Music Sound

Gamewave is primarily classified as an electronic music genre that was born in the early 90s with the idea of creating a musical style influenced by video game music.

Welle:Erdball, a new-wave band from Germany, are considered pioneers of the genre. Aside from Welle:Erdball, the genre was mostly dormant until 1998 and the appearance of Japanese group Metronome, their debut release (circa 2000) titled Yapuu ga Shoukansareta Machi. During the same year, Swedish group Machinae Supremacy were founded. Machiane Supremacy did not draw influences from Metronome and played in a considerably different vein, but both bands paralleled each other by combining chiptune music with the rock and orchestra genres.

By 2004-05, Metronome had already released dozens of singles, 5 albums, and 1 DVD. Machinae Supremacy had been allowing their fans to download a line of free MP3s which eventually encouraged the band to release Deus Ex Machinae, their first album. During this period several similar bands sprung up in Japan including MOSAIC.WAV and YMCK. The Western (mostly North American) scene did not possess many gamewave artists, aside from some groups like Colorado's Mr. Pacman. Game-music cover bands like The Advantage, The NESkimos, and The Minibosses were abundant, as were such bands in Japan. Groups like the 14 Year Old Girls and HORSE the band were considered game-related artists but not gamewave bands.

Gamewave music and lyrics have strong links with the video game community. Many gamewave bands have somehow been involved with games or game music - Machinae Supremacy composed the OST for Jets N Guns, a PC shooting game, while MOSAIC.WAV were well known for performing Hentai game theme songs.

Essentially, the genre loosely combines rock, orchestral, and most importantly chiptune elements. Although gamewave always drew from many other genres as well, the 3 mentioned are almost always present. At the same time, each band plays their own niche of music. Machinae Supremacy have a strong emphasis on SID/Metal, YMCK uses classical/jazz melodies, MOSAIC.WAV uses Akihabara Pop culture references (a.k.a. Akiba-Pop as their primary basis).

Examples of Gamewave Albums

• Nyntändo-Schock by Welle: Erdball - 1993
• Yapuu ga Shoukansareta Machi by Metronome - 2000
• 1Metronome by Metronome - 2003
• Deus Ex Machinae by Machinae Supremacy - 2004
• We Love Akiba-Pop! by MOSAIC.WAV - 2004
• Family Music by YMCK - 2004