Onmyouza

Onmyo-za ( lang = "ja"> 陰陽 座 , Onmyō-za > ) , also Typographié Onmyouza , is a Japanese heavy metal band from Osaka. Onmyō-za is an ancient reading of the kanjis forming that name, now read In'yōza. The group uses the Onmyo-za transcription on its official website in English.

The names of the group members are all related to cats (or even felines)>. Matatabi and Karukan are brands of cat foods. The Maneki is the name of a Japanese lucky statue. Kuroneko means black cat (kuro: black, neko: cat) and finally Tora means tiger in Japanese.

The band was formed in 1999>, and composed of Matatabi on bass>, Karukan and Maneki who play twin guitars, Kuroneko on vocals, and Tora on drums, gathers a sound that is both heavy metal, but also with sounds that evoke traditional Japan. Matatabi is not only the leader, but most importantly, the composer and lyricist of most of the songs as well as the second singer, creating a duality in the band's music with his deep and poignant voice that opposes Kuroneko's voice. , sweet and sharp. The group is very popular in Japan, but has also toured Europe with Kuroneko.

In 2002, their album Youka Ninpocho (妖 花 忍 法帖) reached 57> Oricon Square>. In 2005 released their sixth studio album, Garyôtensei. In November 2006, they film a second time in Europe>. In 2008, they released their eighth studio album, Chimimouryo, which reached the top 10 of the Oricon> rankings.