Seikima-ll 〜 The devil who went down from the world of Satan 〜YouTube Best

 

Seikima-II (聖飢魔II Seikimatsu) is a Japanese heavy metal band with a style similar to that of US rock band KISS. Even though the band was very popular in Japan, outside of Japan they were rather unknown.

The band’s lead singer, Demon Kogure, was cited by many as having one of the best voices in the Japanese music scene.

 

With their music, they contributed heavily to the evolution of Japanese heavy metal. Visually, over time the band gradually abandoned their KISS styling soon after the final line-up had been established.

From that point onward it seemed as if they got their inspiration from Kabuki theatre, and this fit quite well with their demonic image.

 

 

♪ GO AHEAD!  ♪

 

 

According to the mythology created by the band, Seikima-II is a group of “Akuma” (devils), from the futuristic hyper-evolved dimension “Makai” (“demon world”), that are preaching a religion, in order to propagate Satan through the use of heavy metal music.

 

 

♪ Genesis    (0:35〜)

♪ 1999 SECRET OBJECT   (1:58〜)

 

 

 

Each member is a demon of a different hierarchical class, with His Excellency Demon Kogure being leader of the “Akuma” and His Majesty Damian Hamada (he formed this band) being the “Crown Prince of Hell”.

Their fans affirmed their tendency towards black humor and satire—Seikima-II fans were called ‘Shinjas’ and concerts were called ‘Black Masses.’

 

 

 

 

☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

 

 

◉ (Latest ) Line Up

 

  • Vocals: Demon Kogure
  • Guitar: Luke Takamura
  • Bass: Xenon Ishikawa
  • Drums: Raiden Yuzawa
  • Guitar: Jail Ohashi

 

 

 

 


Everything started in December 1982

Seikima-II was founded by guitarist Damian Hamada, Prince Of Hell, vocalist H.E. Demon Kogure, Demon Pope, and bassist Zod Hojishima, responsible for Interrogation.

When written in kanji, the meaning of the word ‘seikima’ means ‘holy hungry demon’, but when pronouncing the II at the end in English, it became ‘seikimatsu’ which means ‘End of the Century’.

 

♪  JACK THE RIPPER ♪  (3:18〜)

 

 

When looking at the professions they named themselves as, such as Demon Pope and their unique computation of time, one can see that the group used both interpretations of their band name.

Drummer Zeed Iijima, Bodyguard of the Prince, and keyboard player Ryo-ko, Witch, joined in 1983. However, Ryo-ko left the band that same year. The group then debuted with four members and performed several concerts.

 
 


 

Their first concert was held on March 23, 1983. From this concert on, their concerts were referred to as ‘Black Masses.’ A year later, a second guitarist named Giantonio Babayashi was added to Seikima-II, but he did not stay for too long either.

The year 1985 was an important year for the band. In September they released their first album, Akuma ga kitarite heavy metal. This album was the first album by a Japanese black metal band to sell over 100,000 copies.

 

 

♪ STOMY NIGHT ~ DEAD SYMPHONY

 

 

It was also the year of their biggest line-up changes. After Giantonio had decided to leave the band, founder Damian soon followed. With this significant change, Demon took over as leader of the band.

They were replaced by guitarists Ace Shimizu, Boss of the CIA in Hell, and Gandhara Sbguelia Tigris-Euphrates Kaneko, but this formation also did not last very long.

 

When Zeed quit, Gandhara followed, so they had to find a new guitarist once again and a new drummer on top of that.

Guitarist Jail O’Hashi, Boss Of Punishment, and drummer Raiden Yuzawa, Minister of General Affairs, quickly occupied those positions, but even then the band’s infamous merry-go-round type of line-up changes did not stop.

 

 

♪ Heavy Metal Is Dead  ♪

 

 

In 1986, original member Zod left the band after they had released their first two singles as well as the next two albums.

A year later, Jail also quit thus forming the final line-up when bassist Xenon Ishikawa, Culture Minister Of Hell, and guitarist Sgt. Luke Takamura III, Consultant Of The General Staff Of Hell, joined.

