“Nabeshima” is released!!

 

We have waited for this moment for years.

The ultimate Japanese Christian metal album,
“Nabeshima” is now released!!

This is Japanese Traditional Christian Metal.
Something the world has never heard before.

We are very happy now that it’s released.
We are very proud of it.
And we are very grateful.

Thank you very much for your support.
Without your help, we could not have come this far.

Let us celebrate together, because this is a happy moment!

 

Nabeshima on Spotify
https://open.spotify.com/album/6Xig3ysBK4OaKvJK3ItNSX

Nabeshima on Apple Music
https://music.apple.com/jp/album/nabeshima/1568375836

 

CDs/Download are available at Dead Pulse, the official store of Sliptrick Records. They ship internationally.
https://deadpulse.com/product/imari-tones-nabeshima/

 

 

Here are some of the songs from “Nabeshima” album.

 

 

To explain the story of this album, I will give you something.

 

Here is what we wrote as a “Press Release from the Band”.

 

For Immediate Release
Date: July 6th, 2021

Imari Tones combines Samurai spirit and Christianity on their new album “Nabeshima”

Yokohama, Japan – July 6, 2021 – Japanese Christian metal band Imari Tones releases a double album “Nabeshima” that incorporates Japanese traditional culture into Christian heavy metal

Imari Tones, Japanese Christian Metal band, releases their new album “Nabeshima” on July 6th from Sliptrick Records (Latvia).

As a Christian band based in Japan, the members of Imari Tones have always wondered what Christian music for Japanese people should sound like. 
Based on this question, they made “Jesus Wind” in 2017, which was a concept album about Christian history in Japan. That album became a favorite for their passionate fans all around the world.

But they didn’t stop there. This time, they went even further and they incorporated Japanese traditional music and its cultural essence into their Christian metal music. 
The result is something the world has never heard before: Japanese Traditional Christian Metal. “Nabeshima” is Christian metal music based on Japanese tradition.

This is an album Imari Tones was destined to make.
 The album title “Nabeshima” is derived from an old Japanese porcelain art from the 17th century. It’s a fact that Imari Tones’ band name was inspired by old Japanese Imari porcelain. Nabeshima was of the highest quality among those Imari potteries from the 17th century.

Ever since seeing the Nabeshima potteries for the first time, Tak Nakamine, the singer and guitarist of the band, has always been wanting to make music like that. Otherworldly, multi-dimensional, simple yet compelling beauty with Japanese tradition.

His ambition has become true on this album. When he finished writing all the songs, Tak decided to call this album “Nabeshima”, because he was certain this was the best music Imari Tones could ever make. Imari Tones are happy to present this one of a kind spiritual music to the world.

Musically this album is very diverse. While it contains very intense power metal songs, the other songs are more progressive. The whole album has a mysterious overtone, with Japanese traditional vibe.

Being a double album with 24 songs, this album surely has a big volume. Half of the songs are sung in English, while the other half are sung in Japanese. Even though it has a Christian message, “Nabeshima” has multi-cultural, diverse elements.

“Nabeshima” takes listeners to a mysterious journey to ancient Japan, where Samurai spirit meets Christian faith.
Japan is a Buddhist country and while its Christian population is very small, it is known that some of the Samurais and Daimyos were Christians before the Tokugawa shogunate banned Christianity for more than 200 years.

If there was music for those old Christian Samurais, this probably is what it would sound like.

There is no doubt Imari Tones are modern day Christian Samurais, with this traditional metal sound of “Nabeshima”.

“Nabeshima” album is available at all the major digital music services such as Spotify and Apple Music.
 The double album CDs are available at Dead Pulse, the official store of Sliptrick Records. 

 

 

Also this is the story I wrote for the discography page of this website.

 

“Nabeshima” by Imari Tones

Imari Tones’ music was born when Tone met a girl named Imari in his teenage days. That was the reason Tone (Tak Nakamine) decided to call his band Imari Tones.

However, while he was checking the Japanese old porcelain art which his girlfriend (now wife) was named after, he found this very special art.

That was Nabeshima. Nabeshima was of the highest quality in the history of Imari Porcelain. Very special pottery made for the Tokugawa Shogunate.
They had a very unique quality. Out of this world, multi dimensional, timeless, even spiritual beauty.

Tone was mesmerized with this “Nabeshima” porcelain. He thought he wanted to make music like this. And he decided, someday when he made the best music he could possibly make, he would call it “Nabeshima”. Because it’s the best music by Imari Tones.
That was the ultimate goal, since the moment he named his band this way.

Years later, his band Imari Tones was now a Christian band. They were very unique, most likely the first ever Christian Metal band from Japan.
They toured in the United States, they toured in Japan, playing music for international audiences.

But Tone has always wondered what the authentic Christian music is like for Japanese people. He dug up the roots of Japanese soul, went back in history and made a concept album about Japanese Christian history (Jesus Wind).

But that was not all.
Along the way, he had found the authentic way to play spiritual music to Japanese souls.
That was the Christian Metal music based on Japanese traditional sounds.

How did he do that?
Tone wrote those songs with the beauty he found in Nabeshima.
He made these sounds with multi dimensional, otherworldly, and Japanese traditional beauty of Nabeshima and its aesthetics.

That was the sound Tone has been looking for, for a very long time.
This is the Ultimate Japanese Christian metal.
This is the best music from Imari Tones.

This is the manifestation of Christian faith by Imari Tones, but at the same time, this is also the manifestation of Imari Tones’s musical freedom and diversity.
Mysterious, spiritual, exotic, yet based on Christian faith.
Experimental, progressive, yet based on classic hard rock format.

This is a double album with 24 songs. Half of the songs are sung in English and the other half are sung in Japanese. Imari Tones made this album knowing it’s meant to be a classic.
It will take you to a spiritual journey – a journey to ancient Japan where Christian faith and Samurai spirit become one.