Galneryus

A neo-classical/Power Metal band from Osaka, Japan formed in 2001. Galneryus shares a similar style to bands such as Yngwie Malmsteen's Rising Force and Stratovarius. Though their appearance started as the standard Visual Kei flare, they quickly dropped the look in favor of a more ordinary casual look, though they continue to almost universally use stage names (with the exception of drummer Junichi Satoh). Despite their talent, 6 album discography and the presence of ex-Animetal guitarist Syu, they don't have much popularity outside of Japanese metal circles. They also seem to have a thing for flags with at least one song with a title referring to flags on three of their six albums with the songs "United Flag," "Rebel Flag," "Struggle for the Freedom Flag," "Braving Flag," and "The Flag of Reincarnation."

They have worked on three compilations with other Japanese metal bands, the first contributing a cover Stratovarius's "Black Diamond," the second contributing a cover of Loudness's "Soldier of Fortune," and the third contributing their own song "Struggle for the Freedom Flag." They also recorded the soundtrack of Death Note: The Movie.

The album art of their first three albums were drawn by legendary Final Fantasy artist Yoshitaka Amano.

Galneryus's future was in question after the departure of vocalist Yama-B. Yama-B quit due to creative differences and disagreeing with the direction the band was taking.

Sometime in 2009, it was revealed that Yama-B's replacement would be Masatoshi Ono and that Yu-To was replaced by Taka.

Members:

• Lead Vocals: Masatoshi Ono/SHO
• Guitar/Backing Vocals: Syu
• Bass/Backing Vocals: Taka
• Keyboard/Backing Vocals: Yuhki
• Drums: Junichi Satoh

Former Members:

• Vocals: Yama-B
• Bass: Shogo Himuro, Yusuke, Tsui, Yu-To
• Keyboard: A, Yoshinori Kataoka
• Drums: Toshihiro Yui

Discography:

• The Flag of Punishment (2003)
• Advance to the Fall (2005)
• Beyond the End of Dispair (2006)
• One For All - All For One (2007)
• Alsatia/Cause Disarray (LP, 2008)
• Reincarnation (2008)
• RESSURECTION (2010)

Galneryus provides examples of the following tropes:

• The Band Minus the Face: After Yama-B left due to creative differences with Syu.
• Concept Album: Their debut The Flag of Punishment.
• Cover Version: "Black Diamond" originally by Stratovarius and "Soldier of Fortune" originally by Loudness
• Face of the Band: Either Syu or Yama-B depending on who you ask.
• Heavy Mithril: Where to begin?
• One-Hit Wonder: Sort of as the songs "Alsatia" and "Cause Disarray" are popular amongst anime fans due to their use as the opener and closer respectively for Mnemosyne.
• Protest Song: "Stardust" from "Reincarnation" is a protest of nuclear war. The "stardust" is radioactive fallout.
• Replacement Scrappy: Ono.
• Special Guest: Yuhki was recently featured at Guilty Gear x BlazBlue Music Live 2011.
• Stage Names: Only five members in their history used their real names.
  • Stage Names: Ono's is SHO.
• They Changed It, Now It Sucks: A lot of fans hate that they've mostly abandoned neo-classical metal in recent years. The fact that this lead to Yama-B's departure doesn't help.
• What Could Have Been: The band was actually getting notice overseas as of 2009. Had they stayed neoclassical metal and had Yama-B stayed in the band, they could have likely broken into the US market and/or had major success what with the return of neoclassical and thrash as popular styles among metalheads. Instead, their change managed to not only alienate much of their fanbase but fall so far short of what they seemed to be trying for (an attempt at cloning X Japan's formula for success including a Toshi impersonator for a vocalist) that they pretty much fell back to square one as a band.