Girugamesh - First Two Albums 2006, 2007
I still remember when a friend introduced me to Girugamesh in 2005: “They’re a visual [kei] band named after the guy from Final Fantasy.” My response, I think, was a suspicious and elongated, “Uh huh…,” heh. There have been tons of visual kei bands who are more style than substance, and cynically I assumed Girugamesh was going to be the same. I was wrong though, of course, and Girugamesh turned out to be a great rock/metal band, so that shows you what I know.

This torrent contains their first two albums:

* “13’s Reborn” (27 September 2006)
* “Girugamesh” (26 December 2007)

Girugamesh started in 2003 as a project between childhood friends Nii (guitarist) and Shuu (bassist, backup vocalist). After a year of experimenting via live performances, a lot of them at their school, they filled out the band with Ryo (drummer) and Satoshi (lead vocalist). In 2004 and 2005 Girugamesh quickly drew attention on the indie circuit, signing with a label (Danger Crue), releasing two singles, going on tour, and releasing a DVD of that tour all in rapid succession. It’s uncommon for a band to release a live concert DVD before their first album. Anyway—this all culminated with their debut album in 2006, 13’s Reborn. For a lot of music fans, myself included, the album immediately established Girugamesh as a band to watch. 13’s Reborn is coarse, unpolished, and not all that varied, but the band’s talent and potential is plainly clear. It all comes to fruition on their 2007 sophmore album, the self-titled Girugamesh. There is a notable transition between these two albums in which Girugamesh tightens and constricts everything that was impressive about 13’s Reborn; the tracks on Girugamesh are shorter overall and packed with a deeper, faster thrashing sound, backed by Satoshi’s improved vocal range and darker lyrics. The album thrust Girugamesh into that echelon of visual and metal bands that belonged in any conversation about who was worth listening to. Such bands have had a slow but steady increase of exposure in Europe, and almost exactly one month after its release, Girugamesh was released in Europe, followed by a long tour through both Europe and Japan, including a performance at Wacken Open Air. Girugamesh hasn’t slowed down since, releasing five more albums in the past six years and touring almost constantly when not in the studio.

I own the first five of their seven albums but I’m going to have to hunt down the rest because I don’t know where in the Hell in my unsorted collection I put them, heh. I’m glad I found the first two together though, as I was thoroughly impressed with the jump Girugamesh made between 13’s Reborn and Girugamesh. Which is not to say 13’s Reborn is a bad album by any measure.

Enjoy the music everyone!