Maximum the Hormone is an alternative metal/metalcore band formed in Hachioji, Tokyo in 1997 with the line-up of Daisuke-han (vocals), SUGI (guitar), KEY (bass) and Nao Kawakita (drums). The band played a mixture of metal, hardcore punk and various other forms of music within that framework. After releasing their first album A.S.A. Crew through indies label SkyRecord, SUGI and KEY left the band and the present line-up of Daisuke-han, Maximum the Ryo-kun, Nao and Ue-chan came to be, along with a name change to マキシマム ザ ホルモン.