Aion is a Japanese

metal A metal () is a material that, when polished or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electrical resistivity and conductivity, electricity and thermal conductivity, heat relatively well. These properties are all associated wit ...

band from

Osaka is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...

, formed in 1983 by guitarist Izumi. Aion are considered to be important to the formation of

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 " ...

, credited as being one of the bands to start the movement in the early '80s. They were also one of the most successful

Japanese metal is heavy metal music from Japan. The country's first metal bands formed in the mid-to-late 1970s. The number of acts increased significantly in the next decade, but only a few saw their material released internationally, including Europe and North ...

bands of the early '90s, charting on the

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 ...

music chart and touring with big bands such as

Luna Sea Luna Sea (stylized as LUNA SEA) is a Japanese Rock music, rock band formed in Kanagawa Prefecture in 1986. Due to the use of makeup and costumes early in their career and their widespread popularity, they are considered one of the most successf ...

. As of 2010 they have released 15 full albums, 6 singles, 2 EPs and more than 10 VHS/DVD.

History

Aion was originally created in 1983 by Izumi Ochiai. He soon ended it in 1985 to start a new band named Mein Kampf (which included future X guitarist Kerry and

Color Color (or colour in English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English; American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, see spelling differences) is the visual perception based on the electromagnetic spectrum. Though co ...

drummer Toshi). But this band was short lived as well, only lasting until May 1986. Izumi then decided to try again with Aion, bringing with him Mein Kampf bassist Tatsuya "Dean" Miwa and vocalist Kenichi "Rod" Fujisaki, and adding Jun "S.A.B" Saburi on drums. Rod would soon be replaced by Salee, whom after a year, would then be replaced by Satoru Sasano. And with this line-up they had their first official release, the 1987 single "Hang on Night". In 1988 Satoru left and Hisayoshi Hiraga joined, their first album ''Deathrash Bound'' was released in 1989. Hisayoshi left soon after the album's release, and they finally got a steady vocalist when he was replaced by Nov. In 1990 they released ''Human Griefman'', which is basically ''Deathrash Bound'', the only differences being Nov is singing and he also rewrote the lyrics. Signing a contract with

BMG BMG may refer to: Organizations Music publishing companies * Bertelsmann Music Group, a 1987–2008 division of Bertelsmann that was purchased by Sony on October 1, 2008 ** Sony BMG, a 2004–2008 joint venture of Bertelsmann and Sony that was pur ...

in 1990, Aion gained a following in the

scene. 1991 was the year when they started to succeed, with the release of ''Aionism''. At that time, Aion and

used to play a lot of shows together. This led to Luna Sea providing some backing vocals on the album. Bigger success would come in 1992 when they changed from their

thrash Thrash may refer to: *Thrashing (computer science), where increasing resources are used to do a decreasing amount of work *Thrash (surname) * Thrash, mascot of the Atlanta Thrashers *''Thrash Rally'', a top-down perspective rally racing video game ...

and

speed metal Speed metal is a subgenre of heavy metal music that originated in the late 1970s from new wave of British heavy metal (NWOBHM) roots.K. Kahn-Harris, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'' (Berg Publishers, 2007), , p. 31. It is desc ...

roots to a more

power metal Power metal is a subgenre of heavy metal combining characteristics of traditional heavy metal with speed metal, often within a symphonic context. Generally, power metal is characterized by a faster, lighter, and more uplifting sound, in co ...

sound. The first album with the new sound, ''Aion -Aion-'', was very successful. Also in 1992 S.A.B left and was replaced by Shu. Local magazines and TV showcased them from 1991 until 1995, when their album ''Freak-Out'' was released. In 1995 they disbanded, although not in the traditional sense as Nov and Izumi continued to release their own music using the Aion name and reverting to their original thrash and speed metal sound. In 2000 Dean and Shu rejoined the band and they released the album ''Magnitude'' in three versions: Japanese, English and All English. Although Shu soon left, he was replaced with the return of S.A.B, thus the "classic" Aion line-up was reunited. In 2003 they released the album ''Sister''. They continued to play shows in small live houses, until 2009 when S.A.B left. Support drummer Youth-K was recruited in his place, and in 2010 Aion released their first single in 16 years "Black Heart". Aion took part in Luna Sea's Lunatic Fest at

Makuhari Messe is a convention center in Chiba (city), Chiba City, Chiba Prefecture, Japan, located just outside of Tokyo. Designed by Fumihiko Maki, it is accessible by Transportation in Greater Tokyo#Railway and subway, Tokyo's commuter rail system. ''Makuha ...

on June 28, 2015. Bassist Dean and vocalist Nov, who were in the band for the last 17 and 28 years respectively, both left Aion on April 18, 2017, leaving guitarist Izumi as the only official member.

