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United is a Japanese thrash metal band formed in 1981.[2][3] They took their name from the song of the same name, off of Judas Priest's British Steel.[3]

United
Origin	Tokyo, Japan
Genres	Thrash metal[1] groove metal death metal progressive metal
Years active	1981–present
Labels	Hold Up, Howling Bull, Metal Blade, Victor Entertainment, Spiritual Beast, 413 Tracks
Members	Yoshifumi "Hally" Yoshida Singo Otani Akira Masatoshi Yuasa George Enda
Past members	Oz Yasu Tsukahara Jouichi "Joe" Hirokawa Kouichi "Nao" Takeshi "Mantas" Nakazato Tetsuo "Tetsu" Takizawa Masaki "Marchan" Hara Iwao Furusawa Yoshiaki Furui Hirokazu Uchino Shinichi Inazu Yusuke Nakamura Nob Faisal "Kenshin" Al-Salem Akihiro Yokoyama
Website	united-official.com

History

Originally a Judas Priest and Black Sabbath cover band, they began to write their own material in 1983 when bassist Yokoyama joined. United have played numerous times in North America and have had a couple of their albums released there as well. They have played with Anthrax, Slayer, Testament and Machine Head on their Japanese tours, and in 2010 was Paul Di'Anno's live band for his.[4][5] In 2009, the group recruited Kuwaiti frontman Kenshin.[3][4] They released their ninth album Tear of Illusions on April 20, 2011.[5] At the end of 2012, the band announced that Kenshin had left the group. Masatoshi Yuasa, who was their frontman from 2000 to 2004, returned as the vocalist of United in April 2013. The band's longest serving member, bassist and manager Akihiro Yokoyama, died on May 13, 2014.[6] A concert titled Yoko Fest The Final was held in his honor on September 12, 2014, that featured nearly every member of United, past and present, and other diverse acts such as Head Phones President, Passpo, Garlic Boys, Flow, and Outrage.[7]

Members

Current members

• Yoshifumi "Hally" Yoshida – guitar (1988–present)
• Singo Otani – guitar (1990–present)
• Akira Tominaga – drums (2004–present)
• Masatoshi Yuasa – vocals (2000–2004, 2013–present)
• George Enda – bass (2014–present)

Former members

• Oz – bass (1981–1983)
• Yasu Tsukahara – drums (1981–1983)
• Jouichi "Joe" Hirokawa – drums (1985)
• Kouichi "Nao" – vocals (1981–1986; died 2017)
• Takeshi "Mantas" Nakazato – guitar (1981–1987)
• Tetsuo "Tetsu" Takizawa – drums (1983–1985, 1985–1988)
• Masaki "Marchan" Hara – guitar (1981–1988)
• Iwao Furusawa – guitar (1987–1990)
• Yoshiaki Furui – vocals (1986–1995)
• Yuichi Uchino – drums (1988–1998)
• Shinichi Inazu – vocals (1996–2000)
• Yusuke Nakamura – drums (1999–2003)
• Nob – vocals (2005–2008)
• Faisal "Kenshin" Al-Salem – vocals (2009–2012)
• Akihiro Yokoyama – bass (1983–2014; also manager; died 2014)

Timeline

Discography

Studio albums

Title	Release Date	Label
Bloody But Unbowed	October 14, 1990	Howling Bull
Human Zoo	September 26, 1992
N.O.I.Q.	February 8, 1995	Victor Entertainment
Reload	February 5, 1997
Distorted Vision	April 22, 1999
Infectious Hazard	April 4, 2001	Howling Bull
Core	August 7, 2002
Nine	December 21, 2005
Tear of Illusions	April 20, 2011	Spiritual Beast
Absurdity	July 18, 2018

EPs

• Destroy Metal (February 1985, picture disc vinyl in February 1987)
• Beast Dominate (December 1986, picture disc vinyl in April 1987)
• Beast Dominates '92 (1992)
• Burst (May 2, 1997)

Other albums

• Best Rare Tracks from Underground (March 24, 1995, compilation album)
• Scars of the Wasted Years (April 4, 2012, self-cover album)

Demo

• "Demo '89" (January 1990)

V/A Compilations

• Devil Must Be Driven Out with Devil (1986, "Positive War" & "Bite Yourself")
• Emergency Express – Metal Warning 2 (1989, "Suck Your Bone")
• Flower Travellin' Band Tribute (September 20, 2000, "Make Up")
• Tribute to Bad Brains (November 29, 2000, "Riot Squad – How Low Can a Punk Get?")
• Beast Feast Admission (August 2, 2001, "Cross Over the Line")
• Power Germanys (April 27, 2002)
• Enter the Beast Feast (April 27, 2004, "Sonic Sublime")
• Beast Feast Admission 2K2 (December 17, 2002, "Hate Yourself, Hate Your Own Kind")
• Tribute to Garlic Boys (August 18, 2006, "Skate & Mosh")
• 44Magnum Tribute Album (April 2, 2008, "It's Too Bad")

DVD

• Official Bootleg (September 27, 2008)

References

External links

• Official website
• Official blog
• Interview with Kenshin
• Hally ESP guitar gallery
• Singo ESP guitar gallery
• Yoko ESP guitar gallery

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