DEATH SIDE

Tokyo, Japan

The band that defined Burning Spirits hardcore -- Tokyo's most important punk export, period.

SP

About

DEATH SIDE formed in Tokyo in 1987 with a lineup that would reshape the entire trajectory of Japanese hardcore: Ishiya on vocals, Chelsea (Hiroyuki Kishida) on guitar, You on bass, and a rotating cast on drums including Muka Chin and Ran-Lin. Alongside Bastard and Nightmare, they forged the sound that would come to be called Burning Spirits -- a style built on blazing metallic guitar solos, raging vocals, and a rhythmic intensity that made American and European hardcore sound relaxed by comparison. Between 1987 and 1994 they released two landmark full-lengths (Bet On the Possibility and Wasted Dream), a split with Chaos UK, and a scattering of EPs that became some of the most sought-after records in punk. Chelsea passed away on August 17, 2007, and his death reverberated through the global punk community. Starting in 2015, the surviving members began performing reunion sets at annual memorial shows at Shinjuku Loft, bringing in guitarists Ori and Benkei to fill Chelsea's shoes. These weren't nostalgia gigs -- they were raw, emotional performances that reminded everyone why Death Side mattered in the first place. The band played Obscene Extreme Festival in Europe in 2016, marking their first-ever European appearance. The Will Never Die compilation, released on La Vida Es Un Mus, collected their non-LP output and gave a new generation access to material that had been trapped on out-of-print 7-inches for decades. Death Side's influence is everywhere -- in every Western band that adds a melodic guitar lead over a d-beat, in every vocalist who tries to channel that particular brand of desperate fury. Ishiya continued the lineage in FORWARD, but the Death Side recordings remain the foundation that the entire Burning Spirits movement was built on.

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Earthdom2 shows