User:Petewarrior/sandbox/Bridear

Bridear (stylized as BRIDEAR) is a Japanese power metal band from Fukuoka, formed in 2011. They are represented by Zest and release music under the Avex Trax label.

History
Bridear was founded in Fukuoka in 2011 and, after several line-up changes, consists of singer Kimi, the two guitarists Misaki and Ayum, bassist Haru and drummer Natsumi in November 2021. The band joined the Zest talent management agency in July 2019.

In 2012, a demo and a single were released with Pray/Another Name and Thread of the Light/Roulette, before the extended play Overturn the Doom was relocated to Movement Records the following year. In the following two years, another single, Light in the Dark/No Salvation and Dear Bride, and a live album were released. In March 2016, the band finally released their debut album, Baryte, which was released by Radtone Music, which the group promoted with an extensive tour of Japan. Also the EP released in 2017Rise appeared via Radtone. The following year another EP, Helix, was released, this time on the Japanese branch of Universal Music. Another live album, Live Tour 2018 Marcasite , was also released in 2018. In 2019 the group switched to the Japanese label Avex Trax and released their second studio album Expose Your Emotions at the end of the same year. In May 2021, Bridear released their third album, Bloody Bride, which was released internationally by Setsuzoku Records. In September and October 2021, the group toured several European cities.

Style
According to Fabian Zeitlinger from Metalinside.de, Bridear stand out from other Japanese all-girl rock bands with their more modern sound, described as more of a "metalized" version of Band-Maid than melodic power metal like Aldious or Lovebites. On Bloody Bride, the group oscillates between aggressive power metal with double bass and poppy alternative metal. The band's lyrics are written in both Japanese and English. In a review on JRock News, Bloody Bride is described as a "marriage" between hard rock and progressive metal and a worthy successor to Expose Your Emotions. Shawn Kupfer, in his review for Idobi, describes the music as "fast-paced power metal with pop music sensibilities", evocative of X Japan's Blue Blood era, and concluded that Bridear's music shares the DNA of the New Wave of American Heavy Metal while also breaking new ground.