Given the fact that the limited edition of their 2022 comeback album ‘Bloodiest‘ contained all the singles they released since 2016, I wasn’t expecting Seikima-II to release any new material any time soon. And then there was the single ‘Kiss U Dead or Alive’ a couple of weeks ago, followed by the news that their new album ‘Season II’ will be released on the 6th of June. Given the recency and the quality of the single, a look back on their album discography might be in order. That might also be a good preparation for the relase of ‘Season II’.
It’s difficult to overstate just how popular Seikima-II was in their heyday. All of their eighties albums except their debut ended up in the top 10 of the Japanese album charts, most of their singles did fairly well, and their over-the-top, often humorous live shows drew huge crowds. The band even starred in a mid-eighties video game for the Japanese equivalent of the Nintendo Entertainment System, or technically the other way around. It wasn’t that great, just a simple puzzle platformer that didn’t even feature the band’s original music – the 1987 reissue for the MSX2 did – but it just goes to show how big a name they were.
Contrary to most Japanese bands with a strong visual focus, Seikima-II remained fairly consistent stylistically throughout their career. It was full-on heavy metal on their earliest work, injected with a healthy dose of eighties hard rock since guitarist Luke Takamura joined in 1987. There were experiments with varying degrees of pop music, but never so much that they sounded like a completely different band. And yet, there is one album that is clearly their worst to me, and it’s not even the compilation album they called ‘Worst’; as stated before, the band had a clear sense of humor and their tongues firmly planted in their cheeks.
13. Ponk!! (1994)
My issue with ‘Ponk!!’ is not that it’s the Seikima-II album leaning heaviest into their silliness, if the title didn’t give that away already. It’s not even the fact that it’s easily the most pop-focused album the band ever released, though I have to say they have written better pop songs than the likes of ‘Teenage Dream’ and ‘Futari no White Nights’. It’s just that the balance is completely gone, and there are too many throwaway tracks on it. The acoustic songs are actually quite decent, but there are too many of them. It’s not completely terrible, and there are some good songs on here, but you wouldn’t be missing out on much if this album wasn’t in your Seikima-II collection.
Recommended tracks: ‘A Stick and Honey’, ‘Guns’n’Butter’
Order ‘Ponk!!’ from nearly anywhere in the world at CD Japan
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12. Big Time Changes (1987)
‘Big Time Changes’ is Seikima-II’s first foray into big, dumb stadium rock, and I think they took it too far. First single ‘1999 Secret Object’ is actually an excellent song, but it’s the only one, really. Something about ‘Big Time Changes’ feels like jumping on American rock trends of the late eighties without worrying if the song material is good enough for it. Which is kind of strange, because the fantastic poppy eighties hard rock song ‘Stainless Night’ was released within the single cycle of ‘Big Time Changes’, and it’s so much better than just about anything here. Get one of the many Seikima-II compilations for the singles, and ignore this one. They have done the glammy American hard rock sound much better later on.
Recommended tracks: ‘1999 Secret Object’, ‘Never Ending Darkness’
Order ‘Big Time Changes’ from nearly anywhere in the world at CD Japan
Big Time Changes [Blu-spec CD2]
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11. Move (1998)
Personally, I don’t mind ‘Move’ anywhere near as much as the previous two entries. However, I do think it comes hot on the heels of an album that does the pop-infused hard rock sound much better than ‘Move’ does. Better sequencing could have improved the album’s flow, and the album occasionally sounds experimental for the sake of being experimental, especially when it comes to the use of keyboards and sparse electronics. Having said that, ‘Masquerade’ is a justified classic, and the songwriting overall is fairly good. Again, though, Seikima-II has done a similar thing with more successful results elswhere in their career.
Recommended tracks: ‘Masquerade’, ‘Jinsei Game’, ‘Mukan no Teiō ~Emperor Without a Crown’
Order ‘Move’ from nearly anywhere in the world at CD Japan
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10. Frightful Restaurant (1992)
After a string of glammy, synth-heavy albums, ‘Frightful Restaurant’ almost feels like an overcorrection at times. The album is dominated by heavy riffs and some of the most aggressive vocal performances Demon Kogure ever recorded. But while ‘Frightful Restaurant’ is full of great riffs, it lacks memorable songs. There are a few here, and the overall sound is crunchy enough to make it a reasonably pleasant listening experience, but if I was in charge of making a Seikima-II compilation, ‘Breakdown Innocence’ would be the only ‘Fightful Restaurant’ song that might potentially make it on. Some of the good songs, ‘Guillotine Danshaku no Nazo no Aijin’ in particular, are ruined by the weirdly extreme vocal performances as well.
