BOWWOW

If one discounts the pioneering but still largely formative contributions of early-‘70s proto-metal forces like mega-stoners Speed, Glue & Shinki, acid-fueled anarchists Les Rallizes Denudes, and perhaps the country's greatest prog-psych-metal warlords, Flower Travellin' Band, then Bow Wow arguably bear the honor of being Japan's first bona fide heavy metal band -- even if, by modern conventions, hard rock might seem a more appropriate label. Founded in Tokyo in 1975 and already bound for the recording studio the very next year, ready to capture their eponymous debut, vocalis...