Nothing's Carved in Stone

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Nothing's Carved in Stone
Also known asNCIS
OriginJapan
Genres
Years active2009–present
LabelsDynamord Label (2009–2012)
Epic Records Japan (2012–2015)
Dynamord Label (2015–2018)
Silver Sun Records (2018–present)
MembersShinichi Ubukata
Takanori Ohkita
Hidekazu Hinata
Taku Muramatsu
WebsiteNCIS.jp

Nothing's Carved in Stone is a Japanese rock band formed in January 2009. After Ellegarden decided to go into hiatus in 2008, the group's guitarist Shinichi Ubukata created Nothing's Carved in Stone as his solo project.[1] Their debut album Parallel Lives was released on May 6, 2009, debuting at No. 11 on the Japanese Oricon weekly album charts.[2]

History[edit]

In 2008, the popular pop punk group Ellegarden announced that they would enter an indefinite hiatus. Guitarist Shinichi Ubukata used the break as an opportunity to start a new band called Nothing's Carved In Stone. He quickly recruited Hidekazu Hinata of Straightener to be his new bassist and Takanori "Oniy" Ohkita from FULLARMOR to join on drums, and they began holding sessions together.[3] However, the band struggled to find a vocalist for nearly half a year. They eventually settled on Taku Muramatsu, the singer of an indie rock band called ABSTRACT MASH, who Ubukata discovered through his band's Myspace. After showing his bandmates a few videos, Ubukata and Ohkita attended one of ABSTRACT MASH's lives and, charmed by Muramatsu's performance, convinced him to join the band.[3]

Nothing's Carved In Stone moved quickly after their line-up was complete, playing their first live on February 27 at Daikanyama UNIT. Their debut album, Parallel Lives, was released on May 6, 2009 and was followed by two nationwide tours.[3] The album went on to reach the eleventh spot on the Oricon charts. Nothing's Carved In Stone also firmly announced their presence on the Japanese rock scene that year with performances at high-profile events like the SWEET LOVE SHOWER, SUMMER SONIC and the ROCK IN JAPAN FESTIVAL.[1]

Not even waiting for their debut year to end, the band released their first single, "Around The Clock", in December 2009. Their first concert DVD, Initial Lives arrived on the same day, documenting the band's powerful live performances and strong camaraderie between its members.

2010 brought the album Sands of Time, a similarly-named tour and several festival appearances. The tour was likewise documented with a DVD entitled Time of Justice, which was released in December like its predecessor.

Continuing this trend of intense productivity, the band's third album, Echo, was released on June 8, 2011 and followed by a twenty-one date one-man tour. They also performed at more festivals, including the RISING SUN ROCK FESTIVAL and ARABAKI ROCK FEST, and opened shows for artists such as Miyavi and J.[1] Also, after the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, Ubukata joined up with several other musicians from the Japanese alternative rock scene, under the leadership of AA= frontman Takeshi Ueda, to form the temporary unit AA= AiD. Together, they recorded the charity song "We're not alone", which was made available for free download for a year to help encourage fans to act to support the reconstruction efforts.

2012 was a breakthrough year for Nothing's Carved In Stone. July saw the band release their second single Pride, which was used as the theme to the anime series Kingdom. They also inked a deal with the major label Epic Records Japan, and their major debut Silver Sun was released on August 15, 2012. Their third single "Spirit Inspiration" was also selected to be the opening theme the anime Zetsuen no Tempest, earning the band more international exposure.[1]

The next year saw the band continue their string of successful tie-up songs, as their single "Out of Control" was selected to be the second opening theme of the hit anime Psycho-Pass. Following the release of their fifth album, Revolt, in June 2013, Nothing's Carved In Stone released a new single in December.[3]

Band members[edit]

  • Shinichi Ubukata (生形 真一, Ubukata Shin'ichi)guitarist, backing vocals[4]
  • Takanori Ohkita (大喜多 崇規, Ōkita Takanori)drummer[4]
  • Taku Muramatsu (村松 拓, Muramatsu Taku) – vocals, guitarist[4]
  • Hidekazu Hinata (日向 秀和, Hinata Hidekazu)bassist[4]

Discography[edit]

Studio albums[edit]

Year Album details[5] Oricon charts[6]
2009 Parallel Lives
  • Released: May 6, 2009
11
2010 Sands of Time
  • Released: June 9, 2010
14
2011 Echo
  • Released: June 8, 2011
14
2012 Silver Sun 11
2013 Revolt
  • Released: June 26, 2013
17
2014 Strangers In Heaven
  • Released: August 6, 2014
10
2015 MAZE
  • Released: September 16, 2015
8
2016 Existence
  • Released: December 14, 2016
13
2018 Mirror Ocean
  • Released: February 14, 2018
11
2019 By Your Side
  • Released: September 25, 2019
19
2020 Futures
  • Released: August 26, 2020
22
2021 Answer
  • Released: December 1, 2021
17

Live albums[edit]

Year Album Details[5] Oricon charts[6]
2015 Enkan -ENCORE- (円環-ENCORE-, Arena Encore)
  • Released: August 19, 2015
12

Singles[edit]

Year Title[5] Oricon charts[7] Billboard
Japan Hot 100
[8]
2009 "Around The Clock"
  • Released: December 9, 2009
21
2012 "Pride"
  • Released: July 18, 2012
33
"Spirit Inspiration"
  • Released: November 28, 2012
22
2013 "Out of Control"
  • Released: March 6, 2013
9
"Tsubame Kurimuzon" (ツバメクリムゾン, Crimson Swallow)
  • Released: December 18, 2013
18
2015 "Gravity"
  • Released: January 14, 2015
14 22
2016 "In Future"
  • Released: April 6, 2016
22 65
"Adventures"
  • Released: November 2, 2016
37
2019 "Beginning"
  • Released: May 29, 2019
26

DVDs[edit]

Year Title[5] Oricon charts[9]
2009 Initial Lives
  • Released: December 9, 2009
37
2010 Time of Justice
  • Released: December 22, 2010
79
2013 A Silver Film
  • Released: January 30, 2013
28
2015 No Longer Strangers
  • Released: January 14, 2015
15
2016 Nothing's Carved In Stone Live at 野音
  • Released: September 28, 2016
18
2018 Live on November 15, 2017 at TOYOSU PIT
  • Released: March 14, 2018

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e JaME U.S.A. Nothing's Carved in Stone Biography
  2. ^ "Oricon Weekly Album Charts for the third week of May 2009" (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved 2009-12-14.
  3. ^ a b c d Nothing’s Carved in Stone official site (in Japanese). Biography
  4. ^ a b c d "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2010-01-05. Retrieved 2009-12-09.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  5. ^ a b c d Nothing's Carved in Stone official site (in Japanese). Discography
  6. ^ a b Nothing’s Carved In Stoneのランキング. Oricon.
  7. ^ Oricon. Nothing’s Carved In Stoneのランキング
  8. ^ Billboard. Nothing’s Carved In Stone - Chart History
  9. ^ Oricon. Nothing’s Carved In Stoneのランキング

External links[edit]