Amahiru arose from Frédéric Leclercq’s and Saki’s friendship. Having gotten to know each other in 2015 when Mary’s Blood opened for DragonForce in Hong Kong, they immediately hit it off, both personally and musically. After exchanging many ideas over the years, Frédéric finally travelled to Japan in March 2019 to finalise what soon became their debut album.
Combining traditional metal with melodic and oriental-infused elements, Amahiru’s self-titled debut will be released on November 27, 2020 on earMUSIC. Besides Frédéric Leclercq (Kreator, Sinsaenum, ex-DragonForce) and SAKI (Mary’s Blood & Nemophila, being all-female Japanese metal bands) on guitars and bass, further prominent musicians from the metal scene gathered to turn this project into a musical powerhouse. Coen Janssen of Epica was the first to join. Then came Mike Heller, extraordinary drummer of Fear Factory and Raven and last but not least, Archie Wilson on vocals, adding an essential part to Amahiru’s music with his powerful voice, his great sense of rhythm and his versatility. Additionally, the Shakuhachi (traditional Japanese woodwind instrument), which was recorded by the Japanese virtuoso Kifu Mitsuhashi, gives the world of Amahiru a great, exotic touch.
Frédéric Leclercq says: “I’m influenced by many artists, pretty much anything I hear I can consider an influence and music should be the reflection of that. With Amahiru, I personally wanted to do something groovy and melodic and still metal/hard rock. We didn’t want to make 12 songs sounding the same. Saki and I have a lot in common musically and it was really easy to work together in the same direction.”
Tracklist:
01. Innocent (05:04)
02. Wttp (04:00)
03. Hours (04:39)
04. Way Out (05:00)
05. Ninja No Tamashii (05:51)
06. Vanguard (03:59)
07. Bringing Me Down (04:58)
08. Lucky Star (feat. Elize Ryd) (05:27)
09. Waves (03:22)
10. Samurai (04:01)
11. Bringing Me Down (feat. Sean Reinert) [Alternative Version] (04:56)
12. Zombi (Bonus Track) (05:02)
Line Up:
Frederic Leclercq (KREATOR, Ex-DRAGONFORCE) – Guitars, Bass
SAKI (MARY’S BLOOD, NEMOPHILA) – Guitars
Coen Janssen (EPICA) – Keyboards
Mike Heller (Raven, FEAR FACTORY) – Drums
Archie Wilson – Vocals