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Heavy Metal Raiden preorders are now open internationally

It’s been possible to follow the progress of Heavy Metal Raiden self-titled debut album on Twitter for a while, but now it’s finally up for preorder.

Heavy Metal Raiden is not just a cover band, though, as its members include original Raiden composers Akira Sato and Go Sato.

As the band name implies, Heavy Metal Raiden plays heavy metal covers of music from the arcade shooter game series Raiden (and related games). This album will be a single LP featuring tracks from Raiden II-IV, Raiden Fighters, and Viper Phase 1.

The A side features live recordings from 2011 recorded at Club Goodman in Akihabara, Tokyo, while the B side features brand new studio recordings.

The album is scheduled to release on March 25, 2017 and is priced at 6264 Yen (~$55). It can be pre-ordered from bootleg! Records’ brand new international online store here.

Heavy Metal Raiden - Front Cover Heavy Metal Raiden - Back Cover

Viper Phase 1 LP now available online – in Japan

This post is kind of an exception since I normally write about new releases before they release, but this one is already out. More about that in the bottom of this post.

On January 27, 2017 bootleg! Records released the soundtrack to the 1995 arcade shooter Viper Phase 1 on vinyl.  The following day this was celebrated with a signing session with the composer, Go Sato. However, it was only released in bootleg! Records’ store (bootleg! Store) in Tokyo, Japan.

The release is a single 12″ black vinyl LP house in a standard jacket with game art on the front cover. The back cover features the tracklist and credits. And to top it off only 100 copies have been pressed.

And just to clear any confusion – despite the label name bootleg! records, this release have been done in collaboration with the game’s composer, Go Sato, and the game’s studio, Seibu-Kahatsu.

How do you get a copy, then? Well, they recently opened an online store for their own merch (they are publishing books as well). They only ship to Japan at the moment, but have said on Twitter that they are working on a store for shipping overseas.

You can find the Viper Phase 1 release on their Japan-only webstore here.

Viper Phase 1 - Front Cover