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With Amethyst, REIRIE Make a Daring Leap Into the Major-Label Spotlight

REIRIE make their major-label debut with Amethyst, a five-track EP blending guitar rock, emotion, and R&B, out January 28, 2026, alongside a nationwide tour.

REIRIE Amethyst REIRIE, the duo formed by Rei Kuromiya and Rie Kaneko, will make their major-label debut with their first EP, Amethyst, on January 28, 2026. The release arrives via MoooD Records, a label under Bandai Namco Music Live. Ahead of the EP’s launch, the music video “Aishiteyo” is available to view online and see how these two artists want to present themselves. It’s a mix of art nouveau and glam. In between the layers of stage presence and glam is a look that suggets more than leather and lace, but also stillness and motion. Their sound is a mix of J-pop meets Speed Metal, and although their style is hard to pin down, I’d say they are borrowing from not only the Rococo but also historical Gothic.

Amethyst will be released in three version: the Rei, Rie, and a Standard Edition. The Rei release includes a Blu-ray featuring footage from the free live show held last year in Sept at Kabukicho Tower Stage. The Rie set includes a Blu-ray of the Tokyo performance from Reirie Live Tour 2025 – BaD＝DoLL –, held October 26. As a first-press bonus, each of them will include one randomly selected trading card from a set of six.

Musically, The advance digital single “BaD＝DoLL,” composed by Yuki Tsujimura and MEGMETAL, delivers a charged, dramatic rock sound.

“Aishiteyo,” created by the same team, leans further into raw emotion and heightened intensity, brought to life in the newly released music video.

Additional tracks include “Holy Brighters,” which portrays heroism that pushes forward despite doubt and anxiety, “Not Philosophy,” a song about strength and love expressed through feeling rather than words, and “Contact,” a soulful R&B-based track that embraces pain and inner conflict as part of personal growth.

In support of the release, REIRIE will launch Reirie Live Tour 2026 – Amethyst – in February 2026 around Japan. Locations are as follows:

Feb 1, 2026 – Chiba LOOK [Chiba]
Feb 7, 2026 – Hiroshima CAVE-BE [Hiroshima]
Feb 8, 2026 – music zoo KOBE Taiyo to Tora [Hyogo]
Feb 15, 2026 – HEAVEN’S ROCK Saitama Shintoshin VJ-3 [Saitama]
Feb 23, 2026 – F.A.D. YOKOHAMA [Kanagawa]
Feb 28, 2026 – KYOTO MUSE [Kyoto]
Mar 1, 2026 – OSAKA MUSE [Osaka]
Mar 8, 2026 – LIVE HOUSE enn 2nd [Miyagi]
Mar 13, 2026 – ell.FITS ALL [Aichi]
Mar 15, 2026 – HEAVEN’S ROCK Utsunomiya VJ-2 [Tochigi]
Mar 21, 2026 – Fukuoka DRUM SON [Fukuoka]
Mar 31, 2026 – Shibuya CLUB QUATTRO [Tokyo]

Tickets

REIRIE Premium Ticket: ¥18,000 (incl. tax)

(Premium tickets include guaranteed access to the front area, one cheki photo, and exclusive merchandise)
A Ticket: ¥6,600 (incl. tax)

*A separate drink fee is required for all ticket types.

Tracklist (all editions)

BaD＝DoLL
Holy Brighters
Not Philosophy
Contact
AISHITEYO

About REIRIE

Formed in January 2023, REIRIE brings together Rei Kuromiya and Rie Kaneko, who previously performed in separate units before reuniting after several years apart. Their distinctive artistic vision has resonated strongly with fans, particularly women, and their striking visuals and powerful live performances have seen them appear at festivals in Japan and overseas. Their solo concerts continue to grow their nationwide audience.

From Free Comic Book Day, The Teaser for Def Leppards Hysteria Graphic Novel is a Misnomer

Although some musical talents gel very well in the comic book medium, others may well be a head scratcher when there’s no added rock and roll element to make them antiheroes. Def Leppard’s Hysteria is an example.

Vault Comics

Release Date:
July 29, 2025

The next band to jump on the comic book bandwagon is Def Leppard! Whether that’s good or bad depends on whether readers like me are ready for a story about other characters rather than the band featuring Joe Elliott, Rick Savage, Phil Collen (who wrote this story), Rick Savage and Vivian Campbell. Although they do not have stage personalities like KISS, what’s offered with issue #0 on Free Comic Book Day is more of a prologue, with no sign of the band in sight.

