Isiliel

Behind Isiliel is Himari Tsukishiro, a Japanese musician who is developing a solo project at the intersection of post-black metal, folk metal and a Japanese pop tinged with city pop. Isiliel structures her songs around a pronounced contrast between guitars and rhythms drawn from extreme metal, melodic vocal lines and arrangements inspired by traditional Japanese instruments and performance forms. Launched in the early 2020s, the project quickly expanded beyond Japan onto stages associated with alternative music and pop culture, with appearances at Anime Expo in Los Angeles, Hyper Japan in London, NärCon Sommar in Sweden and Thai ComiCon in Bangkok. This trajectory is also supported by collaborations with international contributors for songwriting and production, an approach that links Japanese aesthetics with a more transnational mode of making. Among the names associated with Isiliel is Swedish producer Fredrik Nordström. Between the darkness of black metal, folkloric elements and clearer choruses, Isiliel lets multiple registers coexist in a compact, visual format.