Crossfaith (クロスフェイス) is a Japanese metalcore band from Osaka that was formed in 2006. The band released their first EP "Blueprint of Reconstruction" in 2008. The band consist of vocalist Kenta Koie, guitarist Kazuki Takemura, Hiroki Ikegawa on bass guitar, dummer Tatsuya Amano and Terufumi Tamano on keyboards.
They then released their first studio album "The Artificial Theory for the Dramatic Beauty" through Zestone Records in 2009, and their second studio album "The Dream the Space" in 2011 through Tragic Hero Records. Crossfaith then released their second EP "Zion" in September 2012, this acted as a promotional release to countries outside of Japan. More music is underway with a release given sometime soon. Frontman vocalist Kenta Koie discuss their work on new music, playing shows, and much more.
1. Please tell us about the history of your band and its members.
Ken: Crossfaith is the second band for me. Kazu, Teru and I used to be in another band that broke up in 2006. When I met Tastuya at Music club in my high school, he played Slipknot’s 'SiC', next 2 seconds I invited him to Crossfaith. Hiro used to be a big fan of ours, and he also played bass and sang for his band. We shared the stage with his band on their farewell show then we invited Hiro.
2. What type of band are you?
Ken: We are crazy about music and partying.
3. How did you guys come up with your band name?
Ken: In our band, each guy has own faith and attitude for music and lifestyle, and these are crossing on this band, so that’s how 'Crossfaith' came up for the band name.
4. How would you describe your style? Which bands influenced your music?
Ken: I think, our music type is hard to describe. We mix extreme music with massive electronic music, which is far from recent scene band things. So many bands gave us musical influences such as Slipknot, Killswitch Engage, The Prodigy, The Chemical Brothers etc..
5. What lyrical theme do you guys use in your music? What message do you want to send?
Ken: All lyrics are written by me (Ken), lyrical theme depends on the songs, each song has a different message, at the same time almost all of them have positive things, but our next album has so many types of songs. I wrote about a nuclear plant for a song off the new album and it was a new experience for me.6. Who writes the songs, what are they about?
Ken: Kazuki writes the songs from guitar riffs and Teru brings some ideas to our band. So we have two ways of songwriting.
7. Who is producing the album? How has the producer aided the recording process?
Ken: The old two albums we produced ourselves, but our latest EP and upcoming new album were produced by Machine. A producer can understand the sound of the band from different angles so he gave us some great advice. That was a great experience for us.
8. Where did you record the album?
Ken: Both were recorded at The Machine Shop Studio in New Jersey USA.
9. What label will be releasing the album?
Ken: It will be released through The End Records.
10. How would you describe the overall sound of the new album?
Ken: We tried to put new essences of things we've never done on our new album, so it has so many types of songs. And this album has a theme: Destroy and Rebuild. On the writing we always need change and improvement.
11. Are you using any new instrumentation you've never used in the recording process before?
Ken: Teru got some new machines before tracking, as did the rest of the guys.
12. When did you start writing for this album?
Ken: It started last summer. We usually spend a long time on songwriting.
13. What inspired the album title? Is it a concept album?
Ken: It's not concept album, but we put a theme "Destroy and Rebuild" to our new album title.
14. What are your expectations for the CD?
Ken: This album is far from our old records, but at the same time it is Crossfaith. I believe this album will bring us to the next level.15. What are your upcoming tour plans?
Ken: We're gonna start Warped Tour in the US this June, and also we have so many tour plans for this year such as Reading/Leeds Festival, Warped Tour UK and our headlining tour in Japan.
16. Anything else you'd like to say or add?
Ken: Thanks for reading! If you haven't listened to our EP called ZION, make sure you check it out and we're gonna release our new album this summer! Keep your eyes on us! PEACE!
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