Imari Tones is THE Japanese rock band that will succeed in penetrating American media. Their sound is comparable to that of Van Halen and AC/DC, but with staggering differences. Imari Tones is successfully bridging the gap between the American and Japanese cultures. Their mastery of the English language is greater than many other Japanese bands that get caught in the struggle with pronounciation. Aside from their outstanding pronounciation, the vocals are clear, with classical sounding metal screams, that are quite melodic in style.
Their melodic, and almost symphonic metal sound will catch your attention at first listen. On occasion, the guitar sounds resemble those of HIM, but to the opposite extreme, the greats of the band Symphony X. Drums in "Saratoga Stream" push the listeners to the edge of their seats, perfectly complimenting the smooth screams of the vocalist. Imari Tone's bass is the heart of the band. They have perfectly blended the bass, never letting it overpower like some wanna-be metalistas.
Five stars for Imari Tones! America wants you here!
~*InTeNsE*~
IMARi ToNES
Welcome To The School
Welcome To The School reflects Japanese band IMARi ToNES newfound focus on Christian hard rock. In a tip of the hat to old school phonograph records, this latest CD is broken down into two parts. The first section is labeled “Our Side”, and the second half is titled “His Side”. It’s an overall song suite that suggests a spiritual education, beginning with a track called “Welcome to the School”, and ending with one titled “Graduated from the School”. IMARi ToNES, one is lead to believe, is out to school listeners on hard rock, with a little religion thrown in for good measure.
This trio, which has been together since 2004, is based in Tokyo and Yokohama, Japan. Its members include Tak “Tone” on guitars and vocals, Yuki “Hassy” Hashimoto on bass, and “Hide “Jake” Yamazaki at the drums. Tone's guitar work and singing are the act’s two most distinguishing features. His voice often modulates from a low, conversational tone, to a high pitched screech.
Musically, listening to Welcome To The School might take you back to the heyday of Hollywood’s Sunset Strip; back to a time when groups like Poison and Stryper ruled the rock world. Tak "Tone" is highly skilled at pulling off the kind of fast guitar solos that make audience member jaws drop in unison. Conversely, this band also knows how to put together memorable pop-rock songs, too. For instance, “I Love You Now Ur on Your Own” has a nicely chugging rhythm part, with drumming that nostalgically brings Van Halen’s skin man, Alex Van Halen, to mind. That was an era when David Lee Roth was still with the band and all was well with Pasadena’s finest.
Although this rock act clearly has its metal chops down pat, Welcome To The School opens with a track that comes off closer to British music hall music than anything else. Over a loping beat, Tak "Tone" leads the way like a joyful pied piper. This same melody is reprised again, by the way, with “Graduated from the School”. And while the beat to this latter version is far more rock-friendly, the track nevertheless tones the proceedings down considerably with acoustic guitars and a shuffling rhythm. IMARi ToNES reveals a quieter side with “Stay Beautiful”, which has a slow, old time rock & roll groove, which features a sweetly bluesy guitar solo.
One of this disc's most intriguing song titles is “Rockn’ Roll Is the Proof God loves us”. This is likely not ground commonly explored by most theologians and skeptics. In fact, many religious folk have asserted that rock & roll is solid proof that the devil has control of modern music. On the tune itself, Tak "Tone" sings/speaks much of its lyric while Hashimoto plucks out a funky bass line. There are moments during this track, in fact, where The Sweet (of “Ballroom Blitz”) comes front and center to mind.
IMARi ToNES may be a faith-oriented rock act, but they are by no a means preachy one. For instance, “He’s Still With Us” includes the following line: “Where is the God who gave me my life?” This particular lyrical tactic utilized, one imagines, to put the band members in the shoes of fans who may be spiritual seekers.
The only potential pothole in IMARi ToNES’ road to success is Tone’s recurring struggle to enunciate clearly in English. When the songs are slower, as with “Stay Beautiful”, his vocalizing is as clear as day, but whenever the sonic gets revved up loud and fast, his singing oftentimes gets eaten up by the busy mix.
Guaranteed, IMARi ToNES is like no other hard rock band you’ve heard before. Their Japanese take on American hard rock, along with their overt spiritual overtones, makes this a truly exotic find.
-- Dan MacIntosh
Led Zeppelin,Queen,Van Halen,AC/DC,Numbergirl,bloodthirsty butchers
Imari Tones is willing to tour abroad, U.S. or Europe, or Asia.
Send us a message.
Album called "Japanese Pop",
including "Karma Flower", "Iron Hammer", "Winning Song", and "Skies Of Tokyo".
