RAZOR

RAZOR are a Japanese visual kei band formed in 2016 around vocalist Ryoga (ex-BORN) and guitarist Tsurugi (Sadie), alongside guitarist Kouryu (ex-My BACTERIA HEAT IsLAND), bassist IZA (ex-DOWNER), and original drummer Tetsuya (ex-My BACTERIA HEAT IsLAND). They first appeared without any advance information at Zepp Tokyo on October 16th 2016. RAZOR use November 30th as their official formation anniversary, the date they released debut mini-album ‘RED INVISIBLE’ and held their first one-man, RED INVITATION, at Shinjuku ReNY.

From the start, RAZOR treated the music as the basis of their visual kei identity rather than separating sound and image. Tsurugi described the band’s approach as allowing the visual presentation to grow from the music, while RAZOR’s own profile describes a hard-edged sound that moves across genre boundaries and places particular importance on the connection between the band and audience at their live shows. Releases including ‘the CORE’ and ‘Sennen no Shirabe’ developed that balance of heaviness and melody. RAZOR also played Taipei and Shanghai alongside Affective Synergy for VISUAL SHOCK in ASIA 2017. In 2019, ‘Sennen no Shirabe’ was followed by the 16-date Sennen no Utage one-man tour, before the band’s self-hosted Kamisori Make (Razor Burn) event sold out Zepp DiverCity Tokyo on September 22nd.

Tetsuya left following RAZOR’s third-anniversary live at Akasaka BLITZ on November 30th 2019. The band continued with support drums before NIKKY, formerly of ALSDEAD, joined in March 2020, establishing the current lineup of Ryoga, Tsurugi, Kouryu, IZA, and NIKKY. Second full-length album ‘Okite’ followed that May, with first best-of album ‘GOMAIBA’ arriving in February 2021 and ‘PARASITE INVISIBLE’ two months later. In spring 2023, NIKKY temporarily stepped back from live activities due to illness, with Natsu of NOCTURNAL BLOODLUST filling in for four scheduled shows. NIKKY was again listed as participating in RAZOR’s activities by June.

In June 2023, RAZOR provided the first release for TIMEZONE Records, a visual kei label launched by Timely Records and Daiki Sound, with the single ‘Samurai Sword Man’. Further releases through the label included ‘Earendel’, ‘INTENSITY’, and 2024’s second best-of album ‘Zankou’ (‘Afterglow’), which revisited songs from across the band’s catalogue alongside new tracks ‘AfterGlow’ and ‘Sayonara’. The band followed in 2025 with their 15th single ‘SILLAGE’ and 16th single ‘In CREATURE’.

RAZOR entered their tenth-anniversary year in 2026 with ‘Kyokou no Mokushiroku’ and the anniversary single ‘I LOVE YOU’, released on September 30th. Their 17-date RAZOR 10th ANNIVERSARY ONEMAN TOUR X – tenth – began on September 27th and is set to finish at Zepp Shinjuku on November 30th, exactly ten years after the date the band use as their official formation anniversary.