GALNERYUS

Co-founded by guitar player Syu and vocalist Masahiro "Yama-B" Yamaguchi, Galneryus is a Japanese power-metal band that formed in Osaka in 2001. "United Flag," the duo's self-produced debut single, was released that October. An EP, Rebel Flag, followed in 2002. Bassist Ryosuke "Tsui" Matsui, keyboardist Yuhki, and drummer Jun-ichi Satoh had all joined Galneryus' lineup by the time the band released its first full-length album, The Flag of Punishment, in 2003. The album charted at Number 161 in Japan, where the band's follow-up, Advance to the Fall, reached Number 86 in May 2005. A third album, Beyond the End of Despair…, charted at Number 57 in 2006. Tsui left the band after Beyond the End of Despair…'s release, and frontman Yama-B announced his own departure several months later, while Galneryus was in the process of recording Reincarnation. Released in September 2008, Reincarnation nonetheless reached Number 55 on the Oricon Albums chart. Masatoshi Ono joined the group in 2009 and served as lead vocalist on 2010's Resurrection, which became the band's first Top 40 hit on both the Oricon and Billboard Japan charts. What followed was a decade of Top 40 releases, including 2012's Angel of Salvation (Number 17), 2015's Under the Force of Courage (Number 21), and 2019's Into the Purgatory (Number 18). Although the band's lineup continued to change, Galneryus remained one of Japan's most commercially-successful metal groups during the early 2020s, as well, with 2021's Union Gives Me Strength and 2023's Between Dread and Valor both charting at Number 17.