EARLY CROSS
Kristen Watts – Lead Vocals
Hiroaki – Guitars, Bouzouki & Backing Vocals
Hagi – Guitars
Yugo – Bass
Pazzy – Pianos, Mellotrons, Organs, Keyboards & Backing Vocals
Kazuhiro – Drums & Cymbals
Artwork
Takashi Miyamoto (2010-present)
■Biography:
Based in Japan, EARLY CROSS’ musical style is best described as “Landscape Rock“.
Their unique sound is based in rock music, with influences from heavy metal, progressive rock, folk, and world music.
In their songs, emotional melodies weave back and forth amid backgrounds both organic and inorganic, walking their listeners through visceral, musical landscapes. Fans have adopted the term “landscape rock” to describe this distinctive style, touting it as “wondrous and magical, as if All About Eve had acquired the power of the earth.”
■History:
2002: Formed in Chiba Prefecture, Japan
Early 2010: Digitally released mini album, “Solstice”, with IHATOV Productions, later re-released on CD at fan request.
January 2010: Main stage performer at “FAR EAST RAMPAGE -ADDICT XX-” festival at Club Citta in Kawasaki. Contributed to event’s compilation album “Enter The Rampage”.
September 2010: Main stage performer at “Narita World Music Festival 2010” in Chiba Prefecture.
October 2010: Performed at “THE GATE OF ADDICTION” festival held in Osaka.
July 2011: Represented Asian bands on the charity album “Embrace The Sun – Lion Music Japan Benefit Project” planned by “Lion Music” to support those suffering from the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami.
November 2011: Released special, limited-quantity Christmas EP “December’s Cross: Dasher” with IHATOV Productions.
Summer 2012: Released debut album “Pathfinder“, featuring Jan Erik Liljeström from Anekdoten, mixed by Christer-André Cederberg, and mastered by Chris Sansom.
■Fan Reactions:
“Solstice” was highly appreciated worldwide by a number of review sites, being described as:
“hybrid sound that has avant-garde sensibility and heavy, atmospheric moods at the same time”,
“a kind of music that you have never heard before”,
“a masterpiece that would astonish you with the fact that the band creating such lyrical, solemn and bleak music that reminds you of European scenery is actually from Japan”.
This EP led the band to a contract as “the first and currently the only band from Asia” with the “Lion Music” label in Finland which is renowned for its ample lineup of proficient prog metal bands.
EARLY CROSS have performed with:
DGM(from Italy), Temperance(from Italy), Nocturne Moonrise(from Taiwan), FACT, Mariko Gotoh, Alhambra, Northern19, Special Providence(from Hungary), Djizoes(from Switzerland), Mother Kingdom(from Switzerland), IN BLOOM(from Sweden), Felipe Gomez Bass Invaders (from Chile), Curiosity(from USA), Jurassic Jade, Terror Squad, 五人一首, Baraka, TEE, Phantasmagoria, Masheen Messiah, Yuka Funakoshi & Chronoship, SincerityGreen, Bellfast, SoundWitch, GxSxD, exist†trace, Mary’s Blood… and various other artists, domestic and international, regardless of genre.
■Discography:
•Solstice – EP (2010)
•December’s Cross: Dasher – Christmas EP (2011)
•December’s Cross: Dancer – Christmas EP (2012)
•Pathfinder – Full Album (2013)
•December’s Cross: Prancer – Christmas EP (2013)
•December’s Cross: Vixen – Christmas EP (2014)
•December’s Cross: Comet – Christmas EP (2015)
•December’s Cross: Cupid – Christmas EP (2016)
•December’s Cross: Donner – Christmas EP (2017)