Japan seems like a pretty dystopic place for music. On one hand, that's where noise bands like Merzbow and crazy near-noise grind bands like Bathtub Shitter and Gore Beyond Necropsy come from, as well as arty grindcore like Melt-Banana.

On the other hand, it's a cash cow for the very melodic bands. There's a large following for melodic guitar music over there, that's not as prominent elsewhere. They don't care at all if it gets cheesy.

The Ventures, who don't really draw crowds anywhere else, seem to clean up in Japan. Yngwie (who I respect, but he writes kinda cheesy) can always count on a welcome in Japan, even if he has trouble headlining the big halls in America and Europe.

Arch Enemy's largest concentration of fans is in Japan. They have a Japanese version of their site, but it's not translated into any other languages. And of course, Maiden cleans up over there.

Intestine Baalism seems to resolve this schism, although I have no idea if the bands mentioned above influence them at all. I do know that the band is unabashedly melodic, while not being sappy, and harsh enough to give the sound tangiblity and weight, while still being easily coherent.

There's these rich, melodic streams floating about, along with these "guitar hero" solos. It's strange - the "guitar hero"-ness vibe doesn't come from the technical difficulty or the length of the solos, but rather because of their "attitude" and unquestionable place at the forefront when they start playing. These definitely aren't afterthought noodlings.

To me, heavy riffs are an anchor, and sometimes without them, I get this queasy feeling, analogous to the one you get when you're forced to stay in bed too long. This is partly why I can't listen to Satriani or Yngwie too long. (Also, I hate the sappiness most soloists and progressive bands feel they must
impart into their songs at some point.) As Strong Bad might put it, I need the "jug-jigga-jug-jigga-jah-jah!" more than I need the "meedley meedley."

But to my pleasure, they've got rhythm riffs and rampant melody...in equal measure! And they mix them together! (Well, not quite equal. The crunchy stuff is favored, although much less than you'd expect from a death metal band.)

Although their penchant for non-embarrassing melody is what makes them stand out, they've got a solid foundation of crunch, which is more obvious at some moments than others. Even when they're crushing away with a Deicide/Old Sepultura-like breakdown, however, the warmth of their sound still carries. When they're in their more low-end intensive modes, they sound kind of the way Amorphis did on their first album.