Outrage (stylized as OUTRAGE) is a Japanese Thrash Metal band from Nagoya formed in 1982. The initial lineup consisted of vocalist Kazutoyo Ito, bassist Yoshihiro Yasui, guitarist Yosuke Abe, and drummer Shinya Tange. Ito would leave the band four years later in 1986 and was replaced with Naoki Hashimoto. Since then Outrage has never gone on hiatus or disbanded, a rarity for Japanese metal bands.
With heavy influence from New Wave of British Heavy Metal Bands like Judas Priest and Venom, the band is notable for having (almost) all of their songs sung in English. They are most comparable to 80's thrash and speed metal bands like Metallica, Slayer, and Anthrax.
Outrage debuted with a self-titled EP in 1987, which was then followed up by their first album Black Clouds the following year. Their next three albums, Blind to Reality, The Great Blue, and The Final Day were released in 1989, 1990, and 1991 respectively. Since then the band has consistently released music while deviating little from their signature Thrash/Heavy Metal sound, outside of 24-7 (2002) and Cause For Pause (2004), which had a stoner/hard rock sound due to Hashimoto leaving the band in 1999.
In 2007, Hashimoto temporarily rejoined the band for a handful of live performances to celebrate the band's 20th anniversary. This temporary reunion would then be made permanent, and the band would return to thrash metal with their 2009 self-titled album. The band has been going strong ever since.
2022 was a big year for Outrage, as it marked their 35th anniversary. To commemorate the occasion, a remastered version of The Final Day was released, and a documentary film titled Hagane Iro no Sora no Kanata he was released in May. A compilation album, Square, Triangle, Circle, & Future was also released, and contained two songs written specifically for the film.
Links: Official Website
, Official Twitter, Official YouTube Channel, Official Instagram
Current Members:
- Yoshihiro Yasui (bass, 1982-Present)
- Yosuke Abe (guitar, 1982-Present)
- Shinya Tange (drums, 1982-Present)
- Naoki Hashimoto (lead vocals, 1986-1999, 2007-Present)
Past Members:
- Kazutoyo Ito (lead vocals, 1982-1986)
Studio Discography
- Black Clouds (1988)
- Blind to Reality (1989)
- The Great Blue (1990)
- The Final Day (1991)
- Spit (1993)
- Life Until Deaf (1995)
- Who We Are (1997)
- 24-7 (2002)
- Cause for Pause (2004)
- Outrage (2009)
- Outraged (2013)
- Genesis I (2015)
- Raging Out (2017)
- Run Riot (2020)
Live Discography
- It's Packed!! (1997)
- Live & Rare Vol. 1 (2003)
- Live & Rare Vol. 2 (2007)
- The Years Of Rage (2008)
- Awakening 2008 (2008)
- Live! Rise and Shine (2010)
Extended Plays
- Outrage (1987)
- Volume One (2001)
- Play Loud (2002)
- Axe Crazy (2019)
MY FINAL TROPES!:
- Accent Upon The Wrong Syllable: Better at averting this trope than most other Japanese rock/metal bands with English lyrics, but still crops up from time to time.
- Animated Music Video: Machete III. A very strange and surreal one at that.
- Bilingual Bonus: The first half of Genesis I is notable for being covers of Japanese rock songs. As such, Naoki sings them in Japanese, a contrast to the band's usual English language songs.
- Cover Version: In addition to Genesis I mentioned above, the band covered "Slowly But Surely", a song by classic Japanese rock group Flower Travellin' Band, on their first album.
- They've also covered Fight Fire With Fire for Metal-ikka, a Metallica tribute album.
- Fadingintothe Next Song: Used in Life Until Deaf and Who We Are.
- Metal Scream
- Motor Mouth: Being a thrash metal band, there are too many examples to mention.
- New Sound Album: 24-7 and Cause for Pause. These albums were produced during the ten year long absence of vocalist Naoki Hashimoto from the band, and they went for more of a stoner/hard rock sound with mostly instrumentals.
-
No Export for You: Subverted. So far, Outrage's music has only ever been released in Japan. Most of their albums are available internationally on Spotify and YouTube Music, however, though not all of them. - Self-Deprecation: "We Suck" from Who We Are. The song manages to be this and Take That, Audience!.
- We suck! You suck!
You know we don't give a fuck!
- Self-Titled Album: There are two releases titled "Outrage": their debut EP from 1987 and their self-titled album from 2009. Outraged comes close to being this.
- Singer Namedrop: From the self-titled song "Outrage":
- Outrage! We are Outrage!
Outrage!
- Surprisingly Gentle Song: "Shine On" from Outrage. It's a calming, soothing song about coming home after a long, long time spent away. The heavy guitars kick in around the halfway mark, but the song still manages to be slower than their usual Thrash Metal fare.
