Megamasso

With their androgynous look, elaborate costumes, and de rigueur colored contact lenses, Tokyo trio Megamasso wholeheartedly embrace the visual kei template established by their Japanese forebears. Sonically at least, Megamasso toy somewhat with the genre's usual tropes (think absurdly over-the-top pop-metal), coming up with a more accessible brand of pop/rock compared to recent scene leaders such as D'espairsRay, L'Arc-en-Ciel, and Janne Da Arc.

Although fronted by singer Inzargi (who may or may not have named himself in honor of the Italian soccer striker Filippo Inzaghi), Megamasso's de facto leader is Ryouhei, the band's guitarist and songwriter who formed the group at the end of 2006 after quitting the moderately successful visual kei five-piece Ayable. Starting out as a four-piece, drummer Yuta and bassist Gou completed the early lineup. Although the support of some of Ayable's fan base ensured that Megamasso's debut shows at the medium-sized O-East venue in Tokyo's Shibuya were sell-outs, the group has failed to translate that into mainstream chart success and in their homeland are usually described as an "indie" visual kei act. Megamasso's debut disc, the mini-album Namida Neko, earned a limited release in Tokyo, Osaka, and Nagoya on the NXSIE label around the same time as these shows, footage of which was later compiled to make up the 11-track DVD Mega-Star Tokyo, released in early 2008. Shortly afterwards, debut album Yuki Shitatari Hoshi hit the shelves, although the band was dealt something of a blow when drummer Yuta departed due to musical differences — Megamasso has been a three-piece ever since. Second album Mataku Yoru followed seven months later. Despite a flurry of releases and regular live appearances, Ryouhei still manages to find time outside Megamasso for extra-curricular activities, appearing on public broadcaster NHK's children's television show Tensai Terebikun and on Fuji TV's 721 channel. In 2009, Megamasso released their third album, Sweet Switch.