Coldrain
The band's first two albums, "Final Destination" and "The Enemy Inside", were both released exclusively in their home country of Japan. The group made their worldwide debut in 2014 with the reissue of "The Revelation", which was previously released in 2013 under the label VAP, with the worldwide edition being released under Hopeless Records and Sony Music. Coldrain later released "Vena" (2015) and "Fateless" (2017). Their sixth studio album "The Side Effects" was released on August 28, 2019. They are best known for their songs; "Mayday", "Gone", "Coexist", "Die Tomorrow", "No Escape", "The Revelation", "Envy" and "Feed the  Fire". History. 2007–2008: Formation and major label debut. After the disbanding of the bands Wheel of Life (RxYxO, Sugi and Y.K.C.) and AVER (Masato and Katsuma), Coldrain was formed on April 17, 2007 in Nagoya with Masato Hayakawa on vocals, RxYxO (Ryo) on bass guitar, Katsuma on drums, and Y.K.C (Yokochi) and Sugi on guitars. The common musical interest of the members was one of the decisive factors in the formation of coldrain. Once, when AVER and Wheel of Life first co-debuted on stage, and AVER heard Sevendust's song played during Wheel of Life's rehearsal, an excited  Katsuma asked RxYxO, "Don't tell me you're a fan of Sevendust as well!?" Thereafter, each time they interacted, they wanted to form a new band together. RxYxO was originally doing vocals, but became a bassist because of coldrain. The band gained their first followers from performing as a local band in their home-town while distributing demo discs after each performance. About a year after coldrain formed, they signed a major contract with VAP, and the band released their debut maxi single "Fiction" on 5 November 2008. They then set off for their first nationwide tour and played  in 30 venues across Japan. 2009–2011: "Final Destination" and "The Enemy Inside". After the tour, the group released their next maxi single: 8AM. The limited edition included a DVD which featured the music video of the title song and three live videos: "Fiction", "Painting", and "Come Awake". "8AM" was also used as a theme song to the anime series "Hajime no Ippo: New Challenger". In 2009, saw their first performance at the Summer Sonic Festival 2009. In October, they released their first album "Final Destination" and embarked on another successful sold-out nationwide tour. The band released their debut EP : "Nothing Lasts Forever" on 23 June 2010. One of the songs, "We're Not Alone", was used as an opening theme of the anime series "". Another song, "Die Tomorrow", was used in the "Pro Evolution Soccer 2011" soundtrack. They also went on tour with several bands, including Mucc, Avengers in sci-fi and Totalfat. On 16 February 2011, Coldrain released their second album called "The Enemy Inside", which keeps the melodic vocals and breakdown parts of the last songs. The song "The Maze" has Mah from band SiM singing in some parts. On 7 December of the same year, the  band released their first DVD, "Three Days of Adrenaline", which was recorded in three cities: Osaka, Nagoya and Tokyo. The DVD contains 19 tracks (all 10 songs from "The Enemy Inside" are included), 3 behind-the-scenes videos, exclusive performances, and the music videos of "To Be Alive" and "Rescue Me". 2012–2013: "The Revelation". On 20 April 2012, the band released a new song, "No Escape", which was used in the official trailer for the video game ""; the song was on the band's new EP, "Through Clarity", released on the following 4 July. This is their first album recorded  abroad in the US. The EP was produced by David Bendeth, famous for his collaborations with international artists like Paramore, All Time Low and A Day to Remember. On 1 August, it was announced that because drummer Katsuma was devoting himself to medical treatment for a chronic hereditary disease, he was temporarily withdrawing from the band. Katsuma's withdrawal period includes three people, ZAX (Pay Money to My Pain), Tatsu (Crossfaith), and YOUTH-K!!!(BPM13GROOVE), playing the role of support drummer. During the summer, they finally returned to the stage at Summer Sonic Festival 2012. On 4 November, at Hiroshima University  of Economics, two bands held a live performance, Maximum the Hormone and Coldrain. At that point Katsuma returned to the band. On 30 November, coldrain announced they would be in the studio from December to February to record their third studio album with David Bendeth. On 2 March 2013, they performed at Megaport Music Festival in Kaohsiung for 5,000 people, along with many other artists such as Grizzly Bear, Cyndi Wang, Boris, Head Phones President, SiM, LTK Commune, Guntzepaula and Chochukmo. Shortly afterward, on 17 April, they released their third full-length album, "The Revelation". On 5 May, the band  held the opening date of The Revelation Tour in Chiba, Japan, at the same location where they performed during Ozzfest on 12 May. 2014: Worldwide debut. In December 2013, Coldrain signed a record deal with Raw Power Management, a British company with many international bands to its name, including Bullet for My Valentine, Bring Me the Horizon, Of Mice & Men and Crossfaith. This allowed the group to go on a European tour with Bullet for My Valentine and Chiodos between February and March. Subsequent headline dates were also announced for the United Kingdom, along with the European release of the  EP "Through Clarity" on 27 January, with free download of the