Checking back in on Japanese Music, 2 years later

So it's been a couple years since I've updated and in that time I dived deep into the rabbit hole of Japanese Music. BAND-MAID was my gateway drug and I've only become more impressed by these women as I've listened to them more and learned more about them. There is abundant information out there about the members and how they've arrived where they are, so I won't go into that too much. Suffice it to say that I have a guitar teacher and an extra two guitars due entirely to Kanami Tono and her incredible ability to create riffs. The most inspiring guitarist I've ever heard. I'm not going to say anything about her technical skill aside from it's something more than I honestly ever aspire to reach, but she also makes songs that I could one day play and I honestly think she's a genius. Maybe the greatest rock songwriter since the 90s. Everything BAND-MAID has released I honestly like. I don't love every song but there's nothing I really dislike. BAND-MAID is the only band I can say that about. They've raised the bar so high that when I hear another band and they have a song I don't like I'm way more disappointed than I probably should be. So BAND-MAID still reigns supreme as my favorite band. A band that rose from the ashes this year to become a powerhouse is HAGANE. I'd heard Hagane before, but three out of five members left, and it seemed the band was over. I liked their music but I wouldn't have rated it that hightly. This year's Top of the Tower absolutely blew me away. It's probably my favorite metal album of all time, and if it weren't for Epic Narratives it'd be my album of the year, and honestly it gives Epic Narratives (BAND-MAID) a run for its money. Sakura is Hagane's guitarist and main songwriter and she is also quite skilled at creating catchy riffs, and with the new Hagane lineup, she's paired with Junna, a youtube sensation and incredible powerhouse of drumming energy and together they're unstoppable. Add in a dependable bassist and a fantastic singer they found seemingly out of nowhere and you have the biggest surprise for me since I discovered BAND-MAID. They've risen to the top and become my favorite metal band. NEMOPHIA, my former favorites, released an album this year also. While I liked it, I didn't like all of it, and I'm slightly afraid they've lost a step without their guitar virtuoso SAKI. Their current guitarist Hazuki is honestly great, and extremely skilled, but I'm just not sure if the band is the same. They did an amazing 4 hour concert this year where they played all of the music they've ever released, and while it was an impressive feat, it definitely didn't sound good the entire time. All of that said, NEMOPHILA is still an absolutely fantastic band. Their new album has some really great songs. G.O.D. and Beautiful Days are absoltutely incredible, and Mayu has shown herself to be quite a solid songwriter as well as a rhythm guitarist, and she still has some of the most unique and wonderful vocals I've ever heard, both her clean and harsh vocals are appealing to me. The last band I'll talk about at length (this time) is MUTANT MONSTER. Unfortunately they stopped releasing new music a while ago, though they did go on tour this year so maybe there's hope? They're just an absolutely incredible punk band with a long discography of absolutely great songs. They sound like they should be in the indie rock scene from the late 80s/early 90s, though maybe they're a bit more skilled at playing their instruments than those bands were. It's an incredible trio with a guitarist and bassist who both sing and have great voices that work well together. At times they're both playing and singing harmonies and it's honestly very impressive, even if the guitar and bass parts are pretty simple. MUTANT MONSTER is my saddest entry here because they're honestly one of my favorite bands and they have fewer than 5000 youtube subscribers. So that's four great bands that I've fallen in love with. Crazy thing? Here's a list of bands I could talk about but won't because I'm running out of time. Maybe future updates if I think about it: TRIDENT LOVEBITES LAURELS SAWAGI BRATS BRIDEAR MARY'S BLOOD ALDIOUS STEROPONY NEK! EAST OF EDEN GACHARIC SPIN DOLL$BOX TELECIDE And these are just ones with multiple songs that I really like, there are actually quite a few more! So lucky to have fallen into this Japanese music rabbit hole!