Creepout Interview

From Tokyo, Japan, Creepout is a long standing band that's all about maniacal, ignorant, brutal hardcore. They've been going for years now and after a slew of hard-hitting releases I think they've reached a cult status in their country. Despite that it ain't easy to find more in depth info about the band, so I thought it would be a good idea to catch up with their singer Kunihide to talk about band's past and future.

You’re probably one of the key bands to ever emerge from Japan in 2000s and I think everyone into hardcore heard about Creepout at one point. However, it’s hard to find any background info about the band. Can you give me a bit of a history?
Formed in 2002 with some my boys who played for previous band i sung,just started as some old school hardcore band.Ofcourse as you imagine,we got huge influence from Cleveland hardcore so we wanted to have some essence of it on our music but couldn't do well then.We got a few important things/moments ever,one is to play/meet with Integrity in japan 2004,and did a split with Crowd Deterrent in 2007. and after split with CD,we got a chances to play in the U.S., A lot of things has changed and went great.We wouldn't spread our name to outside of japan mainly,that was natural.Butso many bands/guys know our name and gave me cool reaction,that's so great.

At the beginning, what type of music did you want to make?
Oh yes Cleveland hardcore like OLC/PB2000 and some B4B tastes.

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Edge Of Spirit Interview

Edge Of Spirit is a long running Japan hardcore band with a heavy metallic sound. They take a lot both from classic metalcore sound as well as straight up metal and they do their thing just right. Their new self titled album is a proof they know how to handle their shit, delivering strong and tight performance while avoiding genre clichés. I just have to add that this interview has been actually done couple of weeks before the tragic tsunami that hit Japan and I just hope that no one from the band was harmed during these tragic events.

Edge Of Spirit is a long running Japan hardcore band with a heavy metallic sound. They take a lot both from classic metalcore sound as well as straight up metal and they do their thing just right. Their new self titled album is a proof they know how to handle their shit, delivering strong and tight performance while avoiding genre clichés. I just have to add that this interview has been actually done couple of weeks before the tragic tsunami that hit Japan and I just hope that no one from the band was harmed during these tragic events.

Your latest album self-titled has been released recently. What can people expect from it?

It's pretty simple, I would like people to have a listen to it, crank it, and enjoy it. All we can do is just to output music, so If I could have people feel what they feel from the music, I would be happy enough then.

Now that it hit the streets, how do you feel about it? Are you satisfied with the outcome? What has been the response so far?

We're very satisfied with it. We have inputted all what we think and what we want to do into the album. The response has been so far so good, everybody says it's cool.

Has anything changed, music wise, since the bands previous release?

Nothing really has been changed basically. We take pride in the fact that we have kept producing original metallic hardcore sound and we will never change our own ethic.

What is the main inspiration when writing lyrics and is there a theme or themes behind the writing of this record?

The theme of the album is "revolution". I don't mean anything political, but I mean the theme is about how we can achieve what we can't, how we can make our things better, how we can solve our own frustration and struggle by ourselves around our daily life. The theme statement is, let's make a revolution in ourselves day by day. So, my inspiration mostly comes from anything around myself.

What is your label situation? How did you hook up with Demons Run Amok records for this release?

In Japan we have been on a label called OCH. I'm satisfied with deal and activities with them very much. Our manager Hideki enabled us to hook up with Demons Run Amok in Europe. He has been our fan for years and keeps trying to spread our music to the world. He's a brilliant manager.

What are some of the moments that stand out to you when thinking back about the band’s history so far?

Way too many good moments in this 14 years to name though, we got to known with friends in Korea, Canada, Australia, and America through our music by touring. That's what stands out to us.

What are some main influences that have shaped the band?

Musically all kinds of hardcore music and metal music have influenced us a lot. In terms of attitude, hardcore mind has influenced us a lot.

Describe hardcore scene in Japan at the beginning of the 21st century.