song "Inside of Me" if the EP was preordered. On 21 February, they announced release of the DVD "The Score 2007-2013". On 18 January they recorded a live show called "One Man Show Evolve" for their second DVD, "Evolve", which was released on 30 April of the same year. The album was also available on Blu-ray Disc, for the first time for the group. During the same period came the news that coldrain would be performing at Rock am Ring, Rock im Park and Download Festival  2014 in June 2014. On 9 April, the announcement came that coldrain had signed a contract with the American based label Hopeless Records for a new edition of their third studio album, "The Revelation", which would be released worldwide (except Asia, New Zealand, and Australia) for the first time. On the same day Hopeless released the eponymous single, "The Revelation". At the announcement of the international release of "The Revelation", the singer Masato Hayakawa wrote: "It's hard to put in words how excited and proud we are that "The Revelation" will be released Worldwide. The dream we've had  ever since we started playing music is finally coming true. I can't wait for everyone to hear the songs, learn the words and sing them with us live. We are grateful for the many fans in our homeland that have supported us in becoming the band we are today. Without them this would have been impossible. This step will be the biggest in our careers and we couldn't be more ready." The international edition of the album was subsequently released on 23 June in Europe, and 24 June in North America. On 18 June they also released their  third EP, "Until the End" in Japan. The EP contains 6 new tracks, 5 of which were also included in the international edition of "The Revelation", which was released by Hopeless Records in June 2014 in Europe and North America. The band also announced the album's release in Australia, scheduled for 8 August of the same year (by Sony Music Australia), along with the news that the band would perform at Soundwave Festival 2015. 2015–2016: "Vena". On 27 June 2015, they performed at the Lunatic Fest (hosted by Luna Sea) at Makuhari Messe, alongside 9mm Parabellum Bullet, Dead  End, Tokyo Yankees, Siam Shade, Fear, and Loathing in Las Vegas, Dir En Grey, X Japan and Luna Sea. On 28 August, the band released the song "Words of the Youth" from "Vena", another lead-single "Gone" was later released on 16 September, both from their upcoming fourth studio album, which was eventually released worldwide on October 23, 2015 which was released only two days prior, on October 21, in Japan. The record was promoted by a worldwide headlining tour "MAY EUROPEAN TOUR" with Wage War, The Charm the Fury and Counting Days in May 2016. The tour would start  in Paris, France on May 9th and finished in Reading, England on May 27th. The tour would also feature a spot for the Japanese rockers at Slam Dunk Festival on May 29, 30 and 31st. Early in the morning of 20 March 2016, coldrain was involved in a bus crash while traveling from their recent stop in Texas to the next scheduled concert (support of "Silverstein 2016 USA Tour") in Oklahoma. They reported that no one was hurt, but they had to cancel their show in Tulsa as they had no means of transport to get there. In the summer , coldrain embarked on a tour across the United States (playing at Monster Energy South Stage) as a part of Vans Warped Tour. On 17 August, Coldrain released their third maxi-single Vena II worldwide, with new songs "Born to Bleed" and "Undertow" and new acoustic versions of "Gone" and "The Story". The limited edition included a bonus DVD which featuring "VENA JAPAN TOUR 2016" held at Zepp Tokyo on 15 January 2016. 2017–2018: "Fateless". On 26 July 2017, Coldrain announced a new album to be called "Fateless", it was released on 11 October 2017 worldwide. The limited edition of the  album features a live CD with coldrain's 10-year anniversary performances in their hometown Nagoya. One of the songs, "Feed the Fire", was used as an opening theme of the anime series "King's Game The Animation". The band's official tour, FATELESS JAPAN TOUR 2017, began on 29 October 2017. The tour spanned approximately the following two months and 15 venues across Japan, ending with a concert on 6 February 2018 at the Nippon Budokan. Their performance at Nippon Budokan was recorded by their one of their previous music video director's Inni Vision. The performance was later  distributed on DVD and Blu-Ray on 26 September the same year. On May 25, 2018, it was announced that Coldrain would be an opening act alongside Volumes on Crown the Empire's European headline tour. The tour would span across the entire continent of Europe. It would start off at Brighton, United Kingdom on September 18, and culminate in Amsterdam, Netherlands on the 15th of October, 2018. On 29 September 2018, a sequel to the popular video game "" was announced, with the release date slated for 30 October 2018. Alongside this, coldrain announced a new song titled "Revolution" which  was to be the main theme for the game, released on 12 December. A music video for the song was released on 25 January 2019. Just a few days later, on 30 January, Masato Hayakawa announced that he was returning to the studio with the rest of the band to record a new album to be released later on in the year. 2019–2021: "The Side Effects". On 31 March 2019, Coldrain announced a new One Man Tour, which would be the subsequent headline show