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Heavy and catchy is generally a winning formula with heavy music, but unlike most of their peers, Tokyo’s HONE YOUR SENSE infuses their combination of deathcore and melodic death metal with a generous helping of shuffle parts that are hard to get out of your head. Having graced the stage of holy grail metal festival Wacken Open Air in Germany, and supported Canadian heavy hitters Cancer Bats in their homeland, it’s due time for an international introduction.

FORMATION AND EARLY DAYS

HONE YOUR SENSE was formed in 2006 at a part-time job, when Satoshi Matsushima (bass) spotted Kenta Baba (guitar) reading a metal magazine. Upon learning that he was a guitarist, the two, plus the drummer at the time, began jamming in the studio for fun.

Before the advent of Japanese social networking giant, Mixi, fans exchanged information on the different message boards of their favorite band. The pair found second guitarist, Kosuke Matsuzaki online, who joined the lineup as HONE YOUR SENSE’s second guitarist a year later.

2011 saw the unfortunate departure of the band’s original vocalist, but opportune timing allowed the position to be filled a year later by Toru Bara, Kosuke’s good friend and former cover band-mate from way back, whose previous band had broken up. This was once described by Satoshi in a previous interview as what he felt was the band’s true start. Why?

SATOSHI: I honestly think he’s a great frontman. He has a good presence and aura. It felt like, “Ah!! This is it! He’s the one!!” the first time we invited him to join us in the studio. He’s like the icon of the band. Also, we didn’t really have a leader-type figure so it affected our mentality a lot.

KENTA: After all, I had a lot of experience and agree that it would be good to have a leader type presence. The band’s aura totally changed thanks to big brother, no… father here…

HONE YOUR SENSE’s newest and youngest member, Takuya “Picasso” Nakata (drums), was recommended to them by former support drummer (and current Crystal Lake support) Gaku Taura’s friend. Though officially announced in October of last year, he was already filling in for the shows Gaku couldn’t play at.

EVOLUTION OF SOUND

Upon comparison of the band’s initial demos and EP with more recent offerings, they appear to have gone from a very deathcore and death metal approach to one with more melody injected into it.

KENTA: This wasn’t an intentional thing, though. We never set out to purposely make a melodic death record. It was more of us (Kosuke and I) just writing songs that we liked, and if someone said, “Oh, this is cool!” we’d try it out.

Kosuke is adamant the composition process itself is unaffected by lineup changes as the main songwriters have remained constant throughout. But with Bara’s prodding that “this story is so undramatic you probably can’t use it”, he adds that their “previous drummer’s departure led us to recruit a good vocalist and drummer, whose skills allowed us to expand our musical range.”

A strength most characteristic of HONE YOUR SENSE is the ability to write songs that are catchy and easy to listen to, while simultaneously retaining the pure, brutal and riff-heavy essence of metal music.

KOSUKE: I don’t think everything can be packed in a single song. With a 12-track album, you can probably appreciate the extent of what we cover, but in my opinion, you won’t get the whole picture if you only pick up or check out one song on its own.

BARA: Yeah, that’s why there are deathcore-influenced, catchy, melodic death metal, and shuffle songs. So if you listen to the album as a whole, you’ll get a sense of various things mixed together… which is what we were aiming for. So I believe those two don’t purposely go in with the mindset of “let’s make songs like what we already have!” I think our unique style has been successfully reflected in the album because we try and mix things up.

KOSUKE: Because it’s the same person doing vocals, even though there’s a mishmash of styles, there’s still something keeping it consistent.

BARA: With stuff like vocal inputs and live performances, everyone emphasizes the crowd pleasers and audience engagement. We have a lot of patterns catered to a live audience, in order to convey things like, this the violent part, this is the melodeath part, jump up and down… I think we do songs uncharacteristic of a metal band. That’s probably because each member is open minded and the type that would go, “that’s interesting!”, rather than “that’s a bit different, maybe we shouldn’t do it…”

KENTA: We’ve never gone into the studio to write songs together. Kosuke and I compose and record the guitar and drums, vocals are recorded over, then Satoshi and Picasso learn to play them by copying the demos.

When asked to pick a single song that defined their sound, all members agreed that the fourth track off their album, Absolute Senses,  ‘This Chaotic World Is Over’ was the closest thing to an all-in-one that included the greatest variety of styles – from deathcore and shuffle, to rock ’n’ roll, melodeath and even a guitar solo. Satoshi named ‘Last Man Standing’ a close second – where the shuffle parts in an otherwise typically metal song let the band’s uniqueness come through.

INFLUENCES

Pantera clearly held the vote when it came to naming their individual influences.

KENTA: The hard rock band Extreme, because I like Nuno Bettencourt. I’m heavily influenced by them.

KOSUKE: Older Megadeth (imitates guitar sound), from the first to fourth album. I like their guitar work.

SATOSHI: Pantera and Korn.

PICASSO: Pantera, Machine Head, I guess.

KENTA: Lots of Pantera, eh?

SATOSHI: Rhythmic Pantera…

BARA: I like them a lot, too.

KENTA: I don’t listen to Pantera at all. I think they’re cool, but I’m just not influenced by them in any way.

