GALNERYUS

Though power metal finds scant footing in Japan, Galneryus supply a persuasive if imitative response to the ornate riff-driven style of European standard-bearers such as Stratovarius and Sonata Arctica, folding in a measure of visual kei drawn from the X-Japan template, whose own approach already overlapped considerably with Euro-metal. The group has consistently favored English lyrics, yet began inserting native-language tracks in the late 2000s.

Guitarist Syu and vocalist Yama-B launched the band in 2001 after accumulating experience across eight prior projects, among them Valkyr and Animetal for Syu and AxBites for Yama-B. Performing initially with a rotating roster of session players, the pair staged concerts and issued the demo United Flag, which earned them a release through indie label Iron Shock in the form of the maxi-single Rebel Flag.

Continued live activity, including a Japanese tour with Dragonland, led to a contract with VAP and the 2003 debut album The Flag of Punishment, a collection that reworked earlier material and carried artwork by Yoshitaka Amano of Final Fantasy and Vampire Hunter D renown. At that point Syu and Yama-B completed the lineup by adding Tsui on bass, Yuhki on keyboards, and Junichi Satoh on drums.

A stable stretch between 2003 and 2006 yielded two further albums before Tsui exited in 2007. His replacement, Yu-To of Deluhi, joined without halting momentum, and the quartet delivered its fourth album One for All, All for One later that year.

The band soon made its catalog available worldwide in digital formats, while 2008 brought placements for the songs "Alsatia" and "Cause Disarray" in the anime series Mnemosyne. During sessions for the fifth album Reincarnation, Yama-B departed over musical differences, yet the record appeared in 2008 with Masatoshi Ono assuming vocal duties. Yu-To left the following year and was succeeded by Taka.