Well-loved and brilliantly fun Japanese band Electric Eel Shock return with a new album Heavy Metal Black Belt this March. The band who formed in Tokyo in 1994 and once sold all their possessions to spend two years on the road playing across the U.S.A., are at last making it back to the UK & Europe after (what seems to them) far too long.
Frontman Akihito Morimito states “Our last Europe tour was 2019, we really miss UK, Europe a lot now. We re-realize how we love Western people, and they love us. We got a lot of messages from them in Pandemic. 7 years blank is too long. Then finally we got a chance to be on the road in UK / EU again. We really wanna show updated Electric Eel Shock to lovely UK and EU. EES has missed you guys, so we made this new album for you.”
Heavy Metal Black Belt will be released on the 21st of March 2024 on their own Double Peace Records.
Talking about the new record Heavy Metal Black Belt, Aki continues:
“Are we a Heavy Metal band? I know we have a lot of type of songs, some songs are Punk, others are Pop, We mixture everything. But pure and true, we love Heavy Metal! We grew up with Heavy Metal. We learnt about Heavy Metal in high school. Heavy Metal is our way of life. Please see our Black Belt for Heavy Metal!”
Heavy Metal Black Belt Track listing:
01 Scum Vader
02 Metalheads Just Want To Have Fun
03 Lost In Sweden
04 Up and Down
05 Nice Guy of the Year
06 Im So Cute Boy
07 Khop Kun Ka
08 Giri Giri Boys
09 Mama Gotta Hurry
10 Quit Your Day Job
11 Gata Gata Guillotine
12 Super Strike
13 So Much 80’s
Does Aki in fact have a Black Belt? “I am Black Belt of Fishing and Rock & Roll! (I have endorsement contracts with four of fishing tackle companies. The credit is on album back cover)”
Over the last 30 years EES have toured in well over 40 countries, including playing every state in The U.S.A. except Alaska and Hawaii and most major European rock festivals. Known for their high energy live experiences, the band are a must see live band and just love to rock out on stage. Along the road they have toured with many well known artists including: The Dwarves, Sepultura, Municipal Waste, Turbonegro, The Bloodhound Gang and Therapy? What’s more, many notable bands have supported EES over the years including The Arctic Monkeys, the guitarist of Ghost and even Mark Owen of Take That! Electric Eel Shock have played with an orchestra on a beach, pioneered fan funding, performed at fans’ weddings, and released 8 previous studio albums, but how do they feel about an anniversary of this magnitude?
“We do our best every year. But people say ‘Wao! Congratulation! 30 Year!’ And so we will make some celebration gig event!
We haven’t left Japan in last 5 years. It’s a very long time for us. And we are very glad that our return to UK/EU coincides with our 30th anniversary. We feel very happy and excited to come back to Europe to celebrate.”
Electric Eel Shock will play the following shows:
March
Fri 22nd – Winchester UK | Railway Inn
Sat 23rd – London UK | Black Heart
Sun 24th – Bournemouth UK | The Anvil
Mon 25th – Swansea UK | Bunkhouse
Tues 26th – Bristol UK | Gryphon
Wed 27th – Glasgow UK | Audio
Thu 28th – Aberdeen UK | Krakatoa
Fri 29th – Edinburgh UK | Bannermans
Sat 30th – Huddersfield UK | The Parish
Sun 31st – Scarborough UK | Punk Festival