It has been excellent that various type of hardcore bands came out. Every year many overseas bands come over here, and everybody gets together, supports each other and trys to make an excellent scene. It's DIY level though, I think it's very good scene.

There are many kids saying that the hardcore is constantly changing and adapting. How do you feel about the progress in hardcore in terms of music and lyrics and how do you see the future of the scene?

For sure music is constantly changing and adapting. Rather than that, I think how we make a change with music is way more important. It's not like the newer music is, the better it is. Who and what kind of person plays the music is more important than what the music it is. The fact that new kind of music keeps coming out is very exciting and good, however I would like young people to check out where current music came from and try to understand that as well. The scene may be going to be bigger or die off. I can't really say what is going to happen in the future. I can't predict the future. If we don't really care how we should enjoy too much and everybody makes sure keep loving the scene, then the scene will stay good I think.

What is your definition of real hardcore and what is your formula for staying true to the roots of the genre but at the same time giving your music some fresh flavor and exploring themes not commonly done in hardcore albums?

My definition of hardcore is to stay true to yourself, not to change your mind by others' opinions. There are many kinds of music out now, but what kind of hardcore music you play doesn't really matter to me. What is important is your heart. I even sometimes feel hardcore mind from some of people who play other type of music. Our formula is to keep stepping and progressing with hardcore mind.

Beyond just hardcore bands who are some people you feel represent true hardcore?

Talking about here back in the ancient, samurai warriors represent hardcore!

Pick 3 words that describe your live show?

Passion, Heaviness, Chaos

Thanks for the interview. Any last shout outs? So what are some other band’s plans for the future?

We are going to go and tour Europe on May! Please check out www.mad-tourbooking.de for more info. I would like you to see us live and enjoy music together. If we visit your town, then please come and have fun with us!

www.facebook.com/edgeofspirit
www.myspace.com/edgeofspirit

Edge Of Spirit - Edge Of Spirit

If you know anything about Japanese hardcore there’s a big chance that the name Edge Of Spirit rings the bells. The band has been around since 1997 and during that time has released a shit load of material – four big albums, couple of splits and appeared on countless compilations. With their fourth, self titled album, Edge Of Spirit brings to the table one of the more violent metalcore albums I’ve heard in a long time. It is packed with rage filled riffing, double bass played like an assassin, soul raping vocals and ultra mega breakdown grooves. The songs are complex and excellently executed. The band is focused on all-out brutality, taking you on a ride down the memory lane to the times when passion and honesty were a must in a metalcore game. They might be not the most technically skilled band around, but somehow I can’t be bothered by that. The guitar work here is pretty impressive anyway, delivering shredding riffs as violently as possible, but also laying some groove now and then throughout the album. There's a pretty heavy melodic, Swedish influence going on in the riffs as well, but they still know how to make it bite. Throat ripping vocals only boost the level of adrenaline, while the rhythm section is precise and on point. Production and sound are top-notch with every instrument and vocals having the great placement. I also gotta mention that the whole stuff is packed with a dope artwork.

The band may not be pushing any boundaries, but they surely know how to unleash a beast of an album. I am not that familiar with their previous releases, but it would be hard for me to believe this new album is not their strongest effort yet.

Review by Dloogi

Label: Demons Run Amok
Year: 2010
Band's Website

Dominate - No Way Out

Edge Of Spirit - Destroy

Edge Of Spirit is one of the best hardcore bands that Japan got currently to offer. This is Destroy - a new song off their 4th album "Edge Of Spirit" which will be out on December. Stay tuned!

Edge Of Spirit sign with Demons Run Amok

Demons Run Amok Entertainment and Lucifers Legions Records offered bigger distribution to Japanese hardcore band Edge Of Spirit who recently signed with Lucifers Legions, and the band re-signed with Demons Run Amok, that caused release date change from October 27th into December 1st. The album titled Edge Of Spirit by Edge of Spirit will be released through Demons Run Amok Entertainment on December 1st, 2010 in Europe. The price will be 12EURO. For more infomation about the release, visit www.demonsrunamok.de