Who knew a cajon could be so metal?
Given the way Japanese media seems to be overrun by pop idol groups, at times you can’t help but wonder if there’s any other kind of music in Japan. Perhaps something with a bit more edge to it? Something with more “power” to it. Thankfully, if you look beyond mainstream media, you’ll find that there’s plenty of musicians doing all sorts of interesting things. And one such musician is Maki Oyama.
Originally from Okayama Prefecture, Maki Oyama is a self-described “singer-songrocker” who performs mainly in and around Osaka. Although she has been releasing songs since 2013, about a year ago Oyama began to rise to new levels of popularity when she started uploading videos of “acoustic metal” covers to her YouTuber channel.
The videos show Maki and her band mates performing popular Japanese rock, metal, and anime songs with acoustic instruments like acoustic guitars, a cajon, the occasional violin, and, of course, Oyama’s absolutely mind-blowing voice.
One of the first of these acoustic metal covers was of a song called “In the Mirror” by the Japanese heavy metal band Loudness. The highlights of this track are Oyama’s screams and the impressive guitar solo.
This was followed by a cover of what might be the most popular metal song to ever come out of Japan: X Japan’s “Kurenai.” Since its release this video has racked up well over 1.6 million views.
Oyama has kept regularly releasing videos since those first two, including one of “Pegasus Fantasy,” which is the original opening theme to the popular anime series Saint Seiya, and was originally performed by the Japanese metal band MAKE-UP.
She also did “Crazy Doctor” by Loudness.
A cover of that classic song about mandarin oranges by Sex Machineguns, “Mikan no Uta.”
She’s even done one of the hit pop song “Hot Limit” by T.M. Revolution.
And for you Dragon Ball Z fans, here’s a cover of one of the most popular anime theme songs ever: “Cha-La Head-Cha-La” (originally performed by Hironobu Kageyama).
In March of this year Oyama took things to the next level when she launched a crowdfunding campaign via the Japanese website Campfire in order to create an actual CD of acoustic metal covers and do a free series of acoustic metal live concerts. By the end of March when the campaign had ended 372 donors had contributed 2,436,500 JPY (~$21,800 USD), far exceeding her goal of 1,500,000 JPY (~$13,400 USD).
Oyama is in the midst of her free acoustic metal tour and the acoustic metal CD is slated for an August 15 release.
The CD, which is titled Akometaru (Acometal), has 10 tracks and also includes some tracks that cannot be heard on Oyama’s YouTube channel.
Full Track List
1. In the Mirror (Original by Loudness)
2. S.D.I. (Original by Loudness)
3. Kurenai (Original by X Japan)
4. Rosier (Original by Luna Sea)
5. Champion (Original by Alice)
6. Mikan no Uta (Original by Sex Machineguns)
7. Pegasus Fantasy (Original by MAKE-UP)
8. Memeshikute (Original by Golden Bomber)
9. Kouga Ninpo-cho (Original by Onmyou-za)
10. Daitokai (Original by Crystal King)
Akometaru can be purchased via the Amazon (Japan) link here for 3,000 JPY (~$27 USD).
Oyama has plenty of other videos on her YouTube channel, so if you’d like to hear more of her work, check out the link here.
Source: Oyama Maki YouTube, Oyama Maki Official Website
Image: IN THE MIRROR / LOUDNESS (cover) (Maki Oyama YouTube Channel)
