The formation of DEVILOOF was on the 31st of August 2015 in Kansai, Japan. This means that the group celebrates their 10th anniversary this year, and this happens to coincide with the European tour that’s about to kick off at the moment of writing this article.
While the group has gone through some member changes throughout the years, the current line-up exists out of vocalist 桂佑 (Keisuke), guitarist Ray, bassist 太輝 (Daiki) and drummer 幹太 (Kanta), and their most recent release is the single “因習” (Inshu), which was released on 29 January of this year.
With the (second part) of the European tour right around the corner, we asked the group for a chat with the intention to let you see the members’ personalities and ideas rather than just their presence on the live stage: “Daiki, Keisuke and Ray will be answering the questions of this interview together,” says Daiki, officially opening today’s interview. “Thank you for your support.” He quickly adds.
“We continued as a band with the sole purpose of becoming the number one in that scene.”
As stated a moment ago, DEVILOOF started their career in late August of 2015, combining visual kei and heavy- or even extreme- metal into one band. “It all started because of all members having roots in both metal and visual kei. At that time the extreme metal scene in Japan had not developed yet, so we continued as a band with the sole purpose of becoming the number one in that scene,” Daiki explains, before adding: “The name ‘DEVILOOF’ is a coined word that’s actually an abbreviation of ‘Devil’s Proof’. It conveys the idea that our music only needs to be conveyed to those who can understand it.” Which is a very interesting statement, since I recently took a deep dive into the band’s first album Devil’s Proof. This album was released in mid-November of 2017 and actually has that concept woven into it. Mixing together both genres while also being a bit confusing on both ends, unless you really look at it with the intention to understand it.
Combining two genres into one to create something unique for your band is nothing to scoff at, yet DEVILOOF has quite a variety of sounds in their discography. Obviously, some of those will appeal more to some listeners than to others, but what is the starting point for their music? “I have been exposed to a variety of music and video works, so what I want to express changes from day to day. I’ve always been doing whatever I wanted, but now we’ve been together for almost 10 years, my thought process has changed to being conscious of consistency and presenting the DEVILOOF that everyone wants,” Keisuke explains before laughing. “I’m saying that now, but tomorrow I might want to do partycore!” He adds, still laughing: “My most common composition process is to use deathcore and slamming death metal in there as a base before incorporating additional elements. I try to bring out my own individuality in this additional element.” And this is actually consistent with what we’ve seen Keisuke compose up until now. While his style isn’t a consistent sound, his songs are instantly recognisable as his contribution whenever you hear them.
A shadow creeps out from the depths of chaos
As mentioned earlier, the most recent release from DEVILOOF is their single ‘因習’ (Inshu), released in late January of this year. For those familiar with the band’s works, it’s a real throwback to a much earlier version of DEVILOOF, making use of a different style and a more horror visual basis for the accompanying music video. But what exactly is Inshu?
“Throughout the years I have been inspired by many works, but this one in particular was inspired by village horror works like Hannibal and Midsommar. The theme is the customs unique to the closed-off villages. When composing this song I wanted a section that sounded like jiuta, so I asked Sennzai to sing that part. The quality of her falsetto matched the image I had in mind.” Keisuke explains. Jiuta, or ‘地唄’ in Japanese, is a style of Japanese music. Literally meaning ‘song of local’ and is mainly mentioned during the Edo period in Japan, where it was performed, composed and instructed by 当道座 (Tōdōza), a guild for blind men. This is why jiuta is also referred to as ‘法師唄’ (Houshiuta), or ‘song of monk’ in English.
“We remembered the spirit we had when we first formed the band, and went back to our roots. But we didn’t just go back to our roots, we wanted to incorporate what we’ve cultivated over the past 10 years and pursue a hybrid extreme metal sound,” Daiki adds, actually summarising the sound of their latest single with just that explanation. “Plus, I think our fans are most looking forward to an extreme DEVILOOF.” So we can conclude that fans have something to look forward to with future releases from the group.
“I shouted my love with all my might.”
But, let’s circle back to the main reason for this interview: the upcoming European tour, titled -THE UNHOLY-. This isn’t the band’s first attempt at a European tour. They’ve tried to come to Europe twice in the past, but both of those tours were cancelled. This time it seems that the group has finally succeeded, and will take the stage in no less than 5 different countries.
“I still feel sad that I wasn’t able to go in the past, but I feel like I can finally go. Thank you to everyone who has been waiting. We will bring you a DEVILOOF that has evolved since then, so please enjoy!” Ray pipes up, clearly enthusiastic that the European stage is getting closer and closer. “The power of our live performance is at its best right now, so I can’t wait to let you see it live,” Daiki continues. “I am really sorry and frustrated that the tour had to be cancelled twice before, and I want to apologise to all of our fans for that.”
Earlier this year, the band already played at Resurrection Fest in Spain, which is considered the first date of -THE UNHOLY- tour. This show marked their very first show in Europe and they were happy to share some impressions: “The Spanish people were really passionate! As expected. I guess it comes from flamenco and bullfighting. I shouted my love with all my might in order to respond to their courtship. I’m looking forward to seeing people from various European countries after this. The bar is really high right now.” Keisuke explains enthusiastically, before Ray chimes in: “I think the audience was really excited. Every time we perform overseas we enjoy the different reactions to Japan. And this was the first time I saw limbo dancing during a performance! It made me think ‘anything goes!’, but in a good way!” He laughs. “There are a lot of very passionate metal fans in Europe. And I think metal is a part of their daily lives. The feeling of ‘let’s have the best time ever!’ really comes across in their facial expressions when they’re watching our live show.” Daiki adds, before continuing with a metal fan-wish of his own: “I’m a big fan of HELLOWEEN, and I really hope we can perform at the same festival one day.”
“We hope to give back in some way.”
At this point we’re nearing the end of the time we can spend together, but we still have time for a few more questions. And since we’re doing this interview in October, what better time do we have to ask for some horror movie recommendations? “It’s a bit cliché, but isn’t the best suggestion Halloween?” Keisuke continues: “Speaking of which, I once bought a figure set from Wish. It had a nonsensical line-up of Boogeyman, Jason, Leatherface and… 2Pac. But I received a horrible fake!” He adds, laughing. Which goes to show, it’s not just us here in Europe who end up being scammed by Wish!
But, what does the future for DEVILOOF look like? Daiki: “With Inshu we’ve found the path that DEVILOOF should take. So we plan to continue releasing more and more works that further refine this. We’re also planning an overseas tour, so we’d like to go to as many countries as possible that we haven’t been to yet!” So it seems that we can look forward to another overseas tour from DEVILOOF in the future!
Unfortunately that does conclude the time we have together for today, but no interview is complete without a closing message: “To everyone in Europe, we’ve kept you waiting for so long. We’re finally able to come and see you all. Give it your all, even though you’ve been holding back so much!” Keisuke says, before passing the opportunity to Ray: “DEVILOOF celebrated its 10th anniversary this year. A lot has happened, but we hope you’ll continue to support us. We hope to give back in some way. Everyone! Listen to some metal! 🤘” “Thank you for all your continued support. Please tell your metal-loving friends about DEVILOOF. And when DEVILOOF comes to your country, please come see us at a livehouse. Stay metal! 🤘” Daiki adds, concluding today’s interview.
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I’d like to thank Keisuke, Ray and Daiki for taking the time to join me for this interview, and refer once more to the upcoming European tour. For more information and tour dates, please refer to AVO Magazine’s news post, here.
