INTERVIEW: Yusuke Sumita – Defiled
The Japanese metal scene has truly blossomed in recent years, with more bands from the land of the rising sun making waves on the global heavy metal scene. DEFILED have been plugging away for over 20 years and are a fine product of the underground Japanese scene. Prior to the release of album number five, Towards Inevitable Ruin (read our review here), we caught up with guitarist Yusuke Sumita to talk about the record, the Japanese metal scene and looking ahead to future touring opportunities!
It’s been five years since your last record, In Crisis, how has the band progressed in that time?
Yusuke: Time flies! Unfortunately we had to do a line-up change again and took five years to complete the new
album. But we believe our new album is worth the wait.
Five years in between records is quite a long time. By allowing yourself more time in between
records do you believe you have created a stronger record?
Yusuke: We wanted to try something new with avoiding the “template” sounds. So far we’re receiving positive
and negative feedback on both sides. Of course we’re proud of the latest creation. We are not expecting everybody to
understand our album at a glance. We are hoping many people will like our album by taking their time.
It’s a time capsule album.
What are the themes/messages for Towards Inevitable Ruin? What’s the overall theme?
Yusuke: Our lyrics are abstract but please try to read them first and you can take them for what you want. The
main themes are about “conspiracy”. They’re just for fun. Don’t take them too seriously!
Can you describe the writing and recording process for Towards Inevitable Ruin?
Yusuke: I managed to write all the songs and then the band did the jamming and arrangements.
What were your influences when writing Towards Inevitable Ruin?
Yusuke: The influences came from various kinds of music. Maybe hardcore punk and progressive rock are in
our blood too. You can find the elements of DEAD KENNEDYS, GBH, VOIVOD, RUSH, KING CRIMSON and
PINK FLOYD on our album.
The record really is not for the faint of heart, it’s truly aggressive in its delivery. What are you
hoping to accomplish with this record?
Yusuke: It’s our challenge for gaining more natural dynamics with avoiding compressor abuse for current
death metal productions. We haven’t used any compressor and we got amazing clear cymbals sounds.
Compressor sounds give our ears strong impact for the first 30 seconds. But after that, our ears
quickly get used to be exposed with loud flat noise. So we wanted to get out from that ridiculous
loop. Some people criticize our album saying it’s like demo sounds. That’s fine. We don’t join the “ loudness
competition.” Because our focus is music itself.
The band has toured places such as India, Bangladesh, Mongolia and Nepal – locations one
wouldn’t usually associate with extreme metal. How was the experience of playing those locations?
Yusuke: They are fantastic. We had great times with great fans. They enjoy metal music like most of the Western
people do. Extreme metal must be global music.
The Japanese metal scene seems to be thriving in recent years with bands from the country
gaining a lot more exposure in Europe and the US for example. How does the Japanese metal scene
compare to that of Europe?
Yusuke: It’s a difficult question. We don’t know the current domestic scene so much. But a few bands have
their original sounds. We’re proud of being a part of the Japanese metal scene.
The market for extreme metal has always been niche to say the least, it’s a underground style of
music. What challenges do you face when trying to build a name and reputation?
Yusuke: To be honest, we’re not interested in building a name and reputation. We’ve been creating what we
like and will keep that in the future too.
The band has been active since 1992 and since then, extreme music has evolved into what it is
now – do you think the death metal scene today is in a good shape?
Yusuke: There must be many sub-genre in even death metal . That means we have many choices. That’s not
bad at all!
Especially in Florida and the US, death metal thrived throughout the 1980s and 1990s – how
does the scene today compare to back then?
Yusuke: We definitely miss the good old days back then but we also shouldn’t try to be a copycat, however we are still loving
and paying respect to their music style.
Towards Inevitable Ruin set for release on July 8th what are your touring plans for the rest of
2016?
Yusuke: We are just about to start our tour for Japan and Korea tonight. It’s only five shows though. Some European dates will be
unveiled soon.
To close, we will offer you the floor. Do you have anything to say to the readers of Distorted
Sound Magazine?
Yusuke: If you liked our music sample on the internet, please don’t hesitate to purchase our album. Thanks
for reading the interview. Hopefully see you at the show!
Towards Inevitable Ruin is out now via Season of Mist.
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