Metalcore is a niche genre, and one I don’t usually follow. But over the last three years, there has been a consistent buzz about an Osaka metalcore band called Crossfaith, and it’s been coming from across the board. Goth kids at raves, concert photographers, promoters and even general fans of Japanese rock have all been saying the same thing, “You have got to see this band!”
Next weekend, we’ll get a chance. Crossfaith will visit Taiwan for the Heart Town Festival in Greater Taichung, an outdoor festival that features around 60 bands on four stages from Aug. 9 to Aug. 10. The flavor will be mainly metal and hardcore, especially with the dozen or so international bands, including Crossfaith, Coldrain, SiM, Rottengraffty and Hatake from Japan, Born of Osiris, Finch and While She Sleeps from the UK, US bands Issues and Architects and around 50 other bands from Taiwan and Southeast Asia.
“We looked at the other festivals already happening in Taiwan, and we wanted to differentiate ourselves,” says Heart Town Festival organizer and self-avowed metalhead Jimmy Liu (劉鈞輝). “Then we ended up with this lineup, which is really metal. Crossfaith was the first band we booked, and it all kind of flowed from there.”
Photo Courtesy of Julen Photo and Heart Town Festival
Crossfaith is young, with the oldest band member 26 and the youngest 23, and things are happening for them extremely fast. The first time they got the chance to play a big concert stage was in 2009 at Loud Park, Japan’s biggest showcase for metal, which that year also featured Judas Priest, Slayer and Megadeth.
“Before the show, there were only 50 people in front of the stage,” recalls bass player Hiroki Ikegawa, speaking via Skype from New Jersey, where the band was in the studio recording.
“But then we started playing, and suddenly there were 3,000!”
Photo Courtesy of Julen Photo and Heart Town Festival
Three years later in 2012, they got their first chance to play internationally, touring the UK with Of Mice and Men. At that point, “We couldn’t even speak English,” recalls Ikegawa, who says he has since learned English by watching the animated comedy Southpark. “We were just used to touring Japan, which basically consisted of three shows — Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya. But there we played 17 shows in 17 days. We were learning very quickly what it means to be a band.”
In Japan, Crossfaith’s last album, Apocalyze (2013), hit number one on the Tower Records chart and number 13 on Oricon, the chart for all music sales in Japan. Unique for international metal, though not for Japan, their music is a mix of screamo hardcore and techno beats, which play around the edges of most songs, even underpinning some as the major driving force. They write songs about partying (Jaegerbomb), high school (Countdown to Hell) and the Fukushima nuclear disaster (Only the Wise Can Control Our Eyes).
“If there is one band we really look up to, it is Prodigy, because their live show is totally insane” says Ikegawa, who also counters that Prodigy is not necessarily a template.
“We just really respect them for their energy. For us, we are trying to find a balance between rock and electronics. But we are coming more from the side of metalcore.”
The band formed while in junior high school, though lead singer Ken (Kenta Koie) and the main composer and DJ, Teru (Tamano Terafumi), had been friends since elementary school. With the addition of guitarist Takemura Kazuki, Crossfaith officially formed in 2006. Still all in high school, they began to make their way in Osaka’s legendary hardcore scene. Ikegawa joined two years later.
“Osaka is really different from Tokyo,” says Ikegawa. “It’s not such an international city, and there is more poverty and social problems. And that weird scene is giving inspiration to all the hardcore bands.”
Since bridging to an international audience, Crossfaith has begun meeting their idols of their not-so-distant high school days. Last summer they were invited to a barbecue by Metallica, while playing the Soundwave Festival in Sydney, Australia.
“We met Metallica’s lead singer, James Hetfield, and I was really surprised that he knew of our band,” says Ikegawa. They also got to meet James Iha from the Smashing Pumpkins and Tom Delonge from Blink 182. “It was so crazy for me. I was a little nervous,” he recalls.
But on stage, nervousness is not an issue. “Onstage, the energy is just incredible,” says Julen Esteban-Pretel, a photographer who toured with them last year through the UK. “Back stage they are actually pretty low key, but the minute they go on stage, they just go crazy.”
■ The Heart Town Festival (山海屯音樂節), Aug. 9 to Aug. 10 at 362, Fuxing Rd, Sec 3, Greater Taichung (台中市復興路三段362號). Advance tickets are NT$2,000 for single day or NT$2,800 for two-day pass. Available through iBon or on indievox.com.
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