Mary's Blood
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was a Japanese all-female heavy metal band from
Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...
, formed in 2009 by four former members of Destrose. It consists of vocalist Eye, drummer Mari, guitarist
Saki Hector Hugh Munro (18 December 1870 – 14 November 1916), popularly known by his pen name Saki and also frequently as H. H. Munro, was a British writer whose witty, mischievous and sometimes macabre stories satirise Edwardian society and ...
and bassist Rio since 2012. After releasing three EPs as an independent band, they signed to
Nippon Columbia , often pronounced ''Korombia'', operating internationally as , is a Japanese record label founded in 1910 as Nipponophone Co., Ltd. It affiliated itself with the Columbia Graphophone Company of the United Kingdom and adopted the standard UK C ...
for their first album, ''Countdown to Evolution'' (2014). Mary's Blood then switched to
Victor Entertainment is a subsidiary of JVCKenwood that produces and distributes music, movies and other entertainment products such as anime and television shows in Japan. It is known as JVC Entertainment in countries where Sony Music Entertainment operates the RC ...
for the release of ''Bloody Palace'' (2015) and ''Fate'' (2016). They signed to
Tokuma Japan Communications is a publisher in Japan, headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. The company was established in 1954 by Yasuyoshi Tokuma in Minato, Tokyo. The company's product portfolio includes music publishing, video game publishing, movies, anime, magazines, man ...
in 2018 and released three further studio albums, including their highest-charting, ''Confessions'' (2019). Mary's Blood began an indefinite hiatus on April 9, 2022.


