own music using the Aion name and reverting to their original thrash and speed metal sound. In 2000 Dean and Shu rejoined the band and they released the album ''Magnitude'' in three versions: Japanese, English and All English. Although Shu soon left, he was replaced with the return of S.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. Support drummer Youth-K was recruited in his place, and in 2010 Aion released their first single in 16 years "Black Heart". Aion took part in Luna Sea's Lunatic Fest at

Makuhari Messe is a Japanese convention center outside Tokyo, located in the Mihama-ku ward of Chiba City, in the northwest corner of Chiba Prefecture. Designed by Fumihiko Maki, it is accessible by Tokyo's commuter rail system. ''Makuhari'' is the name of ...

on June 28, 2015. Bassist Dean and vocalist Nov, who were in the band for the last 17 and 28 years respectively, both left Aion on April 18, 2017, leaving guitarist Izumi as the only official member.

Band members

Current members

* Izumi Ochiai –

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

and

leader Leadership, both as a research area and as a practical skill, encompasses the ability of an individual, group or organization to "lead", influence or guide other individuals, teams, or entire organizations. The word "leadership" often gets vi ...

1983–1985, 1986–present (Mein Kampf, The Braincase) * Youth-K – support drums 2009–present (Batcave, BPM 13 Groove,

Raglaia Rami or Ramy may refer to: People Given name In music *Rami (singer), Japanese singer * Rami El-Kaleh (born 1983), Libyan-Irish musician *Rami Jaffee (born 1969), American keyboardist *Rami Kleinstein (born 1962), Israeli singer and composer *Ram ...

)

Former members

* Taro –

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

1983 * Potukun – vocals * Shin'ichi "Shin" – drums * Hideki – drums 1983–1985 * Ray – bass 1984–1985 * Kamizi – vocals 1985 * Kenichi "Rod" Fujisaki – vocals 1986 (Mein Kampf, Justy Nasty, Craze) * Salee – vocals 1986–1987 * Satoru Sasano – vocals 1987–1989 (Paranoia, Sweet Death) * Hisayoshi Hiraga – vocals 1989 (Rosenfeld, Thread Worm) * Shue "Shu" Sakai – drums 1992–1995, 2000 (Virus, Girl Tique) * Jun "S.A.B" Saburi – drums 1986–1992, 2000–2009 (Virus, Lizer) Died October 2, 2016. * Nov Takafumi – vocals 1989–2017 (Paranoia, Z-Sect, Volcano, Zigoku Quartet) * Tatsuya "Dean" Miwa – bass 1986–1995, 2000–2017 (Mein Kampf)

Discography

Studio albums

* '' Deathrash Bound'' (March 21, 1989) * '' Human Griefman'' (February 25, 1990) * '' Aionism'' (October 8, 1991) Oricon Albums Chart Position: No. 37 * No. 34 * '' Z'' (Z ETTO June 2, 1993) No. 40 * '' Absolute'' (March 2, 1994) No. 41 * ''

'' (November 22, 1995) No. 96 * ''Mithras'' (February 22, 1997, fan-club only) * ''Eve'' (April 4, 1998, fan-club only) * ''Ceremony of Cross Out'' (September 9, 1999, fan-club only) * ''Judge of Death Line'' (September 9, 1999, fan-club only) * ''Manners of Kill and Wound'' (September 9, 1999, fan-club only) * ''Magnitude'' (December 24, 2000, fan-club only, 3 versions: Japanese, English and English with Japanese) * ''Sister'' (October 24, 2003, fan-club only)

EPs

* ''MA-G-MA'' (November 25, 1990) * No. 77

Self-cover album

* ''Nine Bells'' (July 7, 2012)

Live albums

* ''Plasmatic Mania'' (April 8, 1992) No. 46 * ''Threatened Species Mania'' (December 13, 2011)

Singles

* "Hang on Night" (July 1987) * "Fatalism" (August 3, 1990, distributed at a Nakano Kokaido concert) * "Gasp for Breath" (August 5, 1990, released with the music magazine Rockin' f) * "Be Afraid" (October 2, 1991) Oricon Singles Chart Position: No. 45 * "Piece of My Life" (1991, limited to 3,000 who purchased "Be Afraid" & ''Aionism'') * No. 68 * "Missing" (February 23, 1994) * "Black Heart" (October 13, 2010)

References

External links

* {{Authority control Visual kei musical groups Japanese thrash metal musical groups Japanese power metal musical groups Japanese speed metal musical groups Musical groups from Osaka Musical groups established in 1983 Musical groups disestablished in 1985 Musical groups reestablished in 1986