for the newly titled album called "The Side Effects". The September tour would include 11 shows  at 10 venues across Japan. Coldrain would also then go onto a European tour in June 2019 to promote their upcoming record by playing the first single "Revolution" at all their shows, including major festivals such as Rock am Ring and Rock im Park, finishing off at the highly acclaimed Download Festival where they played on the Dogtooth Stage. On 16 May 2019, a teaser for "The Side Effects" was released on all social media accounts which used the song "Coexist" which was eventually released in its entirety as a single on July 4 alongside a music video to  complement its release which stacked up more than 345K+ views in just 3 weeks, which made it the fastest-growing music video they ever had at the time of release. On the same day, the release date was also announced and slated for release on August 28, 2019. The first album to not be released in October, since the release of "The Revelation" back in 2013 and 2014 internationally. The limited-edition included a documentary on the process of making the album along with some merchandise. In August, to continue hyping the release of the forthcoming album. They released music  videos for "January 1st" and "The Side Effects", on August 8 and 27 respectively, which came out to huge success. Hayakawa had specifically asked for "January 1st" to get a music video because it was deeply personal to him, a ballad for the band which typically wouldn't become a single for an album produced by the band. The latter being the title track was used to commemorate the release of "The Side Effects". Another song called "Mayday", featuring Ryo Kinoshita from Crystal Lake, was also used as the opening theme for the anime "Fire Force". This would also get  a music video on November 2, coinciding with the debut of the song as Fire Force's intro theme, also being the last single released by the band in the 2010s. In the same month, Coldrain would later announce that their own annually hosted concert "BLAREDOWN BARRIERS" would be turned into a festival and renamed to "Blare Fest". Blare Fest would take place at Port Messe in Nagoya. The 2020 edition of the newly formed festival would announce bands such as One Ok Rock, We Came as Romans, Fever 333, The Word Alive, Volumes, Crossfaith and Crystal Lake, as well  as many more, who would all play on two separate days with Coldrain headlining both days on February 1 and 2. The band would release two new music videos for "The Side Effects". "See You" on January 17, 2020 and "Speak" on March 21, 2020. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Coldrain was forced to cancel or postpone many gigs. As a result, they released all three of their live DVDs on YouTube for free for a limited amount of time to help entertain their fans during lockdown, including "Three Days of Adrenaline", "Evolve" and "20180206 Live at Budokan", along with  the music video for "Speak". A notable gig that got cancelled was their highly anticipated performance at the Yokohama Arena in Yokohama, which was scheduled for October 18, 2020 that was later cancelled on September 4. In regards to the performance at the Yokohama Arena, a venue of a capacity of 17,000, frontman Masato Hayakawa issued a statement: In June, I had no choice but to announce the postponement of the tour in a hope that self-exclusion would begin and converge. We'll be able to make it to the rocks by October, can't we?! I was thinking  that it's all the same that I was expecting. However, the reality is that we can't get together as the first member after we put together Coldrain, the time when we can't play live blows, we can't perform even if we want to perform, we can't see any breakthroughs, and it's time to make this announcement. Now that various forms have been explored and the number of festivals and artists holding festivals and artists has increased by reducing the number of people, it may appear that it is possible to hold them somehow. But  the final conclusion is that by the standards of Coldrain, we still can't see the "new shape" and we still have to endure it as a live band. However, I don't feel like I can see Coldrain live when social distancing comes in to think about how many people can be packed into the arena by attacking the last minute, and sticking to how close I can get to the audience. I was troubled. But there is no hesitation. Because the situation is a situation, we have to use the word cancellation instead of postponing it, but what  we can promise now is that we will definitely do it someday. Without the risk or anxiety caused by the corona, let's endure it until it is in a state where we can help each other like that time, go on a rampage, scream from the bottom of our stomachs, and go home. Let's make a happy live performance as much as you can endure. Until then, I pray for everyone's health and dream of being able to welcome Coldrain's Yokohama Arena performance in perfect condition. I'm not going to waste 10/18, and I'm  trying to take on challenges that I've never done as a band that I can't see everyone live. I'm just enduring it now, I'm not going to die! Regards from now on!" Furthermore, it was simultaneously announced on the same day that the band would announce a new live video album "Live & Backstage at Blare Fest. 2020" that would slated for release on October 28, 2020. It would feature their full performance on both days, as well as backstage footage of the band. To promote it, they released live performances of "Revolution" and "Final Destination" at  Blarefest on the band's official YouTube channel. The band would hold live events in the new year again admist COVID-19 cases drastically dropping in Japan. They would go on a nationwide tour of Japan for their "Setlist Election" in which fans would vote for which songs will be performed on each day. Day 1 would be a selection of songs released from 20082013, while day 2 would be a selection of songs from 20142019. An official music video for "F.T.T.T." from "Fateless" would be recorded on the tour and published on YouTube on 4 June 2021. 