History


2009–2017: Formation and major label debut

After the breakup of Destrose on New Year's Eve 2008, vocalist Eye, guitarist Eri, bassist Niboshi (formerly known as "Kayo"), and drummer Mari later regrouped and recruited guitarist Chiba to form Mary's Blood in December 2009. They are named after the "
Bloody Mary #REDIRECT Bloody Mary {{redirect category shell, {{R ambig{{R from other capitalisation{{R unprintworthy ...
" cocktail and its namesake,
Queen Mary I of England Mary I (18 February 1516 – 17 November 1558), also known as Mary Tudor, was Queen of England and Ireland from July 1553 and Queen of Spain as the wife of King Philip II from January 1556 until her death in 1558. She made vigorous a ...
. Although the band's name has always been written in English the same way, its members did not pronounce the "s" in Japanese until making their major label debut. They released their debut single "Save the Queen" on December 20. Their first EP, ''0-Zero'', was published on June 8, 2011. The single "Last Game" followed on November 28 and placed on
Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics Statistics (from German language, German: ', "description of a State (polity), state, a country") is the discipline that ...
's main chart despite being an independent band. In 2012, Chiba, Niboshi and Eri all left Mary's Blood in quick succession. Another Destrose alumni,
Saki Hector Hugh Munro (18 December 1870 – 14 November 1916), popularly known by his pen name Saki and also frequently as H. H. Munro, was a British writer whose witty, mischievous and sometimes macabre stories satirise Edwardian society and ...
, was then recruited as guitarist, and the lineup of Eye, Mari, Saki and bassist Rio was finalized in September. Mary's Blood performed their first international show in
Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...
, Texas at
Anime Matsuri Anime Matsuri is an annual four-day anime convention traditionally held during spring at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston, Texas. The convention's name comes from the Japanese word 'matsuri' meaning festival. Programming The c ...
2013. Their third EP, ''Azure'', was released on July 10, 2013 and reached number 17 on the Oricon indies chart. The band signed with major record label
Nippon Columbia , often pronounced ''Korombia'', operating internationally as , is a Japanese record label founded in 1910 as Nipponophone Co., Ltd. It affiliated itself with the Columbia Graphophone Company of the United Kingdom and adopted the standard UK C ...
and released their first album ''Countdown to Evolution'' on August 20, 2014. Its song "Marionette" was the ending theme of the
TV Kanagawa (tvk for short) is an independent television station in Japan serving Kanagawa Prefecture and parts of the Greater Tokyo Area with favorable reception. The station was founded on April 20, 1971 and began broadcasting on April 1, 1972. Its call s ...
show ''Mutoma''. Readers of heavy metal magazine ''
Burrn! is a monthly Japanese magazine for fans of heavy metal music, published since September 1984. It is the major publication on heavy metal music in the country. As of 2013, it is published by Shinko Music Entertainment in Tokyo Tokyo, off ...
'' voted Mary's Blood second place in its best newcomer category, "Marionette" seventh in the music category, and ''Countdown to Evolution'' 15th in the album category. The band also sold out their first solo tour, Tour Act 1: Countdown to Evolution. They were the opening act for
Marty Friedman (born December 8, 1962) is an American guitarist, best known for his tenure as the lead guitarist of thrash metal band Megadeth from 1990 to 2000. He is also known for playing alongside Jason Becker in Cacophony from 1986 until 1989, as well ...
on September 25, 2014, and for Secret Sphere and Ego Fall on January 12, 2015. Mary's Blood performed at 2015's
Naon no Yaon is an annual all-female music festival held at Hibiya Open-Air Concert Hall in Tokyo, Japan's Hibiya Park. Created and "produced" by Heavy metal music, heavy metal band Show-Ya, performing artists and staff members are restricted to females, but ...
festival, a rock festival held by
Show-Ya are a Japanese all-female Heavy metal music, heavy metal band formed in 1981. The group disbanded in 1998 but reformed with the original line-up in 2005 for the 20th anniversary of their first release. Their music is deeply rooted in classic ro ...
that features only female bands. They also opened for
DragonForce DragonForce are a British power metal band from London, formed in 1999. They are known for their long and fast guitar solos, fantasy-themed lyrics and retro video game-influenced sound. The band themselves refer to their music as "extreme po ...
in Hong Kong on August 30, 2015. The band switched labels to
Victor Entertainment is a subsidiary of JVCKenwood that produces and distributes music, movies and other entertainment products such as anime and television shows in Japan. It is known as JVC Entertainment in countries where Sony Music Entertainment operates the RC ...
, released their second album ''Bloody Palace'' on October 7, and began the Invasion of Queen tour on October 17, 2015. Mary's Blood hosted the Grand Cross Tour 2016, where they performed with a different act at each concert. On April 16 they played with thrash metal band Outrage, singer
Nanase Aikawa is a Japanese singer. She publishes her music under the Motorod label, a division of Avex Group. Biography Early life She was born in Higashiyodogawa-ku, Osaka, Japan on February 16, 1975. Throughout her school years, Nanase had sung and p ...
joined them the following day, and Show-Ya frontwoman
Keiko Terada is a Japanese rock singer. She was co-founder and lead singer of the successful Japanese female hard rock and heavy metal band Show-Ya from 1982 to 1991, before going solo. On her solo albums she expanded from hard rock and heavy metal to blue ...
performed with them on May 3. They released their third album ''Fate'' on October 26, 2016. It features collaborations with
Seikima-II is a Japanese Heavy metal music, heavy metal band, formed in 1982. Throughout their career they have had numerous lineups, with lead singer Demon Kakka the sole constant member. The group has sold over 10 million records in Japan alone. The ...
guitarist
Luke Takamura is a Japanese musician, singer, and songwriter. He is best known as guitarist of the heavy metal band Seikima-II from 1987 to 1999, and for various temporary reunions since. From 2002 to 2020, he was the lead singer and guitarist of the rock ...
, Show-Ya guitarist Miki "Sun-go" Igarashi, Kuroyume bassist Hitoki, and producer Yuyoyuppe. The band supported it with the Change the Fate tour that began on October 28, and ended on January 22, 2017 with Sun-go and Hitoki as guests. British record label
JPU Records JPU Records is a British record label formed in 2012, which specializes in handling international releases by Japanese artists. Notable acts on JPU's roster include The Gazette (band), The Gazette, Band-Maid, Lovebites (band), Lovebites, and Nemo ...
released ''Bloody Palace'' and ''Fate'' in Europe on August 18, 2017, while ''Fate'' (August 29, 2017) and ''Bloody Palace'' (October 17, 2017) were released in North America by Sliptrick Records.


