It’s pretty rare to see a Japanese visual kei band gain such international success. Girugämesh have spent the last 12 years rising to the top, but tonight play their last London show on their final European tour having announced their intentions to disband this summer. We pay homage tonight to one of Japan’s top musical exports!

I owe a lot to this band for introducing me into the world of visual kei, a subculture of metal where the musicianship is often nothing short of phenomenal, but kept isolated in Japan due to it’s extremely esoteric nature. 

Currently supporting their latest release of ‘Chimera‘, the band kick off their proceedings, but the evening is a lot more  than just a showcase and a run through a few classics – the band take the opportunity to span their entire career.

The professionalism and live set up of this band has increased exponentially over their 8 years of performing in Europe, from a nervy debut at Wacken Open Air in 2008 to crowd-wrangling showmanship tonight at the Islington Academy, as Girugämesh prove that language has no barriers. As tracks like ‘Wither-Mind‘ and ‘Crazy-Flag‘ blast through the PA with their high-tempos, the fans absorb the energy to give the band the highest of respects they’ve earned over their years.

The show becomes particularly more meaningful when the setlist becomes more expansive, with the raw classic ‘Owari to Mirai‘ reenergising long time fans of the band, and the electric ‘Drain‘ appeasing newer fans. For some it’s just a little heart-breaking to think the band that has arguably brought a world of Japanese music to them may no longer give us anything else.

Apart from a few segments of the show where the mix goes off-balance, the sound is perfect given the diversity and experimentation of some of the tracks such as ‘Voltage‘. 

Finally the show starts to wrap up as the band pound out the fan-favourite ‘Evolution‘, getting every fan in the room to give it their all in preparations to say their goodbyes. The band perform an encore of ‘Gravitation‘ and ‘Break Down‘ before briefly thanking the fans in their limited English, and marching off with their mark made as one of the finest Japanese bands to take the modern London stage.

It didn’t seem like the end. We will live in hope that the band return one day. But if this truly is it – Godspeed Girugämesh.