Muse Esaka, Osaka

The Evoken Festival is a three-day event held in Osaka and Tokyo with Osaka hosting the first day of the festival on Aug 31st. The event promotes fantasy-inspired melodic metal and rock bands from around the globe. This year’s Kansai lineup features Nocturnal Rites (Sweden), Orden Ogan (Germany), Derdian (Italy), Cryonic Temple (Sweden), Civil War (Sweden), Dark Tribe (Germany), Voyager (Australia), and Japan’s own Fate Gear.
The event is promoted by Evoken de Valhall, an organization founded in 2009 to push this particular genre, and if you’re a fan, this gig is not to be missed. This year, there is a larger bill and the event starts earlier than previous ones as the annual event is growing in popularity. If you want to catch the entire festival, three-day tickets can be purchased for both Osaka and Tokyo.