Produced by world renowned heavy metal producer Sascha Paeth (Rhapsody, Angra, Edguy, etc),
and Japanese Guitar Guru, Tak Yonemochi.
Japanese Pop / Imari Tones
Kitchen Knife Records
Out 2008 Jan 17 in Japan CD stores.
IMARi ToNES is just a rockn'roll band.
A Rockn'Roll band from Japan.
But a band with a faith.
We believe in Rockn'Roll
We believe in Jesus
Because Jesus gave us Rockn'Roll
Jesus gave us freedom to play Rockn'Roll
We believe Jesus was the first Rockn'Roller in the world who invented freedom
We believe in new world.
We believe in new freedom in new world.
We believe in new concept of value in new world.
When Rockn'Roll business loses its meaning,
meaning of playing Rockn'Roll also changes.
We have to create our new freedom.
Destroying old form of freedom established long ago.
Several decades after God gave us Rockn'Roll
People almost forgot or ignore the fact
Rockn'Roll is about God and Heaven.
Rockn'Roll is about taking us to the next phase of our consciousness
Taking us to real freedom
Taking us to new kingdom of Jesus
It's time to remember what rockn'roll is for in the first place.
Rockn'Roll is all about having fun.
But if you really want to have fun, your mind has to be free.
Is your mind free?
When your mind is free,
free from everything,
you can have real faith in God.
We believe that's where new world is.
We believe that's where Jesus is waiting for us to come.
Rockn'Roll is the only way to free your mind.
And Jesus is the only way to heaven.
Like many legendary rockn'rollers said,
heaven is not a place you can go afterlife.
You can have heaven in your heart, right here right now
And we must go there now
Otherwise we will all be cut down and thrown into hellfire
After we came back from the USA tour in April 2009, next thing we did is to plan a new recording.
We could plan another tour, we could plan joining some festival, we could plan a new marketing scheme, but we thought we have to create another record first.
Why? Because the Lord gave us some new ideas!
We know we should create More Christian, More Beautiful, More Rockn'Roll album.
So we want you to know what we are working on now.
Here is the blueprint.
"God Rocks" (Temporary Title)
1. Testimony
2. Precious
3. A Girl in the Mirror
4. Oriental Worship
5. One on One
6. I Want a Revival
7. God Kids
8. The Wandering Savior
9. Simple
10. A Bow and an Arrow
11. Love is to do something no one dares to do
12. Forget
13. Faith Rider
It looks good, doesn't it?
We are now doing reharsals hard.
We are going to start recording as soon as we're ready and we expect the completion early next year (2010), before Spring.
That's when we are going to start our full-scale attack!
We can't wait to share these songs with you all!!
(31th Aug 2009)
Christian Rock from Japan, isn’t it a joke?
Japanese are largely atheists and the Christian population accounts for only 1% of its 100 million population.
Yes, it is funny, but IMARiToNES is serious.
Japanese Rock band, IMARiTones, since its inception in 2004,
has been active in the Japanese independent music scene with its unique and philosophical themes.
In 2006, IMARiTones went to Germany to record old school hard rock album, titled "Japanese Pop", with German heavy metal producer Sascha Paeth (Angra, Edguy, Rhapsody, etc).
In 2008, IMARiToNES declared as a Christian Band.
They began performing on the platform philosophy, Jesus is a Rock!
In the spring of 2009, their first USA tour in eight cities
-- Dallas, Austin, and Houston, TX; Little Rock, AR; Nashville, TN, Atlanta, GA; New York City, and Seattle, WA --
was well received in both clubs and churches.
IMARiToNES is proud to be the Christian Rock bands in Japan.
They are ready to bring about the revival movement to Japan.
Well,it's been over a year now IMARi ToNES,and I just want to thank you very much for hangin' out on my myspace page and puttin' up with all my bull snot! Your a very talented group of gentlemen,and I hope you'll continue to hang out with me for years to come. Have a great week,and may the Lord eternally bless you.Peace and respect. BRAD.
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Please Take a look at our Social Network and while your their create yourself a profile and connect with others!
Amari,
Hi back and thanx for checking this out! Like it? There are 4 CD reviews & 5 live Audio Interviews about everything Metal and ... Violins... and bow ... and NO GUITARS on our MySpace page under 'Blogs' and the beginning of our rock journal at www.metalmonthly.com/RockJournal.html ;)
You can follow our up to the minute news and/or daily activities on twitter.com/ArmandVio7
Thank you,
..,,/- Armand
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