History & Biography Fans of purity in metal should stay away for Fukuoka, Japan-based Bridear, which certainly mixes pop melodies and metalcore into its heavy metal. The group relies on heavy production and also processed vocals. The band is another entry in the annals of jyu-metal that Japan has been dishing out since Destrose, Aldious and Galmet took the baton from Show-Ya and Aphasia. Eventually the band relocated to Tokyo to further its career.
The band was founded by Kimi, Mitsuru and Haru in November 2011 (who were together in another band) and issued a self-titled demo in late 2012. The band was singer Kimi, guitarists Mitsuru and Misa, bassist Haru and drummer Kai. The live debut was in Fukuoka in April 2012. The band travelled to Nagoya for a show in August. A single called Thread Of The Light b/w Roulette arrived in 2013. Overturn The Doom was the next demo. The group played a male-only show and opened for Light Bringer. The band issued a video called Dear Bride seemingly addressing itself in 2015. Radtone Music, which had dance band Blood Stain Child and many foreign licenses on its roster, signed the girls and issued the debut album in 2016. The Rise and Helix EPs arrived in 2017 and 2018 respectively. The group was in Europe in 2017 playing conventions like Made In Asia or Mondocon. Live Tour 2018 Marcasite video arrived in that year. It was filmed in Tokyo. Album number two arrived and there was Ayumi on second guitar and Natsumi on drums. Ayumi had previously appeared at the World Guitar Girls Collection (WGGC). Natsumi replaced Yuri who joined briefly before quickly deamping to rock band, Gacharic Spin. Mitsuru, who had written the majority of the early music, had left in 2018.
The band played Metal Matsuri in England in 2019. The song The Moment was featured in the Kengan Ashura anime. The band announced a European tour for October of 2021. It was dubbed Into The Dark Forever. The UK-based label was also a booking agency. Misato Ono’s demo took her in a different soft pop direction. The band’s 2022 album mixed Japanese and English material. The famed “health issues” concern returned. This often is shorthand for departure in Japan. Guitarist Misaki was taking a break from the group and Eita formerly of Seven Seas would fill in as always. Haru had contracted COVID. Bridear was due to do Europe that year. The band was also booked at Summer Sonic 2022 in Chiba, Japan. Predictably, Bridear replaced guitarist Misaki with the newcomer Moe. The band had announced Misaki was taking a break a month earlier. The band was touring Europe in September using the Decide To Survive monicker. Haru was back.
Bridear announced a live album called Aegis Of London through Setsuzoku Records for February 2023. It was recorded live in London, England at the Boston Music Room on the Decide To Survive tour on September 10th 2022. Bridear opened for Outrage and played at Loud Park in 2023. Japan-based Bridear had a new album, called Born Again, through Psychomanteum Records in the summer of 2024. It was recorded by Fredrik Nordström in Sweden. There was a video for the song Cult, which had two witches waging war for the soul of a willing victim. It was shot partly using AI. Fredrik Nordström’s Dream Evil would tour with the band in Australia that autumn. Bridear was to tour Europe and North America the year after. Drummer Natsumi was part of her own birthday jam using the Natsumi Hard Beats monicker and played Kill The King in a Rainbow cover jam with keyboardist Yuhki of Galneryus among others.
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