NEMOPHILA's third album, EVOLVE, has arrived, and just in time for their Budokan show next month. Cram it into your head because at the very least we'll be hearing "Night Flight," if not other songs.

Let's start with the set list is:

1.Enigma
2. RISE
3. OSKR
4. AMA-TE-RAS
5.ODYSSEY
6.ALIVE
7.Night Flight
8. Justice
9. Hammer Down
10. YELL ~Locus

EVOLVE as a whole provides you with plenty of head-banging metal but switches things up with some lighter (but still heavy) songs and the erstwhile metal ballad or two. My quick picks are "RISE," "AMA-TE-RAS," "Night Flight," and "Justice," but all of the songs are no slouches by any means.

Both "RISE" and "Night Flight" were released many months ago and that was done on purpose. They're damn good songs and have cemented a place on any setlist involving the band. "Night Flight" in particular is a very fun song to listen or be a part of. For those of you into crowd participation there's even some arm motions so take note if you want to be part of that.  I settled for my sunglasses last year but I'll be sure to get my practice in.

EDIT: the band has a special site for the Budokan show here.  Take a look here.

EDIT 2: they'll also be streaming it so if you can't make it to Japan, why not watch online?  You can buy a streaming ticket here.  The archive will be up until February 24 so that gives you some time to watch it at your leisure.  4500 yen (approximately $30) is a lot cheaper than flying overseas.

The Budokan show will take place at, naturally, the Nippon Budokan, right in the heart of Tokyo. The closest station is Kudanshita. This marks the fourth time I'll be going to the venue after December's KajiFes and LisAni coming up in a couple of weeks. Tickets are available at Lawson and their ticket site l-tike for 9900 yen (approximately $65 or so) ahead of time, and 11000 yen day of. This marks the band's fifth anniversary. It's kind of insane to think about, because it definitely doesn't feel that way. The band's first couple of years were eaten up by that international time warp and now they will hit a major milestone. While they've toured quite a bit in Japan, they've also managed an American tour, multiple festival appearances, and have quickly grown into one of the premier bands out of Japan.  I'll be honest, I wasn't even sure I'd be able to go in February but I bought a ticket anyway, because I think they're good enough to buy now and figure it out later.

The last time I saw them live was about a year ago for their Seize the Fate tour back in America.  You can check out a review of that here.

Expect songs from all three of the band's albums. They've definitely got a lot of bangers to go around and I hope to hear all of them.

If you're able to make the trip, you'll be treated to quite the night. I'll see you there.