News
Loudness Rock Band's Drummer Munetaka Higuchi Dies (Updated)
posted on by Egan Loo
Munetaka Higuchi, the drummer and co-founder of the Japanese heavy metal band Loudness, passed away on Sunday at about 10:00 a.m. in a hospital in Osaka, Japan. He was 49. Akira Takasaki, the guitarist who met Higuchi during high school before forming Loudness, announced the news on his personal website on the same day. The official website for Loudness had announced in April that Higuchi had been diagnosed with liver cancer, and later reported in September that Higuchi went through two rounds of chemotherapy. Higuchi left a message on the website on October 16 that acknowledged that his condition had gotten worse, despite an operation to remove half of his liver.
Loudness performed the songs "Gotta Fight" and "Odin" for the Odin - Starlight Mutiny anime film. The band also performed the song "Dreamer and Screamer" for the fifth volume of the Shōnan Bakusōzoku video anime series. On his own, Higuchi performed on the "Animetal Summer" and "Sentimetal" singles for Animetal, the band that covered popular anime theme songs in heavy metal style. He also provided the drum work for the "Kaze ni Nare" opening theme song of the éX-Driver video anime series with JAM Project.
Thank you to Robert Morrell for the news tip.
Source: WeROCK City via Blabbermouth
Image © 2000-2008 loudness.jp
Update: Before they formed Loudness, Higuchi and Takasaki co-founded another rock band called Lazy. When Lazy reunited in 2001, the band performed the "Angelique ~Eien no Yakusoku~" and "LEGEND OF THE LIGHT" theme songs for the Angelique: Seichi Yori Ai o Komete video anime series. The band also performed the "Zone of the Enders" opening theme song from the television anime series of the same name. Thanks, Kenji_Ikari.
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