Band members

Current members

* Izumi Ochiai –

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

and

leader Leadership, is defined as the ability of an individual, group, or organization to "", influence, or guide other individuals, teams, or organizations. "Leadership" is a contested term. Specialist literature debates various viewpoints on the co ...

1983–1985, 1986–present (Mein Kampf, The Braincase) * Youth-K – support

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

2009–present (Batcave, BPM 13 Groove,

Raglaia Rami or Ramy may refer to: People Given name In music *Rami (singer), Japanese singer * Rami El-Kaleh (born 1983), Libyan-Irish musician *Rami Jaffee (born 1969), American keyboardist *Rami Kleinstein (born 1962), Israeli singer and composer *Ram ...

)

Former members

* Taro –

vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...

1983 * Potukun – vocals * Shin'ichi "Shin" – drums * Hideki – drums 1983–1985 * Ray –

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

1984–1985 * Kamizi – vocals 1985 * Kenichi "Rod" Fujisaki – vocals 1986 (Mein Kampf, Justy Nasty, Craze) * Salee – vocals 1986–1987 * Satoru Sasano – vocals 1987–1989 (Paranoia, Sweet Death) * Hisayoshi Hiraga – vocals 1989 (Rosenfeld, Thread Worm) * Shue "Shu" Sakai – drums 1992–1995, 2000 (Virus, Girl Tique) * Jun "S.A.B" Saburi – drums 1986–1992, 2000–2009 (Virus, Lizer) Died October 2, 2016. * Nov Takafumi – vocals 1989–2017 (Paranoia, Z-Sect, Volcano, Zigoku Quartet) * Tatsuya "Dean" Miwa – bass 1986–1995, 2000–2017 (Mein Kampf)

Discography

Studio albums

* ''Deathrash Bound'' (March 21, 1989) * ''Human Griefman'' (February 25, 1990) * ''Aionism'' (October 8, 1991)

Oricon Albums Chart The Oricon Albums Chart is the Japanese music industry standard albums popularity chart issued daily, weekly, monthly and yearly by Oricon. Oricon originally published LP, CT, Cartridge and CD charts prior to the establishment of the Oricon A ...

Position: No. 37 * No. 34 * ''Z'' (Z

ETTO Oélilton Araújo dos Santos (; born 8 March 1981), commonly known by his nickname Etto, is a Brazilian former professional footballer. As of 1 September 2007, Etto also holds Croatian citizenship beside Brazilian, and had expressed his desir ...

June 2, 1993) No. 40 * ''Absolute'' (March 2, 1994) No. 41 * ''Freak-Out'' (November 22, 1995) No. 96 * ''Mithras'' (February 22, 1997, fan-club only) * ''Eve'' (April 4, 1998, fan-club only) * ''Ceremony of Cross Out'' (September 9, 1999, fan-club only) * ''Judge of Death Line'' (September 9, 1999, fan-club only) * ''Manners of Kill and Wound'' (September 9, 1999, fan-club only) * ''Magnitude'' (December 24, 2000, fan-club only, 3 versions: Japanese, English and English with Japanese) * ''Sister'' (October 24, 2003, fan-club only)

EPs

* ''MA-G-MA'' (November 25, 1990) * No. 77

Self-cover album

* ''Nine Bells'' (July 7, 2012)

Live albums

* ''Plasmatic Mania'' (April 8, 1992) No. 46 * ''Threatened Species Mania'' (December 13, 2011)

Singles

* "Hang on Night" (July 1987) * "Fatalism" (August 3, 1990, distributed at a Nakano Kokaido concert) * "Gasp for Breath" (August 5, 1990, released with the music magazine Rockin' f) * "Be Afraid" (October 2, 1991)

Oricon Singles Chart The Oricon Singles Chart is the Japanese music industry-standard Single (music), singles popularity chart issued daily, weekly, monthly and yearly by Oricon. Chart rankings are based on physical singles' sales. Until 2017, Oricon did not track down ...

Position: No. 45 * "Piece of My Life" (1991, limited to 3,000 who purchased "Be Afraid" & ''Aionism'') * No. 68 * "Missing" (February 23, 1994) * "Black Heart" (October 13, 2010)

References

External links

* {{Authority control Visual kei musical groups Japanese thrash metal musical groups Japanese power metal musical groups Japanese speed metal musical groups Musical groups from Osaka Musical groups established in 1983 Musical groups disestablished in 1985 Musical groups reestablished in 1986