Recommended tracks: ‘Breakdown Innocence’, ‘Oni’, ‘Kyōfu no Restaurant’
Order ‘Frightful Restaurant’ from nearly anywhere in the world at CD Japan
Kyoufu no Restaurant [Blu-spec CD2]
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9. Yūgai (1990)
‘Yūgai’ is an album that has a lot of superficial things working against it. The album cover is horrible, and it’s another one of the big dumb rock albums, but what it has over ‘Big Time Changes’ is that there is more variation in tempos, and the songwriting is simply much, much better. ‘Arashi no Yokan’ is one of the best ballads Seikima-II has recorded, and its middle section shows the brilliance of Xenon Ishikawa as a bassist. The album also just sounds much wilder than ‘Big Time Changes’, capturing that LA party vibe much better. And there are some fantastic rockers here. I just can’t get over how much ‘Rosa’ sounds like Whitesnake’s ‘Crying in the Rain’.
Recommended tracks: ‘Cinderella Gaiden’, ‘Thunder Storm’, ‘Arashi no Yokan’
Order ‘Yūgai’ from nearly anywhere in the world at CD Japan
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8. The Outer Mission (1988)
Since ‘The Outer Mission’ was released bang in the middle of Seikima-II flirting with blaring synths and very poppy hard rock, I fully expected to dislike it. Only I don’t. ‘The Outer Mission’ is one of Seikima-II’s most experimental albums, but the songs are generally so good that it doesn’t impact my enjoyment of the album. Sure, a few experiments are misfires, but that’s the nature of such albums, and the hits outnumber the misses. The weird jazzy middle section of ‘Ratsbane’ and the funk rock of ‘Love Flight’ are actually really cool. My dislike of glossy eighties synths keeps me from loving ‘The Outer Mission’ outright, but it is definitely the Seikima-II album that most exceeded my expectations.
Recommended tracks: ‘The Earth Is in Pain’, ‘The Outer Mission’, ‘Kemonotachi no Hakaba’
Order ‘The Outer Mission’ from nearly anywhere in the world at CD Japan
The Outer Mission [Blu-spec CD2]
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7. Akuma ga Kitarite Heavy Metal (1985)
Prominent Japanese heavy metal magazine Burrn! infamously reviewed Seikima-II’s debut album ‘Akuma ga Kitarite Heavy Metal’ and rated it 0 out of 100. Surely the way Seikima-II presented itself had something to do with it, because the music here is pretty much early eighties heavy metal in its purest form. While it is far from my favorite Seikima-II album – mainly because it is extremely short at 28 minutes and still manages to contain a bit of filler – but for a debut album, ‘Akuma ga Kitarite Heavy Metal’ is surprisingly accomplished. The ‘Akuma Kumikyoku Sakuhin 666 Ban Ni Tanchō’ suite that comprises the entire second half of the album could have had some of its fat trimmed, but all in all, a great first effort.
Recommended tracks: ‘Jigoku no Kōtaishi’, ‘X.Q. Jonah’, ‘Akuma Kumikyoku Sakuhin 666 Ban Ni Tanchō’
Order ‘Akuma ga Kitarite Heavy Metal’ from nearly anywhere in the world at CD Japan
SEIKIMA-II – Akuma ga Kitarite Heavymetalu – [Blu-spec CD2]
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6. From Hell With Love (1986)
‘From Hell With Love’ is the last Seikima-II album for a while that original guitarist Damian Hamada contributed songs to. And while you can hear the change toward something a bit more accessible starting to happen here, ‘From Hell With Love’ is still a heavy metal album first and foremost. What always bothers me about a lot of songs on the album is that Demon Kogure’s voice just sounds off. As if they aren’t in the right key for him, or they artificially sped up his voice. This becomes most obvious when you hear next year’s much more powerful single version of ‘El Dorado’, on which the vocals are one and a half notes lower. Apart from that though, the songwriting on ‘From Hell With Love’ is top-notch, and there is a lot of great guitar work here.
Recommended tracks: ‘Aphrodite’, ‘Makai Bukyoku’, ‘Death Land’
Order ‘From Hell With Love’ from nearly anywhere in the world at CD Japan
Jigoku Yori Ai wo Komete [Blu-spec CD2]
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5. Bloodiest (2022)
Atypically for a comeback album, ‘Bloodiest’ doesn’t just reference one period of the band’s history. Instead, it feels like an anthology of original material. Part of the reason why is probably that all notable former members have contributed to the album in one way or another. The worst thing I can say about ‘Bloodiest’ is that it’s just another Seikima-II album, but I would argue that that is exactly what the first album a band of their caliber releases in 23 years should be. There are a few surprises here and there, but the bulk of the material is solid eighties-style hard rock and heavy metal. As such, it would actually be a fairly good introductory album to those who aren’t familiar with the band yet.