 

 

♪ In the state of the smile  ♪

 

 

With this lineup, the group was able to express their creativity without limitation, since they now, at last, had a steady member lineup.

This led to the band producing a lot of new material. The major labels had started paying attention to them and Seikima-II were soon able to snap up a major record deal in 1988.

 

 

♪   Merry Christmas of the devil  ♪ (00:50〜)

 

 

THE OUTER MISSION was the first album of theirs to be released in CD format rather than as an LP. Their next album, WORST, was their first album to top the Oricon charts making it all the way to number one.

At the end of the year they were even able to perform on “Kohaku,” a famous New Years Japanese television show in Japan.

 

 

♪ White Miracle  ♪

 

 

Seikima-II‘s fame increased steadily from then on, and it was only a matter of time before they performed their first concerts overseas.

They played various concerts throughout Asia with the exception of China, whose government refused to grant visas because of their eccentric costumes.

 
 


 

The band itself did not care much for things like that, though, and went ahead to perform live concerts in European cities like London.

Despite some short breaks, notably during the period from 1993 to 1995, they always managed to re-appear even more successfully. Around 1992, their keyboard support Yuichi Matsuzaki, The Confuser, left, but re-joined two years later.

 

 

♪ STAINLESS NIGHT  ♪

 

 

A big wave of releases came up in the middle of the 90s, reaching its peak in 1999. In accordance to the prophecy and after completing their world conquest, the band disbanded at the end of the century on December 31, 1999 at 23:59:59.
 

 

 

 

 


Seikima-ll disbanded at the end of the century…

However, the band has had three separate limited reunions since their disbandment. One in 2005 to celebrate their 20th anniversary, and another in 2010 celebrating their 25th anniversary with the release of their albums Akuma Nativity “Songs of the Sword” and Akuma Relativity, that included their first ever world tour.

 

( in 2010 celebrating their 25th anniversary  )

 

  1. Genesis
  2. The Prince of Jigoku       (2:06〜)
  3. WINNER     (5:20〜)
  4. (Edited videos)
  5. BAD AGAIN      (13:18〜)
  6. BRAND NEW SONG      (18:20〜)
  7. The House of Wax       (21:10〜)
  8. FIRE AFTER FIRE     (26:27〜)
  9. 365steps of march      (30:00〜)
  10. KILL THE KING GHIDRAH        (33:20〜)
  11. DEAD SYMPHONY        (34:16〜)

 

 
 


 

As part of the North American leg of the world tour, Seikima-II headlined A-Kon 21, in Dallas, Texas. They also made an appearance at Japan Expo 2010 in Paris, France, and Viva Korea Rock Festival in wonju, South Korea.

 

An “encore” of their world tour was held from July to September 2011. On November 20 and December 1, the band hosted two charity concerts, titled Seikima-II Presents Tribute to Japan and including several different artists, in response to the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami.

 

 

♪ MASQUERADE  ♪

 

 

 

 

 


Seikima-ll is still…

Seikima-II translates to “End of the Century”. According to the mythology created by the band to promote their music, the band members are a group of demons preaching a religion in order to propagate Satan through the use of Heavy Metal.

Each member is a demon of a different hierarchical class with His Excellency Demon Kogure being leader of demons and His Majesty Damian Hamada being crown prince of hell.

 

♪ ADAM’S APPLE  ♪

 

 

The band, in-keeping with their mythology and the ‘prophecy’ parted ways at the end of 1999. They officially broke up on December  1999, although this did not keep them from performing a small number of unofficial concerts and appearing at a variety of shows.

 

Since then, Demon has been active as a solo artist. He still wears the same make-up as he did while he was in Seikima-II. In 2009,, Demon Kogure officially changed his name to Demon Kakka.

 

Forever, Seikima-ll 🙂
 

 

 

 

 


You Tube ☆

 

♪ EL DORADO ♪

 

 

♪ The desolate new world  ♪

 

 

♪ The Secret Garden  ♪

 

 

 

♪ Stomy feeling  ♪

 

 

♪  Revolution has come  ♪

 

 

♪ BABIES IN THEIR DREAMS  ♪

 

 

♪ Plein Soleil  ♪