2021present: "Nonnegative". On  6 August 2021, Coldrain revealed on their official Twitter account that they would be making an official announcement the following day to build up hype and speculation towards a new release by the band. The following day on 7 August, the band officially announced that they would be releasing a brand new single, titled "Paradise (Kill the Silence)" for the first time in two years on 17 September 2021, as well as a one-man tour announcement called "Paradise" in support of the single's release taking place during October and November 2021, with ticket sales already being allocated for  the tour taking place in 12 different venues across Japan. An exclusive of "Paradise (Kill the Silence)" was unveiled to the world for the first time as a debut live performance on the second edition of "Coldrain TV" on 16 September 2021. Mere hours later at midnight JST, the single was released and the music video for "Paradise (Kill the Silence)" was premiered on YouTube. On 2 January 2022, the band announced that they had joined TikTok. On 28 January, the band released an official live music video of "Paradise (Kill the Silence)" onto YouTube from their final ever live  performance played at the Usen Studio Coast in Tokyo, Japan on 16 November 2021. They released it in commemoration of the venue during its closure. On 29 January, the band announced to their fans on Line that they were in the US recording their full-length seventh studio album. Bassist Ryo Shimizu, later confirmed the news on Instagram on 31st January that they were indeed recording the follow-up to "The Side Effects". However, they recorded the album in the studio without guitarist Kazuya Sugiyama who chose to record his parts of the album remotely in Japan due to recently  having his first child. On 10 February, it was announced that the band had been selected for the opening theme for the new Netflix original anime "Bastard!!", that would be slated to release in June 2022 on the platform. The band documented the process of the recording of the new album and published it under the title "7th Full Album Recording Diaries" onto YouTube over the course of the next couple of months. The first part was published on 11 February while the fourth and final part was released on 15 April. The series was directed by Masahiro Yamada. During  this time, the band released official live videos of songs from their "Three Elements" concert from "Coldrain TV" onto their YouTube channel. They would first release the video for "Revolution" and continued to publish "After Dark", "Vena/F.T.T.T.", "Rescue Me", "Mayday" featuring Ryo Kinoshita of Crystal Lake, "Carry On", "Gone" and "The Revelation" to then conclude with "January 1st" on 13 April 2022. Longtime producer for the band, Michael Baskette revealed on 20 March 2022 that the production for the album had concluded and that the band had flown back to Japan a couple of days prior after the recording  process had been completed. On 16 April, they held their fifteenth-anniversary live stream for their fans on YouTube which is where they formally revealed their seventh studio album "Nonnegative" for the first time. It is slated to be released on 6 July 2022 via Warner Music Japan. The previously released single "Paradise (Kill the Silence)" was revealed alongside a lineup of ten new original songs and a cover of No Doubt's "Don't Speak" to be included on the album. After the stream concluded and the clocks hit 00:00JST on 17 April in Japan, the band released the  second single "Calling" from the album alongside a music video to commemorate their fifteen years together as a band. Artistry. The band's musical style has been described as post-hardcore, metalcore, alternative metal, alternative rock, punk rock, screamo, hard rock, nu metal, and electronic rock. Early in its career the band played songs that sounded like alternative rock and especially like post-hardcore, accompanied by guitar pieces reminiscent of classic metalcore and thrash metal riffs. By their third album, "The Revelation", coldrain's music came to be defined as a mix of post-hardcore and metalcore. According to other  critics, certain influences instead recall genres like pop punk and screamo, and the band has been likened to groups like My Chemical Romance, Pay Money to My Pain, Asking Alexandria, Destroy Rebuild Until God Shows, Bullet for My Valentine and A Day to Remember. Masato Hayakawa himself has stated Linkin Park and Incubus to be his biggest influences to start recording music. When Y.K.C, the main composer of the band, was asked about songwriting, he said, "It is essential not to forget 'why a song is cool', the song itself needs to have holding power, and only then is there  meaning. That's what I try not to forget when composing." | 2020