LOUDNESS To Record New Album This Year: We've Got '30 Songs Already' Written For It

At this year's Tuska festival in Helsinki, Finland, LOUDNESS singer Minoru Niihara and guitarist Akira Takasaki confirmed to South East Wreck Metal that there are plans for the long-running Japanese metallers to record a new album as a follow-up to 2021's "Sunburst". Niihara said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "[Akira] wants to make a new album for 45th-anniversary something… He's got ideas, 30 songs already. And then he will make more. Yeah, we will [record] maybe 10 songs from 30 songs. But [it will be released] pretty soon. Maybe end of this year."

"Sunburst" was released outside Japan in July 2022 via earMUSIC. The LP was originally made available in Japan in December 2021.

"Sunburst" was the first official double studio album in LOUDNESS's impressive career, making it particularly special as it could be considered a celebration of the band's rich musical history. The 16 songs were written mostly by Takasaki, and the majority of the tracks were sung in Japanese.

LOUDNESS launched its 45th-anniverary celebrations in December 2025.

Founded in 1981, LOUDNESS toured North America and Europe in 1983 and made history the following year as the first Japanese band to sign with an international record label, Atlantic Records. They were also the first Japanese act to play at the prestigious Madison Square Garden and opened for a MÖTLEY CRÜE concert. Their first international release, "Thunder In The East" (1985) and the single "Crazy Nights" peaked at No. 4 in Japan and No. 74 on the U.S. Billboard chart.

LOUDNESS's lineup has changed multiple times since 1981, with the current incarnation consisting of three original members — Niihara, Takasaki and bassist Masayoshi Yamashita — along with drummer Masayuki Suzuki, who joined the group in 2009.

Original LOUDNESS drummer Munetaka Higuchi died in 2008 after a year-long battle with liver cancer.

After Niihara's 1988 departure from LOUDNESS, the band brought in American singer Mike Vescera as a replacement for a few years before recruiting former EZO singer Masaki Yamada. In 2001, Takasaki reunited the original LOUDNESS lineup, with Niihara, Yamashita and Higuchi.