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\u2019s about to kick off at the moment of writing this article.<\/p>\n
While the group has gone through some member changes throughout the years, the current line-up exists out of vocalist \u6842\u4f51 (Keisuke), guitarist Ray, bassist \u592a\u8f1d (Daiki) and drummer \u5e79\u592a (Kanta), and their most recent release is the single \u201c\u56e0\u7fd2\u201d (Inshu<\/em>), which was released on 29 January of this year.<\/p>\n 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\u2019 personalities and ideas rather than just their presence on the live stage: \u201cDaiki, Keisuke and Ray will be answering the questions of this interview together,\u201d says Daiki, officially opening today\u2019s interview. \u201cThank you for your support.\u201d He quickly adds.<\/p>\n 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. \u201cIt 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,\u201d Daiki explains, before adding: \u201cThe name \u2018DEVILOOF\u2019 is a coined word that\u2019s actually an abbreviation of \u2018Devil\u2019s Proof\u2019. It conveys the idea that our music only needs to be conveyed to those who can understand it.\u201d Which is a very interesting statement, since I recently took a deep dive<\/a> into the band\u2019s first album Devil\u2019s Proof<\/em>. 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.<\/p>\n 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?\u00a0\u201cI have been exposed to a variety of music and video works, so what I want to express changes from day to day. I\u2019ve always been doing whatever I wanted, but now we\u2019ve been together for almost 10 years, my thought process has changed to being conscious of consistency and presenting the DEVILOOF that everyone wants,\u201d Keisuke explains before laughing. \u201cI\u2019m saying that now, but tomorrow I might want to do partycore!\u201d He adds, still laughing: \u201cMy 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.\u201d And this is actually consistent with what we\u2019ve seen Keisuke compose up until now. While his style isn\u2019t a consistent sound, his songs are instantly recognisable as his contribution whenever you hear them.<\/p>\n As mentioned earlier, the most recent release from DEVILOOF is their single ‘\u56e0\u7fd2’ (Inshu<\/em>), released in late January of this year. For those familiar with the band\u2019s works, it\u2019s 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<\/em>?<\/p>\n \u201cThroughout the years I have been inspired by many works, but this one in particular was inspired by village horror works like Hannibal<\/em>\u00a0and Midsommar<\/em>. 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.\u201d Keisuke explains. Jiuta, or \u2018\u5730\u5504\u2019 in Japanese, is a style of Japanese music. Literally meaning \u2018song of local\u2019 and is mainly mentioned during the Edo period in Japan, where it was performed, composed and instructed by \u5f53\u9053\u5ea7 (T\u014dd\u014dza), a guild for blind men. This is why jiuta is also referred to as \u2018\u6cd5\u5e2b\u5504\u2019 (Houshiuta), or \u2018song of monk\u2019 in English.<\/p>\n\u201cWe continued as a band with the sole purpose of becoming the number one in that scene.\u201d<\/h3>\n
A shadow creeps out from the depths of chaos<\/h3>\n