About AZOTH:


L to R: Minobe, Ohki, Adachi, Fujiwara

AZOTH was formed by two young guys in 1985; Osaka, Japan, who both were playing in the band called KASHIMIR. The two, the vocalist Chikato OHKI, and the guitarist Makayuki ADACHI grew up together since their elementary school time. Like many other young musicians, they found a bassist, a keyboardist, and a drummer by putting classified ad in the music magazine, and started gigs.
In 1988, members shuffled and Kazuhiro FUJIWARA, the former drummer of KASHIMIR joined the band. AZOTH did several gigs and created demo tapes, however, the departure of the bassist to the US in 1991 had put the band to be inactive.
In 1996, AZOTH resumed by OHKI playing bass and welcoming the new keyboardist, Seiji KUMAMOTO. As KUMAMOTO had to leave due to the health reason, the band found a new keyboardist/violinist in 1999, Junko MINOBE, who had been playing in an UK-tribute-band and CINDERELLA SEARCH.
AZOTH started recording since 2002. Until then the live recording tapes had been traded among the progressive rock fans in abroad and there had been many requests to the band to create an album. In October 2004, AZOTH finally released the first album “The awkward age's end”, after 20 years since the band was born.
Each member of AZOTH has unique character and rather mixed tastes, that found the common platform to express themselves, which you may call rock in a large sense, pursuing their own music and style.

Released materials
'87 "AZOTH" (CT/Live recorded demo)
'88 "YOU MUST FEEL THE MOVEMENT" (CT/Studio recorded demo)
'89 "PROSPECTIVE FACES" (CD/V.A. MADE IN JAPAN RECORDS)
'91 "LIVE IN THE GLUTTON'S CITY" (CT/Live recorded demo)
'98 "LIVE DEMO"(CT/Live recorded demo)
'00 "LIVE DEMO 2"(CDR/Live recorded demo)
'02 "DEMO "2002-2003" (CDR/Studio and Live recorded demo)
'04 "THE AWKWARD AGE'S END" (CD/H.O.P. RECORDS)



Chikato OHKI (vocal & bass)
Instruments:
Bossa OB-5, OB-5FL, EDEN WT-300, KORG AX-30B
Profile:
Chikato OHKI’s first encounter with music was folk songs. As a junior-high student, he started playing folk guitar and formed his vocal & bass play style through his first band with Masayuki ADACHI; covering Off Course, YMO, and so force. Then, he joined different bands covering BLACK SABBATH, ASIA, and UK, and formed a band, KASHIMIR, then AZOTH several years later. He studied singing and bass on his own till now. He also joined PAGEANT (back chorus) and RANOCCIO (bass).
Artists Influenced by:
Masashi Sada, Off Course, Anzen Chitai, Steve Perry, Klaus Meine, Sting, John　Wetton, Pageant

Junko MINOBE (keyboards & violin)
Instruments:
Korg 01w, DW-8000, EX-8000, Roland JP-8000, MKS-80, D-550, Hammond XB-2, Custom made crystal violin
Profile:
Junko MINOBE started violin from early childhood, and studied at Tokyo College Of Music. She had undergone her baptism of rock music as a college student, and started to join and lead various bands including UN KNOWN (a U.K.-tribute-band) and IQ-J (an IQ-tribute-band.) Junko MINOBE joined AZOTH since 1999. She has also been participated in many other albums including the 3 albums of CINDERELLA SEARCH, and albums of Ringo Shiina and Fumiaki Ogawa. She also proactively working to develop young musicians through violin lesson manuals and teaching
Artists Influenced by:
U.K., Genesis, IQ, Chick Corea, A. L. Webber

Kazuhiro FUJIWARA (drums, percussion, & sampler)
Instruments:
Sonor Snare,　Roland SPD-20, SP-808(sampler), YAMAHA DTX
Profile:
Started drums in a band at high-school age, and further explored his fields to rock, jazz/fusion, and R&B through various band activities. Besides AZOTH, he currently plays in a post-rock-band, TRANSPARENT. He also has his own band, NORTHEAST, featuring female vocal pursuing non-genre music by taking charge of composing, writing lyrics, and arranging.
Artists Influenced by:
Frank Zappa, The Beatles, Steve Gadd, Terry Bozzio, DJ Shadow, Pat Metheny, Prince, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Eric Saty

Masayuki ADACHI (guitar & MIDI guitar)
Instruments:
Stive Klein custom, Godin LGX, Roland GR-50, GR-33, GP-100, GT-6
Profile:
Masayuki ADACHI studied playing guitars completely on his own, started with a folk guitar to sing and play Alice. Later he joined several bands covering Off Course, YMO, and TOTO, then joined KASHIMIR. Several years later, he formed AZOTH with Chikato Ohki. Beside AZOTH, he playas in CINDERELLA SEARCH’s album “Stories Of LUMINOUS GARDEN” and also participates in an IQ-tribute-band, IQ-J.
Artists Influenced by:
Frank Zappa, Genesis, Gino Vannelli, U.K., Steve Vai, Off Course, A.L.Webber, IQ





SRAGE DATA:

1986
4/27 JURI（Osaka）
6/4 JURI
10/12 SILVER ELEPHANT（Tokyo）
10/19 JURI
12/30 JURI

1987
2/2 YANTA-ROKUMEIKAN（Osaka）
5/29 YANTA-ROKUMEIKAN
11/16 JURI
12/29 JURI

1988
1/16 JURI
9/17 JURI
12/29 JURI

1989
5/31 BOOMIN HALL （Osaka）
7/6 BOOMIN HALL
8/15 MUSE HALL（Osaka）
10/22 BAHAMA（Osaka）
11/18 SILVER ELEPHANT
12/29 BOOMIN HALL

1990
8/20 BOOMIN HALL
10/15 BOOMIN HALL

1991
12/1 GUILD(Osaka)
12/7-10 ANAHEIM CONVENTION CENTER（California, U.S.)

1996
5/26 TOGATOGA （Kyoto）

1997
3/22 TOGATOGA

1998
1/16 BOOMIN HALL
5/2 SILVER ELEPHANT
9/15 AM HALL （Osaka）
10/31 SILVER ELEPHANT

1999
4/17 Rockets （Osaka）
12/18 SILVER ELEPHANT

2000
10/8 BrandNew （Osaka）

2001
4/30 BrandNew
7/14 BrandNew
9/8 Silver Elephant

2002
10/5 BrandNew
10/19 Silver Elephant

2004
10/16 Silver Elephant

2005
1/8 BrandNew
1/9 Musica　（Nagoya）
2/12 Silver Elephant
2/20 BrandNew