I just came back from LisAni this past weekend and I'm going back to Japan for more.

I find a lot of music through the YouTube algorithm. KILLT MELT LAND came on my radar a few months ago and I have been waiting for an opportunity to see the band live. When I found that some of their upcoming shows were going to be on favorable dates for me, I decided to make the dive.

KILLT MELT LAND is a relatively new band on the Japanese scene but that does not mean the members themselves are new. Both vocalists have been part of the music industry in some higher profile capacities and the other members are no slouches either.

P-SAMA, also known as Shiina Hikari and Pikarin Shiina (hence, P-SAMA) first found success under the label avex trax and released a number of singles and albums. She also has a career as a fasion model and has appeared in multiple print magazines. P-SAMA handles both clean and dirty vocals and her screams are one of the band's focal points.

RIE, also known as Fujishiro Rie, is the second clean vocalist. She is part of AIKATSU STARS! as the singing voice for the characters Laura Sakuraba, Rei Kizaki, and Sumire Kihami in the game and anime franchise Aikatsu! RIE and P-SAMA's vocals intertwine and provide dynamism that a solo vocalist simply cannot.

RyO, also known as Ryou Yamabuki, is a guitarist and former member of the currently on-hiatus band Elfriede.

The bassist, MRKM, has supported various bands in the Tokyo scene and also has a career as a tattoo artist.

Finally, the drummer, YanoMe, is also active in the Tokyo scene and a prolific graphic designer and artist.

The band currently has two music videos available on YouTube. Their first release, "Rewrite," was used as TV Asahi's World Pro Wrestling's fighting music. When it popped up on my feed, I instantly paid attention. I was a bit disappointed that it was the only song available to listen to.

But their second release, "Be I Am," is what cemented them as a band I wanted to see. There's just something about the chorus I really like.

The band later released a compilation video of some of the other songs from their debut set. From the snippets in that video, I really want to hear the full version of "Judgement." They also included parts of the songs "Get Crazy" and "Fake Me Out."

The band will have two upcoming showcase lives at Shibuya Kinmirai Kaikan. The first is on this upcoming Friday, February 2, and has the bands EMANON and InFix as support. The second takes place a month later on March 1 and has dimrays on support. Tickets are 4500 yen and are available on Lawson's L-tike website HERE.  If you can't make it to either of those, the band will also take part in a few other lives on 2/18 at SHIBUYA THE GAME with DEXCORE and Azami, 2/23 at Shinjuku Zirco Tokyo with Little Lilith, Mana Diagram, and PaleNeØ(OA), and on 3/9 for LUPINUS ROCK FESTIVAL 2024 spread around Shimokitazawa's many live houses with a bevy of other bands.  

I'm not sure how exactly to describe their sound. It's not death metal, but heavier than rock, maybe metalcore? There are electronic elements here and there. The vocals go between clean and dirty vocals thanks to their dual vocalist. They're a little too polished to be an "indepedent" group so there's definitely some backing behind them (if the production values of the "Be I Am video" weren't evident enough).

You might question the wisdom of flying back to Japan so soon after leaving, but sometimes, you do what you have to do.

If you get a chance, check them out.

 The band's official website is HERE and their twitter is HERE.