小田朋美

NHORHM is New Heritage of Real Heavy Metal. It’s not only a homage to the original NWOBHM abbreviation, but also an incredible initialism of the three musicians: N ishiyama H itomi (piano), O rihaya R yoji (bass), and H ashimoto M anabu (drums), with names in the last-name-first Japanese convention. (I include a brief diversion on “What is NWOBHM?” later, below…) This debut album from NHORHM was released in 2015 and rereleased/remastered in 2024 when the first run was sold out, and both new listeners and fans who originally missed out were clamoring for copies. The album contains ten tracks, nine cover songs and one original by pianist Nishiyama. All arrangements are by Nishiyama, and this is not something to take lightly; the whole project hinges on the idea of a jazz piano trio covering heavy metal tunes, and the success of the endeavor relies a lot on bridging the gap between those distinct sounds, styles, and instrumentation, and on making the music appealing, listenable, and great, despite the obvious novelty aspect that may precede the experience. Yet, never fear, Nishiyama took the challenge seriously and put a lot of work into this project. ...