• Musician

    Black Metal, Meet Your Doom

Metal Makes the World Go Round

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here’s a pretty well established path to follow when getting into heavy music, and it typically goes:

  1. Punk
  2. Hardcore Punk
  3. Heavy Metal
  4. Thrash Metal
  5. Death Metal
  6. Grindcore
  7. Doom Metal
  8. Black Metal

Way back in the day I skipped steps 3-6 and went immediately for the most extreme stuff once I “graduated” from Hardcore, and my bands tend to follow that pattern. There’s little of Death’s technicality, Heavy’s theatrics, or Thrash’s devil-may-care attitude to be found in my guitar work; Instead, I compose the coldest, kvltest atmospheres via forlorn riffs bristling with lament, ire, and the recognition of truths lost to the flow of time.

In addition to my work with Kaala, I am currently rhythm guitarist for Black and Roll outfit Worship Pain, was lead guitar for Raw Black Metal troupes Retch and Darkcorpse, and then there was that weird creature way back in my Iwate days called Kraken Strike.

My Bands

The Value of Music

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usic teaches you a lot about, well, everything, regardless of genre. Of course, there’s the composition and dexterity side of actual performance, but it goes much deeper than that.

Producing coherent output with a group of people each of whom has their own ideas about where the song and the band should go is quite the feat if you think about it.

Organizing concerts amongst multiple bands and venues is an extremely heavy logistical lift fraught with fail-points, egos, and the ever-present risk of rain.

Promotional materials and design doesn’t come easy for many, and really the only way to get good at it is to fuck up enough that you learn what not to do.

Finances. Distribution. Travel plans. Et cetera, et cetera. Music is outstandingly complex when you look at the ecosystems that form around it, but oh so worth it. Doing it with Metal just makes it even cooler.

Metal Around Japan