2018–2022: Tokuma Japan and hiatus

After switching labels to
Tokuma Japan Communications is a publisher in Japan, headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. The company was established in 1954 by Yasuyoshi Tokuma in Minato, Tokyo. The company's product portfolio includes music publishing, video game publishing, movies, anime, magazines, man ...
, Mary's Blood released their fourth album ''Revenant'' on April 18, 2018. Their next album ''Confessions'' was released in Japan on June 12, 2019, and became their highest-charting to date. It was released in Europe on October 4. That same day, Mary's Blood played their first show in Europe as the headliner of Metal Matsuri in London at the
O2 Academy Islington The O2 Academy Islington, formerly known as the Carling Academy Islington, is an indoor music venue situated in the N1 Shopping Centre accessible via Upper Street and Liverpool Road, in the London Borough of Islington. It is run by the Academy ...
. The band's Conceptual Tour was scheduled to take place in May 2020, but was postponed until August and September due to the
COVID-19 pandemic in Japan The COVID-19 pandemic in Japan has resulted in confirmed cases of COVID-19 and deaths, along with 33,728,878 recoveries. Government of Japan, The Japanese government confirmed the country's first case of the disease on 16 January 2020 in a ...
. ''Re>Animator'', a cover album of heavy metal versions of
anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...
theme songs, was released on August 26, 2020. It features songs such as " Forever Love", " Magia", " Driver's High" and " Pegasus Fantasy". The last is sung as a duet with its original singer NoB, who has been Eye's vocal coach for the last 10 years. In 2021, the band held the Kōtetsu Densetsu tour which featured special guests; Kentaro (ex-
Gargoyle In architecture, and specifically Gothic architecture, a gargoyle () is a carved or formed Grotesque (architecture), grotesque with a spout designed to convey water from a roof and away from the side of a building, thereby preventing it from ...
) on August 28,
Masatoshi Ono , also known as Sho, is a Japanese rock/heavy metal singer-songwriter and vocal coach. Ono got his start in the 1980s as vocalist of the heavy metal band Fort Bragg. In 1992, he released his first solo single, "Pure ni Nare", on Sony Records. I ...
on September 23, and Shingo☆ ( Sex Machineguns) on October 23. Mary's Blood released their self-titled sixth studio album on September 29, 2021. Produced by Yorimasa Hisatake (producer of
Galneryus is a Japanese power metal band, formed in Osaka in 2001 by guitarist Syu and vocalist Yama-B.Artist.cdjourn ...
), the band members described it as a return to their heavy metal origins. It was supported by the three-date Blow Up Our Fire Tour from November 13 to December 11. On December 16, Mary's Blood announced that they would be going on indefinite hiatus in April 2022. The band apologized for the sudden announcement and explained that they decided to have a "recharging period" for the members to grow further and said that when they restart activities, they hope to deliver the music of Mary's Blood in a "more evolved form." Following two concerts titled The Final Day in Osaka on March 23 and Nagoya on March 24, the indefinite hiatus began after an April 9, 2022 concert at Tokyo's Toyosu Pit titled Mary's Blood The Final Day ~Countdown to Evolution~. The final concert was recorded and released on home video on July 30. Following the hiatus, Saki continued to play in the band
Nemophila ''Nemophila'' is a genus found in the flowering plant family Boraginaceae. Most of the species in ''Nemophila'' contain the phrase "baby blue eyes" in their common names. ''N. menziesii'' has the common name of "baby blue eyes". ''N. parviflora ...
(formed in 2019) until 2024, while Mari directed her focus to making drumming videos for her
YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
channel. Rio and Eye both began solo careers, the former under the name . In 2023, Mari began her own solo career and rejoined the thrash metal band Crucified.


