| Kazuhiro Asaeda | |
|---|---|
 Asa in 2012. | |
| Background information | |
| Birth Name | Kazuhiro Asaeda |
| Alias | Asa Death Voice |
| Born | 13 April 1970 |
| Occupation | Musician |
| Genres | Doom Metal, Stoner Metal, Psychedelic Rock, Death Metal, Power Metal |
| Instrument(s) | Vocals |
| Years active | 1994 - Present |
| Labels | Rise Above Records, Heavy Psych Sounds, Game Two Records |
| Associated acts | Church of Misery, Sonic Flower, Malevolent Invocation, Scarlet Garden |
Kazuhiro Asaeda, often known simply as Asa, is a vocalist based out of Japan. He is best known as the original vocalist for the Japanese doom metal band Church of Misery, performing a short tenure for the band including the bootlegged Vol. 1 album which was recorded in 1996. Since November 2022 he has since rejoined the band and appeared on Born Under a Mad Sign, his first studio appearance with the band in 26 years.
Notably, Asaeda also would appear on the Sonic Flower comeback album Me and My Bellbottom Blues, released in 2022 via Heavy Psych Sounds.
Biography[]
- For more details feel free to view the pages on Church of Misery and Sonic Flower.
Asaeda was born in Japan and performed largely with death metal bands before his tenure with Church of Misery. Notably, his first known band was Miscreant Invocation which was founded in 1994 when Asaeda was 24. This band would change their name to Scarlet Garden in 1997, recording an album in 1999 for Invasion Records that never saw release. Despite this, the band remained active and would release an EP in 2008.
Church of Misery was formed by Tatsu Mikami, who had previously played bass in the Japanese thrash metal band Legend in 1984, who would become Salem in 1988.[1] After Salem's breakup in 1994[2], he decided to start a doom band, influenced by bands such as Black Sabbath and Saint Vitus.[1] In 1995, Mikami (bass) enlisted Tomohiro Nishimura (guitar), Hideki Shimizu (drums) and Asaeda (vocals) into his band, which became Church of Misery.[1] The band would perform live for the first time on 18 February 1996 at Meguro Live Station in Tokyo, Japan.[3]
Between the months of April and June 1996, the band recorded a demo, then titled "ADV.1996", for promotional use within the doom scene. Without the permission of the band, Doom Records of USA, unofficially released the demo as Vol. 1.[1] Though the bootleg release of the demo displeased the band[1], they did gain listeners and support outside of Japan due to its release. Later in 1996, after the recording of "ADV.1996", Asaeda was replaced on vocals by Nobukazu Chow.[1]
On 26 February 2019 Tatsu Mikami would state "Sonic Flower rides again!" and announce a second album in the works along with a new lineup, including original Church of Misery singer Kazuhiro Asaeda. The forthcoming album is slated to have seven original songs along with a Savoy Brown cover.[4] On 4 November 2020 it would be announced that Sonic Flower had signed with Heavy Psych Sounds. Along with planning this new studio album for 2021, the label would re-issue the self-titled debut in 2021 along with a previously unreleased album in Rides Again, recorded and shelved in 2005 and featuring covers of Graham Central Station and The Meters.[5] On 13 July 2021 part of a new song would be shared on social media, revealing a new lineup and recording done at Studio Zen with Ken and Yukito Okazaki.
In June 2022 details on the band's third album (And first recordings in over fifteen years) would surface. Mixed by Yukito Okazaki (Eternal Elysium), Me and My Bellbottom Blues would be released on 30 September 2022 via Heavy Psych Sounds.[6]
On 8 July 2022 Church of Misery would announce that a new studio album was in the works, featuring six originals and one cover of a 70s heavy rock band. Notably, Toshiaki Umemura (Auma, Sonic Flower) would join on drums and Yukito Okazaki (Eternal Elysium) would join on guitar. Tour dates of Europe would be announced in late 2022, including festival appearances at Desertfest London and DesertFest Berlin. A second European tour would be announced alongside Eyehategod and confirm the new album's title being Born Under a Mad Sign. For both Europe tours, Fumiya Hattori would rejoin the band on guitar while original CoM vocalist Kazuhiro Asaeda would rejoin on vocals, his first performances with the band in over 25 years. It would also be confirmed in a Twitter post in November 2022 that Takano had left the band and Asaeda had recorded the vocals for the new album, his first appearance with the band since 1996's Vol. 1.
Asaeda's first performance back with the band would be on 5 May 2023 at Desertfest London.[7]
Bands[]
- Miscreant Invocation - Vocals (1994 - 1997)
- Church of Misery - Vocals (1995 - 1996, 2022 - Present)
- Scarlet Garden - Vocals (1997 - Present)
- Sonic Flower - Vocals (2021 - Present)
Selected Discography[]
- Miscreant Invocation - Dive Into The Bloodbath (Demo) (1994, Self-Released)
- Stone Edge - Gypsy of The Night (Studio Album; Backing Vocals Throughout) (1995, Self-Released)
- Church of Misery - Vol. 1 (Studio Album) (1996, Doom Records)
- Church of Misery - Acrimony / Church of Misery (Split Album) (2003, Game Two Records)
- Scarlet Garden - Decade of Decadence (EP) (2008, Faith)
- Sonic Flower - Me and My Bellbottom Blues (Studio Album) (2022, Heavy Psych Sounds)
- Church of Misery - Born Under a Mad Sign (Studio Album) (2023, Rise Above Records)
External Links[]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedbio - ↑ Encyclopedia Metallum Church of Misery, accessed June 24th 2015
- ↑ Leaf Hound Records' Trade Page via Wayback MachineAccessed 6 January 2017
- ↑ Tatsu Mikami Instagram
- ↑ The Obelisk
- ↑ Heavy Psych Sounds
- ↑ Setlist.fm