Visual kei aesthetics, a metal sound and the musical balls to stand amongst the men, exist trace (typeset as exist†trace) is an all female band that’s not afraid of crashing the good old boys club. In visual style they embody what many VK groups have tried to achieve; a beautiful androgyny, macabre sensuality and tragic romance. Like Takarazuka, the all female musical where women play both male and female roles, exist trace is fascinating in their ability to bend genders yet remain genuine to their music. They don’t shrink when the sound needs to be heavy and Jyou’s lush alto can transition into a gritty, earth shaking bass of a scream at the drop of a hat.

Exist trace doesn’t stop at just the music either. Like many of their male counterparts, they’re looking to the take the rest of the world by storm and recently partnered with the US-based company JapanFiles on the digital release of their album VANGUARD -of the muses-.