Musical style and songwriting

Saki described Mary's Blood as a straight heavy metal band, but because they have many different styles of songs, she feels free to make whatever sounds she wants with them. From the beginning of the group, Mari and Eye have consciously aimed to have vocal melodies that are catchy and easy for Japanese people to listen to. Saki stated that while their music is also consumed internationally, the band mainly thinks about Japanese listeners, and said it is hard to find a balance between the pop things and the heavy metal things as a member. The guitarist explained that Eye and Rio love
visual kei , abbreviated , is a category of Japanese musicians that have a strong focus on extravagant stage costumes that originated in Japan during the early 1980s. Koji Dejima of '' Bounce'' wrote that visual kei is not a specific sound, but rather it " ...
music, which sometimes makes it difficult for her to find the tones to match the vocals in songs that they compose. Both Eye and Rio wanted to be in bands because of
L'Arc-en-Ciel , stylized as L'Arc〜en〜Ciel and abbreviated as Laruku, is a Japanese rock band formed in Osaka in 1991 by bassist Tetsuya and vocalist Hyde. Following the departure of original members Hiro and Pero, guitarist Ken and drummer Sakura were ...
, Mari started playing music because of
X Japan is a Japanese Rock music, rock band from Chiba Prefecture, Chiba, formed in 1982 by drummer and pianist Yoshiki (musician), Yoshiki and lead vocalist Toshi (musician), Toshi. Starting as a predominantly power metal, power/speed metal band with ...
, and Saki was inspired to become a musician by
Seikima-II is a Japanese Heavy metal music, heavy metal band, formed in 1982. Throughout their career they have had numerous lineups, with lead singer Demon Kakka the sole constant member. The group has sold over 10 million records in Japan alone. The ...
. Guitarist Eri was the main composer of songs in the initial lineup of Mary's Blood. Since joining in 2012, guitarist Saki has taken over this role. When writing for the band, she composes practically everything in the song, except for some drum fills that Mari comes up with. When vocalist Eye composes songs, she does so on piano because she can not play guitar. Rio has stated that the other members write the "so-called good songs," so the bassist believes she is responsible for bringing a different element via her own compositions. For example, "High 5" came from her love of
punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...
, while "Hello" was inspired by "
Dancing Queen "Dancing Queen" is a song by the Swedish group ABBA, released as the lead single from their fourth studio album, '' Arrival'' (1976). It was written by Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus and Stig Anderson. Andersson and Ulvaeus also produced the ...
". Eye is the main lyricist, and she writes them after receiving the melody from whoever wrote the song. The singer said that while there are times she would like to use English because it sounds cool, Japanese words have multiple meanings and sometimes conveying meaning is more important. Because she usually writes the lyrics, Eye also normally suggests the track order of albums based on their stories. Mary's Blood's second and third EPs, ''Scarlet'' and ''Azure'', had the themes "red" and "blue" respectively. Mari described their debut album ''Countdown to Evolution'' as emphasizing "heaviness and speed," while Saki said they intended it to be their "most intense and technical" record up to that point. Eye believes that the various guest musicians and arrangers on ''Fate'' provided a range of different sounds for the album. For example, Yuyoyuppe's composition "Angel's Ladder" marks the first time Saki and Rio had ever played a seven-string guitar and five-string bass respectively. Eye said the recording environment for ''Revenant'' was totally different from those of their previous three albums, and explained its title was meant to mean the band was "reborn and starting over" while retaining their good qualities. Saki believes the album has a variety of different songs, explaining that for "World's End" she went with a typical modern metal sound and tone, but used an old school sound for "On the Rocks". Their next album, ''Confessions'', is a
concept album A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. Som ...
centered on the theme of "darkness." Because the band believes there are many different kinds of darkness, some songs sound cheerful on the surface, but their content is "quite depressing." After working with a belly dancer on their tour for ''Revenant'', the
Middle Eastern music The various nations of the region include the Arabic-speaking countries of the Middle East, the Iranian traditions of Persia, the Jewish music of Israel and the diaspora, Kurdish music, Armenian music. Azeri Music, the varied traditions of Cyp ...
that was used inspired "Laylah". Mary's Blood's sixth album is self-titled and has the concept of "heavy metal" with the intention of returning to their roots. Because of the theme, they asked Yorimasa Hisatake (known for his work with Galneryus and Animetal) to produce. Yashiro supported Mary's Blood at live performances as second guitarist since 2014. Saki explained that continuously employing the same support guitarist is more efficient than using different ones as it cuts down on the need for rehearsals. She also said that Yashiro does not join as a full member due to her schedule with many different projects, while Yashiro herself stated she does not join in order to keep "the balance" between Mary's Blood's four members.


Members

Current members * Eye – vocals (2009–2022) * Mari – drums, bandleader (2009–2022) *
Saki Hector Hugh Munro (18 December 1870 – 14 November 1916), popularly known by his pen name Saki and also frequently as H. H. Munro, was a British writer whose witty, mischievous and sometimes macabre stories satirise Edwardian society and ...
– guitar, backing vocals (2012–2022) * Rio – bass guitar, backing vocals (2012–2022) Former members * Chiba – guitar, backing vocals (2009–2012) * Niboshi – bass, backing vocals (2009–2012) * Eri – guitar, backing vocals (2009–2012) Support member * Yashiro – guitar, backing vocals (2014–2022)


Discography


Studio albums


EPs


Cover albums


Compilation albums


Singles


Video albums


References


External links

* (unavailable) {{Authority control Japanese heavy metal musical groups Japanese power metal musical groups Musical groups from Tokyo Musical groups established in 2009 2009 establishments in Japan Japanese all-female bands Japanese musical quartets Nippon Columbia artists Victor Entertainment artists Tokuma Japan Communications artists All-female metal bands