The victims in the opening pages reminded me of Ritchie Valens and his tragic death. Although this musician never bought a cursed guitar or continued playing as that plane crashed, the similarities in appearance could not go unnoticed. The tale then jumps forward a few years and introduces Foz.

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When Will Part-Time Comix’ The Drumsticks of Doom, Volume 2 Come Out?

When heavy metal and the supernatural go hand to hand, Drumsticks of Doom has everything a comic book reader would want! And the second issue of its sophmore series is coming soon!

Drumsticks of Doom Alt Cover When the talents behind the comic book, Drumsticks of Doom, are also musicians, this tribute perhaps inspired by Nelvana’s Rock & Rule is outstanding! Dan Dougherty (Touching Evil) and Jon Westhoff (Part-Time Comix) created a series which is very indie, and although this introduction has the feel of a starter project, I would like to know more.

And to find out what this team had previously done, I found YouTube videos of Dan’s concerts. He’s quite the talent (see below), and for Jon, all I found were interviews.

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Cover Your Ears Documentary Review

Cover Your Ears may not be as revelent now as back then, but this look back into the history about music censorship is important as we move ahead in this new year as new trends emerge.

Cover Your Ears Documentary Poster Available to view on Plex

When does art become obscenity? That’s the question writer/director Sean Patrick Shaul asks and his response is to make the excellent documentary, Cover Your Ears.It shows musicians fighting back against censorship, the moral implications, and legal proceedings that often follow when a case goes to court. The villain isn’t the music industry. Instead, it’s those groups formed by parents and extremists who believe they speak for the masses.

In what these talents call artistic expression, other people see something else. Few people know that, in comparison to current trends, Mozart and Beethoven even had their share of controversy. They inserted questionable lyrics into the operas they wrote. And what about those dirty sea shanties? Sometimes they reach the mainstream, and it’s enough to make many women blush. When this work traces the origins of censorship and what makes a good, catchy, song, even I had to scream and shout!

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Making A Heavier Trip to Experience Europe’s Heavy Metal Scene is Well Explored Here!

Finland’s most Death Metal Comedy Heavier Trip is streaming, and no prior knowledge is required. Just enjoy the ride and you’ll be a headbanger too in no time!

Streaming on Apple TV and Amazon Prime
Mild Spoiler Alert

The most notable cameo in Heavier Trip is that this film also marks Babymetal’s debut on the cinematic stage! And it’s not about seeing them sing, but also having speaking lines. I avoided looking at trailers, and to find them in this sequel to Heavy Trip is a pleasant surprise.

Fans all over the world, from Finland to Japan, love heavy metal, and those who haven’t explored its many subgenres should. But for the Death Metal group Impaled Rektum, their story continues from where the last movie left off. Turo (Johannes Holopainen), Jynkky (Antti Tuomas Heikkinen), Pasi (Max Ovaska), and Lotvonen (Samuli Jaskio), while in prison, pass the time by providing more entertainment than The Blues Brothers did during their incarceration.

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Spiritbox’s Eternal Blue. From Album to Graphic Novel, Sometimes the Search for Answers is Worth it.

Just how well the punk music band Spiritbox does with their single “Eternal Blue” from years back really depends on telling the world there’s also a graphic novel adaptation of this album too.

Z2 Comics

Eternal blue is one of those graphic novels that’s very hard to find. When it’s been published by a boutique publisher with a low print run, not even Diamond Comic Distributors have copies at their warehouse. I didn’t want to preorder as this company didn’t have a solid reputation for getting books out on time, and hoped there’d be a supply after it finally got released.

New fans of the heavy metal band, Spiritbox, are not missing out with the standard retail release. What’s drawn from the album gets a solid interpretation, and I feel this work is only for die-hard fans. This group of musicians came into prominence in 2019. Although their sound is more nupunk than anything else, the fact they made waves while still living in my hometown of Victoria, BC said everything. Leading vocalist Courtney LaPlante and guitarist Mike Stringer started this group; although they’ve since relocated since then, the fact they had local roots made me want to keep tabs on their future.

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