COVEN JAPAN emerge from the far east, the Land of the Rising Sun and have been around since 2016. Their name should ring a bell to a listener or two, since a couple of years ago they released their debut titled “The advent” a solid EP consisting of four songs. Time has passed, the eastern spirits did their thing and COVEN JAPAN caught the attention of the Greek label No Remorse Records, and now we have their first full length.
A common feature of most Japanese bands is their deep and endless love for the N.W.O.B.H.M. sound, and COVEN JAPAN is no exeption to that rule: from the first minutes of the first track “Land Of The Rising Sun” it is obvious that the guitar player Akihiro Ito grew up surrounded with posters of IRON MAIDEN, THIN LIZZY, RAVEN, DIAMOND HEAD, CLOVEN HOOF, DEMON, DEF LEPPARD, TYGERS OF PAN TANG etc. Influences that gave basic elements of COVEN JAPAN‘s music such as melodic lead harmonies, galloping rhythms, distinctive bass and of course clear melodic vocals.
According to the band there are influences from Japanese animation songs. Its no secret that most anime series feature melodic pop/rock even metal themes, most of them with memorizable catchy choruses and this should be a key part in COVEN JAPAN since most of the songs stick to the brain from the first minutes.
There is a constant melody in both the music and the excellent vocals, deep, characteristic, very expressive with lyrics sung both in English and Japanese. Frankly I love that. Highlights include “Return of the souls” and “To Sanctuary – March For The Voiceless” probably the best song of the album, “Lost humanity” etc.
This is a very enjoyable album, maybe one of the best albums that came out from Japan in the last couple of years. Don’t miss it.
Check the discussion about the album in our forum pages.