Recommended tracks: ‘Kōryōtaru Shinsekai’, ‘Mighty Punch Line’, ‘Jigoku no Kane wo Narasunoa Omae’
Order ‘Bloodiest’ from nearly anywhere in the world at CD Japan
Bloodiest [CD+3Blu-ray / Limited Edition /Type A]
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Bloodiest [CD+3DVD / Limited Edition /Type A]
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Bloodiest [Limited Edition /Type B]
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4. News (1997)
If you want to hear Seikima-II’s poppy side at its best, ‘News’ is the way to go. It’s one of those albums that shouldn’t work, but somehow does. The poppy hard rock on ‘News’ features a glossy production that was hopelessly outdated by the time it was released, but the band’s total, unashamed devotion to this style makes the album a joy to listen to. Luke Takamura’s signature songwriting traits are all over ‘News’, which means there are hooks, clever arrangements and guitar heroics galore. What helps ‘News’ resonate with me more than Seikima-II’s other pop-driven albums is the more melancholic nature of the melodies. Even most of the upbeat tracks have a vaguely wistful aura about them. What ultimately sets ‘News’ apart is simply its excellent songwriting, though.
Recommended tracks: ‘Brand New Song’, ‘Save Your Soul ~Utsukushike Kurishe ni Se wo Mukete~’, ‘Digitalian Rhapsody’
Order ‘News’ from nearly anywhere in the world at CD Japan
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3. The End of the Century (1986)
Released less than seven months after ‘Akuma ga Kitarite Heavy Metal’, ‘The End of the Century‘ – a translation of a reading of the band’s name – massively improved upon the debut in just about every way imaginable. The album features what is easily the best collection of Seikima-II songs until the mid-nineties, nearly all of them becoming live staples, and remaining so until this day. Remarkably, one of my favorite songs here, the beautiful feast of harmonies that is ‘Akuma no Sanbika’, is one of the few that doesn’t appear on every Seikima-II setlist. In many ways, ‘The End of the Century’ feels like a mission statement for the band, and they hardly could have done any better. Excellent traditional heavy metal.
Recommended tracks: ‘The End of the Century’, ‘Akuma no Sanbika’, ‘Fire After Fire’
Order ‘The End of the Century’ from nearly anywhere in the world at CD Japan
The End Of The Century [Blu-spec CD2]
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2. Living Legend (1999)
‘Living Legend‘ was originally supposed to be Seikima-II’s farewell album, and they truly went out with a bang. They can call the amazing opening track ‘Heavy Metal Is Dead’ all they want, but what Seikima-II really did here is release one more fantastic heavy metal album before calling it a day. Final albums are often a bit of a rushed affair, especially if the band already knows it will be their last work, but the songwriting on ‘Living Legend’ is nothing sort of spectacular. Some of the songs are among the best Seikima-II has ever recorded – hence the second place. ‘Go Ahead!’ is genuinely the perfect closing chapter to a respectable career. My only minor issue with ‘Living Legend’ is that it’s slightly too long for its own good.
Recommended tracks: ‘Go Ahead!’, ‘Heavy Metal Is Dead’, ‘Century of the Raising Arms’
Order ‘Living Legend’ from nearly anywhere in the world at CD Japan
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1. Mephistopheles no Shōzō (1996)
Not the most popular choice as the best Seikima-II album, but my guess is that is largely because many people haven’t heard it. ‘Mephistopheles no Shōzō‘ was released a good ten years after Seikima-II’s heyday, but it pretends like those intervening years never happened. Everything about the album just screams eighties heavy metal. Original guitarist Damian Hamada even wrote three fantastic songs for the album. However, ‘Mephistopheles no Shōzō’ is more varied than the first three Seikima-II albums. There is plenty of the melodic, yet ballsy hard rock that is Luke Takamura’s trademark, and even the power ballads are damn good. A serious candidate for my favorite early eighties heavy metal album of all time, despite being released a decade and a half later.
Recommended tracks: ‘Jigoku no Kōtaishi wa Ni Do Shinu’, ‘Yajū’, ‘Mephistopheles no Shōzō’
Order ‘Mephistopheles no Shōzō’ from nearly anywhere in the world at CD Japan
Mefistgeres No Shozo [Blu-spec CD2]
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