As a band rooted in traditional metal, but appeared on an even ratio of metal and hardcore/metalcore lineups, I wondered if they preferred the former over the latter.

SATOSHI: No, we don’t really have a preference. That’s why we’ll play with all types of genres – whether it’s to metal fans or loud rock kids.

BARA: We want all sorts of people to listen to us, so we play all kinds of shows.

KOSUKE: Although we like bands like Megadeth, Pantera, and Extreme, we also like other kinds of music. There are a lot of metal musicians who only listen to metal but we’re not really that type.

BARA: I like B’Z, and sing their songs a lot at after-parties. I like hip hop and RnB as well. I played the taiko drums in elementary school.

KENTA: Really? This is the first I’ve heard of this!

PICASSO: Bara likes anime songs, too.

KENTA: We all like anime, it’s really extensive. I like games too… Anything, really.

KOSUKE: The influence of video game music is definitely recognizable in the songs I write. Melodically, I like the instrumentals on game soundtracks, so that’s probably something that comes through.

FROM LIVE HOUSES TO WACKEN

Unlike the resounding, “Pantera” to the question about influences, everyone’s answers and reasons varied when it came to their favorite songs to play live.

BARA: ‘Last Man Standing’ is a lot of fun for me.

KENTA: ‘Buster’.

KOSUKE: I also like ‘Buster’, or ‘Ray Of Light’… because they’re fairly easy. [all laugh]

KENTA: I like the hype songs like ‘Last Man’ but they’re kinda hard to play! ‘Buster’ is hard but easy to bang your head to.

KOSUKE: That’s why… You know how ‘Buster’ has that tricky part? There’s none of that on ‘Ray Of Light’ so my favorite song to play live is probably ‘Ray Of Light’.

BARA: You know, if I was a reader, I’d be like, “why is Hone Your Sense this kind of band (that says stuff like, “I like it because it’s easy”)?” [all laugh]

SATOSHI: Mine is ‘We Aim To Be The Same’.

BARA: I also considered that one. The combination of the vocals on it, plus everyone singing, “WE AIM TO BE THE SAME!” back at me is a great feeling.

PICASSO: The most fun for me is definitely ‘Last Man Standing’. There are lots of drum breaks, and the drum parts are really hard, but…

KOSUKE: What a cool guy, he enjoys playing hard songs.

PICASSO: …the tempo isn’t that fast, and the fusion in it is unusual. I also like Black Lotus because of the way it gradually takes hold of the crowd’s attention, they really watch closely.

This is met with a resounding “WHOOOAAAAAA!!!”

KENTA: Black Lotus is one I’m not fond of playing at all, because it’s very difficult.

PICASSO: I don’t particularly like it because it’s hard, but the way the song gets everyone pumped up at shows makes it worth playing.

One of their claims to fame is having won Japan’s 2012 Metal Battle to represent their country at the world’s biggest metal festival, Wacken Open Air in Germany.

KOSUKE: We definitely learned a lot, but more than anything else, it was thrilling and we had so much fun. It was the best.

SATOSHI: I was really in awe that it was really happening – we were playing Wacken. “We definitely can’t stop now”, I thought. It was insane and we want nothing but to play again!

BARA: I woke up tired and hungover from drinking too much the night before. On my way from the tent to the toilet, it was only morning but there were people drinking and making a racket. From afar, I saw Satoshi and a German woman…

SATOSHI: I think she was Russian, or somewhere around there…

BARA: … and while sleeping, he was licking her boob with a pierced nipple, like this. [all laugh]

KENTA: Satoshi is probably the one who had the most fun there.

SATOSHI: Rock n roll, man!!!

KENTA: Satoshi was definitely the most “rock ‘n roller”. During the festival, he was hardly ever around. The few times you’d run into him it was like spotting a burglar, he was having way too much fun. You’d bump into a drunk Satoshi and he’d like, “thanks for your hard work!”, or like, “oh, there’s a moshpit over there now!” and he’d be dashing off somewhere again.

SATOSHI: Other than on stage, I used all my energy as part of the audience, too.

KOSUKE: Right, we each went to watch the bands we wanted to see.

KENTA: We were all over the place.

BARA: Since we could go backstage, we were able to talk to and meet many artists, like members of Unearth and Suicide Silence, including Mitch! It was three months before he passed away. he was having a beer and I got to take a photo with him!

KOSUKE: In general, we got to talk to heaps of our favorite bands.

…AND BEYOND!

Individually, each member’s aspirations do not differ too much, with the general consensus being a shared dream to “become a band that tours all over the world” – naming America, Europe (particularly Germany), Asia (“We’ve only been to Taiwan, so we want to go to other places too),  and (for Satoshi) “somewhere there are many party girls”, as well as to “play shows every day” as a full time musician in large places and festivals. In line with plans for a new album (currently writing) set for release next winter, there were mentions of wanting to “put out a release every year, and even write a tenth album”.

SATOSHI: It took us about 6 years to release the first album. I want to seriously write music more, and have it distributed not only in Japan but overseas too. I’d like for HONE YOUR SENSE to become a band that goes about our musical activities more earnestly.

