Galneryus

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).^[6][8] 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. Rebel Flag was released through the independent label Iron Shock in August 2002.^[9] 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,^[10] as well as Australia's Dungeon. As a result, Dragonland invited Galneryus to play with them the next time they toured Japan.

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.^[8] 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.^[9] 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)^[11] 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~.^[12]

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.^[13][14] 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.^[14] 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".^[15] 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.^[15] 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.

The Galneryus logo, used since 2010.

Well-known vocalist Masatoshi "Sho" Ono stepped in for Yama-B at a performance at the tenth anniversary of Pure Rock Japan Live.^[16] In September 2009, bassist Yu-To left the group, and Sho and Taka officially joined.^[17] This line-up had their first performance at Loud Park Festival 2009.^[17] Galneryus' song "A Far-Off Distance" was used as the ending theme of the 2010 Rainbow: Nisha Rokubō no Shichinin anime.^[18] On April 21, they released the digital EP Beginning of the Resurrection, which contains a cover of Sho's signature song "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.

In 2011, their song "Destiny" was used in the music video games GuitarFreaks XG2: Groove on Live and DrumMania XG2: Groove on Live. Also, their song "New Legend" was used in GuitarFreaks XG3 and DrumMania XG3.

The band released the limited single "Future Never Dies" on September 7, 2011 and the album Phoenix Rising on October 5.

2012–present: Angel of Salvation, European tour and new drummer

Galneryus performing at the Busan Rock Festival in Korea, 2012.

On January 25, 2012, they released the mini-album Kizuna. The title song was used in a Fist of the Blue Sky pachinko game,^[19] 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.^[20] Ono's solo song "Departure!" (which was covered in English by Galneryus on Kizuna^[19]) was previously the series' first opening theme, while a different version titled "Departure! -Second Version-" was its second.^[20]

Their eighth studio album Angel of Salvation was released on October 10, 2012. It reached number 17 on the Oricon chart, making it their highest charting studio album. The title track 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.^[21] 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.^[21] On May 26, they performed at the Pure Rock Japan Live 2013 at Club Citta, alongside NoGoD, Saber Tiger and Onmyo-Za.^[22]

Jun-ichi was Galneryus' drummer from 2003 to 2016.

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.^[23] 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.^[24] Galneryus released Under the Force of Courage, their tenth album and first concept album in December 2015.^[25]

In June 2016, it was announced that drummer Jun-ichi had amicably left Galneryus after 13 years. He was replaced by Fumiya of the groups Thousand Eyes and Undead Corporation.^[26] The following year they also changed record labels for the first time in 14 years, switching to Warner Music Japan for the September 27, 2017 release of Ultimate Sacrifice.^[27] It continues the concept of their previous album,^[4] and has since become their highest charting studio album, reaching number 13 on the Oricon chart.

Studio albums

EPs

Singles

Cover albums

Compilation albums

Compilation appearances

DVDs