Aldious: Evoke II 2010-2020 – The Pioneering Japanese Metal Band Unleash Special Overseas Edition of Album

"As if regenerating the golden age of DragonForce and Blind Guardian… the 'girls metal band boom' of the 2010s, which brought us the likes of BABYMETAL, owes its initial success in part to the pioneering talents of Aldious." – Alternative Press

"These girls will rock your brains out. As metal as one can get in heels and pink bows" – Kotaku

Japan's "groundbreaking" (Nylon) metal band Aldious continue their ten-year conquest with an international edition of Evoke II 2010-2020. JPU Records will unleash it from 29 January on CD and to download / stream. The special CD-edition includes two pages of English liner notes, English lyric translations and Romaji transliterations as well as the original Japanese lyrics and photos.

The album features nine career defining tracks from the pioneering metal band, re-recorded with the powerful vocal talents of new frontwoman R!N: Her solo career includes tracks from anime and video game phenomena Attack on Titan, Gundam and League of Legends.

Joining Aldious marks the first time R!N has sung in a heavy metal band, but it's far from the singer's first experience with the genre. Her father was a big Judas Priest fan, leading to Rob Halford being one of R!N's heroes growing up. She comments, "Judas Priest are proud of who they are and what they believe, which is a quality I strive towards. They became a band whose way of life was etched upon my heart like a lesson."

Central to Aldious' concept is the mixture of power and melody. So much so that the band's name is a portmanteau of 'Ultimate' and 'Melodious' in their native katakana script. Even the band's stage presence is a mixture of concepts, with each member wearing their own powerful yet elegant outfit. Guitarist Toki, who recently became a mother, wields an electric pink guitar with a matching fluffy pink dress and boots; Sawa plays a custom cat-influenced bass with LED paw position markers running up its neck; Marina, daughter of drum legend Terry Bozzio, plays drums in an sophisticated red gown; guitarist Yoshi dons fancy, flowing trousers and a flashy shirt, while new comer R!N dominates the microphone in a ballroom dress.

On the release of Evoke II 2010-2020, Aldious' co-founder Yoshi comments, "I was disappointed that the five of us wouldn’t be able to get together in the studio and record something new. In order to record an original full studio album, we would require lots of people working together in close quarters for long periods of time. That is something that we want to avoid right now. Besides us, the sound engineers and technicians work with lots of other artists as well. We didn’t want to be the band that caused so many others to get sick. But if we only did vocal recording then we could slim the number of people who needed to be present down to just two: R!N and one engineer."

Aldious had planned their first European tour to take place in 2020. This overseas tour has now been rescheduled for October 2021.