PARADOXX at Live House Hamamatsu Madowaku (Live Report)

PARADOXX
Live House Hamamatsu Madowaku – March 30, 2024
Live Report by Todd Nelson

PARADOXX performed at Live House Hamamatsu Madowaku on March 30th. This performance was part of the band’s first national tour,『PARADOXX TOUR 2024 “逆説のSINGULARITY”』, the 3rd stop of the 16 show tour. The five piece metal band consists of AMANE on vocals, Maiko and KAOЯI on guitars, SHONO on drums, and Haruna on bass. This particular show was special in that drummer SHONO is from Hamamatsu, so she was able to perform in front of a hometown audience.

PARADOXX got things started with the instrumental track “BEGINNING (Introduction)”, a slow guitar heavy preamble, setting the atmosphere perfectly for the show. As the final notes ended the band immediately dove into the high speed song “Prologue”, a staple in their sets since the beginning. Up next was the band’s first single “Break away”, lots of dual guitar playing between Maiko and KAOЯI on this one.

Three songs into the show and it was already very apparent that this band has grown immensely from their debut in 2021. While the band has been very, very good from the start, I immediately noticed how much tighter and well knit they were playing as a group, exuding with confidence and stage presence, the crowd was eating it up.

Next up was “the moment” a song from their 2nd single, a perfect song for a live show since it has a little bit of everything. A high speed opening solo riff, Maiko displaying her finger tapping skills throughout, plenty of various drum fills giving SHONO a chance to show some flair, and ending with the same high speed solo riff but with the drums kicking in at the same speed to match at the end. It was intense. The PARADOXX fans, dubbed PARADIN (a play on the word Paladin, warriors/fighters for the band) had been very active and vocal throughout the show but it was at this point in the set where they really started getting into it, moving rhythmically in unison.

AMANE as MC then spoke prior to the band’s performance of “this is” , the first time it has ever been performed live. She talked about cherry blossoms, and that “this is” has images of cherry blossoms and spring, telling us to listen to it while thinking of the scene. The best way to describe “this is” – both heavy and beautiful.

The driving Viking metal song BACK BONE was next, featuring a sweet bass solo by Haruna.

For me the highlight of the show followed, the lead single off the new album – “逆説のSINGULARITY”. The live performance of this song was nothing short of amazing. The strength and intensity of AMANE’s vocals paired with the range of pitches she was hitting was breathtaking, I dare say it sounded better than the studio recording to my ears. AMANE was given plenty of support by the other members and the PARADIN in the performance of this song; during the chorus with everyone singing accompanying notes, the overall result was perfect.

The band then exited the stage. An encore was inevitable of course, but as I mentioned earlier, this show was in SHONO’s hometown. As a way of showing their support for the drummer, instead of chanting “encore” over and over the fans chanted “SHONO”, a very cool moment. SHONO then appeared and the other band members joined shortly afterwards for the final two songs of the evening.

The riff heavy “Day’s eye” started up, the energy was high and the audience started moshing each time the song entered its chorus. As a frontman even when not belting out her powerful notes, AMANE was full of energy, her headbanging in this song (and the others as well) was among the fastest and most intense I’ve ever seen, definitely an awesome sight.

To no surprise the closer was “Athena”, the signature song of the band, which has a killer drum intro, blistering guitar riffs and soaring vibrato by AMANE throughout. Overall it was an incredible performance. If you enjoy metal and are in Japan I highly recommend you catch one of their shows if you can.

Good luck on the rest of your tour PARADOXX!

PARADOXX
Live House Hamamatsu Madowaku – March 30, 2024
Setlist