HearJapan's Visual Kei Week Updates

HearJapan kicks off the new year with some new visual kei debuts. The first is their coverage on X Japan's first show in a live house in 2 decades. Dubbed as a "Return to X Japan's Roots," the countdown event took place on December 31st, 2008 at Akasaka Blitz. Check out their entire detailed report here.

On the download front, the first album of 2009 to be sold on HearJapan is an exclusive visual kei release from an up and coming band, XodiacK. You can download their demo single, "Kuroi Taiyou" for free on their site. From the press release: "XodiacK describe themselves as galaxy metal. They came from a parallel universe sharing one soul and they have two existential beings. The concept behind these divine beings revolves around the destructive power of a massive awe inspiring universe-like force." Click here for more info.

For those of you who went to Otakon this past year, you should be familiar with MarBell. The band is led by female lead singer, Mar, and guitarist Takanori Tsunoda. "MarBell differ from most other visual bands, not because the lead singer is feminine, but because she is actually a female. While the band is supported by the fashion brand H.Naoto and place a high premium on their visuals, the music has numerous pop influences making it great on first listen. Their first album "Sister " is about an imaginary sister the singer Mar would turn to during tough times, especially when her brother died during the production of the album." You can purchase the album which comes with 9 extra pictures at HearJapan.com.