The Tokyo leg of the "ASTERISM "DECIDE" Release Tour 2023 -THE DECISION-" one-man tour reached its finale on Thursday, November 23.

Yuichi Masuda's live report and live photos of the sold-out show, which ended with a great success, are now available!

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ASTERISM, whose third album "DECIDE" has just been released to favorable reviews, held a solo show at Shibuya CYCLONE in Tokyo on November 23. This was the final show of their one-man tour that started in Nagoya in conjunction with the release of "DECIDE". Tickets were completely sold out before the day of the show. In the intimate atmosphere of the live house filled with enthusiastic fans, HAL-CA (g,vo), MIYU (b), and MIO (ds) gave a passionate performance for about 90 minutes.

 

After the opening video, which was edited by MIO, the three appeared on stage and first burst into "STARDOM. The audience cheered loudly at the appearance of the song that had opened "DECIDE," and tuned into the catchy, colorful, and high-tension world of the song. Although "DECIDE" itself has only been on the market for a short time, the songs included in the album were previously released as "ASIDE" and "BESIDE," two separate digital EPs, and it is clear that the songs are well known among fans.

In other words, the two were combined and released physically as "DECIDE".

 

The reason why the title of this album means "determination" is because the band is stepping into a new realm with determination. Since their formation in 2014, the group has garnered attention for their performance skills, which are disproportionate to their youth, and they have made this their identity. What they are currently developing is a unique style of "mass metal" as something that can gain the resonance of "mass. If the word itself is written in katakana, it may overlap with "mass metal," which is technical and mathematical (math) with a lot of irregular beats, but they have been growing as a superb instrumental band to begin with, and by tackling "songs" more aggressively, they are trying to expand their own potential from the inside. By more aggressively tackling "songs," they are trying to expand their own possibilities from within. As if to emphasize their new image, the first seven songs in the first half of the show consisted entirely of songs.

 

However, such a new challenge does not deny their conventional style and originality. The second half of the show was marked by "BLAZE," "Gunfire," and "Light In The Darkness The second half of the show saw a barrage of different instrumental tracks, "BLAZE," "Gunfire," and "Light In The Darkness," which seemed to add fuel to the fire as the floor heated up. To put it bluntly, ASTERISM is currently in a kind of transitional period. Hal-Ca is not only a skilled guitarist, but also a singer with an exceptional voice and clear high notes, but at this point in time, the band is still in the process of evolution. At this stage, however, he is still in the process of evolving. However, the reason why one feels this way, of course, is because each of them already has more than enough eloquence in terms of performance. For my part, I felt that as she continues to expand her potential as a singer, the band's music itself is sure to make even greater strides in its development.

 

One of the new possibilities was presented during the encore. Among the three songs performed in response to the enthusiasm of the audience, who still did not want to go home even after the main part of the show, "PEACE" was a new and innovative song that shifted from MIYU's rap to HAL-CA's vocals. I not only felt a fresh touch in the song itself, but also realized that the three members had already moved on to the next level after "DECIDE". The last song of the encore was "METAL," a song that could not help but send the metalheads who filled the floor into a frenzy. After all three left the stage with refreshed expressions on their faces, and the audience cheered and applauded them with satisfaction.

 

One of the most notable features of this night's show was the large number of foreigners in the audience, which was purely due to the fact that they had never been to Japan before. This was purely due to the fact that the band has been active and continuous in their overseas activities. It was also HAL-CA's 21st birthday. During the MC in the middle of the show, she herself announced, "Today, I turned 21 years old! and the members continued to exchange pleasantries with each other for a while. This naturalness, which is a gap from the high tension during the performance, can also be said to be one of the characteristics of ASTERISM. The contrast between youth and skill, hard and soft, is surely part of what attracts people to ASTERISM, but even without that, the band has enough charm and potential to attract people. It was an evening that convinced me of this.

 

The possibilities are still expanding. The average age of the band is now 22 years old, and until just a few years ago, they had to toast with soft drinks when "launching" after a show. They have continued to expand their musical territory and their base of activities. After the show, they headed for Singapore, not to the launch site, but to the next stop. The end of this short tour in Japan was only the first break in the flow of time that began with "DECIDE. I am looking forward to seeing what kind of musical adventures the three of them will have in the future.

 

Text: Yuichi Masuda
Photograph: Kazuya Kohsaka

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＜Setlist＞
~ Opening Movie ~
M01 STARDOM
M02 No Way
~ MC ~
M03 Sunny
M04 choir
M05 Last World
M06 Hullabaloo
~ Drソロ ~
M07 Shooting Star
~ MC ~
M08 BLAZE
M09 Gunfire
M10 Light In The Darkness
~ MC ~
M11 Fiction
M12 LIVE HOUSE
~ Short MC ~
M13 Finally