KENTA: We want to go to the Philippines, too.

KOSUKE: We’ll do our best to be able to go there, so listen to our music! Please check out our releases, come to our shows. We’ll be waiting!

If every band had to be defined by a music video they’ve released, HER NAME IN BLOOD’s would undoubtedly be ‘Halo’. The detached heavy metal airs and furious execution back up the brutal name, while its epilogue of wacky wind machine usage and gorging on instant noodles reflect the members as the total opposite of this. In short, this is a seriously heavy five-piece with a great sense of humour – made up of Ikepy (vocals), Daiki (guitar), TJ (guitar), Makoto (bass) and Umebo (drums).

An equally surprising fact is that the Japanese act’s moniker was drawn from the title of a Strung Out song. Makoto briefly recounts the [band’s] origins for our pre-show chat with him and Ikepy, though insists on keeping the previous name as some sort of hilarious secret between the two.

“Daiki (guitarist) and I started the initial band together, about five years ago. Then Ikepy joined in around 2007, and around half a year from then we changed the name.”

With a sound fusing metal and hardcore, the discussion of influences for comparison is inevitable.

Ikepy gives an answer befitting his Motorhead wifebeater: “I really like metal. In terms of ‘purist’ metal, it’s Pantera, Metallica... Then when I listen to metalcore, it’s Killswitch Engage and As I Lay Dying.”

“Wife killer!” Makoto jokes upon mention of As I Lay Dying, which brings about a round of laughter from everyone. “As for me, I like punk rock! NOFX, Rancid, those two are my favourites… But I’m aware I play metal,” he’s quick to add with a bemused chuckle.

Upon mention of the change in direction from the varied metalcore and deathcore days of Decadence (2010), to a more groove oriented musicality on The Beast EP (2013) and this year’s self-titled full length, the culprit is identified instantly, with a unanimous verdict.

M: “It’s Daiki’s fault! He’s the one that likes hard rock.”

I: “Probably! Daiki initially brings the guitar riffs and whatnot, so as expected, he wants to achieve a very hard rock-influenced atmosphere with a powerful, big sound.”

The Slipknot-esque element however, inevitably comes from behind the kit: “Umebo’s influence. He likes the noisy stuff! Put simply, he likes it fast and loud!”

Over the past couple of years, Her Name In Blood have shared stages with an impressive number of foreign acts on their Japan tours – from August Burns Red and The Ghost Inside, to Every Time I Die and For The Fallen Dreams. Tonight, they wrap up an arduous 24 date tour across the country in promotion of their latest release.

I: “On the album’s release date, our guitarist TJ injured himself, so from the onset we had to rehearse a lot with the support guitarist/s. Even at the start it was super busy and tiring but as it piled up, we got really used to it. So, although we’re already at the end of the tour, I think we gradually came to improve a lot on stage to get to this point!”

M: “What happened to TJ was unfortunate, but thankfully, 3 other guitarists helped us out. With this the band seriously took a huge step forward, taking on a big tour despite having one member injured, which was a big deal.”

Fortunately, however, fans’ reaction to the new material this time around was overwhelmingly positive, according to Ikepy. “They’ve really been buying, listening to, and learning the songs… Moreover, there were lots of people who properly took action on this tour… That kind of feeling,” Makoto agrees, observing that, “it looked like lots of people were singing along!”

I felt compelled to drop the keyword and ask what the most brutal thing that’s happened at a show was. It turns out low ceilings are to be feared more than rabid crowds! Makoto’s response, complete with slicing motion was more painful than imagined: “I cut my finger on a lighting rig! That’s the worst thing that’s happened in my life, on stage!

What’s more, this Tokyo crew are one of the few bands to have done a tour in the elusive China – not one, but four headlining shows around the 2013-14 New Year period.

M: “As you would think, we thought it was a scary country just before going, but… You know, Japan and China are a bit… Before heading over, there were some problems but when we went there, it was no problem.”

I “The power of music is seriously something. China was really intense, the reaction we got was amazingly great. I’d like to go again!”

Could this perhaps be attributed to the increasing popularity of Japanese metalcore bands overseas? A domestic term often used to describe this scene is “loud rock”*, which in Japan generally refers to bands playing music under the “core” umbrella, J-punk, pop-punk and so on, which often draw upon Western music influences. Both give their thoughts on this timely rise.

M: “It’s a good thing! I think Japanese bands are skilled in their live performances, so them being able to be recognized in such places is great.”

I: “I guess there’s no doubt about it that many kids think that loud* rock bands from overseas are very cool. But actually, I felt that in my experience touring with different foreign bands says that the quality of Japanese bands is of a very high level.”

In terms of the band’s plans, the immediate future is most exciting as they head to Okinawa the next day to play a show with Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, followed by a few days of holiday! But before that, the ever-important message for fans and readers in our own tropical island:

M: “I want to eat the greatest bananas! I really like bananas. I often eat them before shows. Since I want to eat the best bananas, I want to hit up the Philippines on tour!”

I: “I haven’t been to the Philipines yet, so to get everyone over there psyched on loud* music, we want to play the sickest show in the Philippines! Please read this!”