Japanese metalcore band, Crossfaith, are less than a month away from releasing their latest album, 'Xeno'.
With a stunning new music video out for their third single, 'Devil's Party', all eyes are certainly on this edgy Osaka band. Produced by Josh Wilbur and mastered by Ted Jensen, this album will be nothing short of extraordinary. No stranger to Australian shores, lead singer, Kenta Koie, is beyond excited to be releasing 'Xeno' and hopes it leads to a tour down under:
'Xeno' sounds really good. How excited are you to release it?
Thank you, I'm so happy that you love our new record. This album is the best record we've ever created as Crossfaith. After we released our last album 'Apocalyse' in 2013, we've done so many world tours: the UK, Europe, Asia and of course Australia.
After that our guitarist Kazu had a hemorrhage – it was the worst thing to happen since we started this band, and he is not just a band member, we are friends since we were kids, we had to face that worst situation. But Kazu told us that he will never give up then he started rehabilitation and he wrote a couple of songs for 'Xeno' as well. 'Xeno' is the most important record for us so far. We are super excited to release this album.
What makes this album different from your previous albums?
There are so many differences that you can see, but still it is Crossfaith. This time I tried to sing a lot; if I sing then we can create new types of songs and I wanted to step up as a vocalist. So this time we would write slow songs like 'Tears Fall'. Now we have a lot of the way of express through our songs. If you listen this album from top to bottom you can feel the story of 'Xeno'.
What was it like working with Producer Josh Wilbur?
It was amazing. Firstly he is the nicest guy, he has the passion for creating music and his style to working with bands were amazing, he never forced us to do anything. Of course we were having conversation everyday. He brought so many new things, the way of tracking was completely opposite and it did work very well. And vocal tracking was so much fun! He always upper! He is a hard worker and I think he was tired but he never had a negative face. His sound is super heavy and clear, you can hear each instrument clearly.
Which other song off the album will also have a music video?
Now we are still thinking about it, so maybe live video, maybe featuring one...
The 'Devil's Party' video is stunning. What inspired the music video?
The idea of the video came from the lyrics. I wrote this song about myself, when I wrote this song I was nervous for everything around me, and these were too much for me and I felt my balance was getting lost. I put the name of the disease for that situation that is called 'devil's party syndrome'. It is like manic depressed. The main character has that disease and also she has the dual personality, and she fights with her dark side. That's the story of this video.
What is the message behind the video?
That video's idea came from the lyrics and I needed someone to help me, some one to accept me. Everyone is living under some pressures and alone. This is more like screaming from alone.
When are you coming back to Australia?
Now we don't have the plan to back in Australia, but we'd really love to tour in Australia! Your country is one of my favourite places in the world.
What can fans expect Crossfaith to do in 2016?
Australian tour????? yeah we will make it!
‘Xeno’ is out 18 September.
