Woundeep

Interviewer, writer: akfgfan
Band Members: Kei Tsukata (Vocals), Akito Sato (Guitar/Lyrics), Masahiro Komuro (Guitar), Masafumi Atake (Bass), Yoshiki Sakato (Drums)
Questions Answered by: Akita Sato



Unique to the Indies scene in Japan, this brutal death metal band makes quite a statement! Their intense vocals and solid instrumentals have captured the attention of fans and music companies around the world. With two demo tapes out, JMI touched bases with the band to find out about their future plans.



Thank you for taking the time to answer some questions. Could you please introduce the band to music fans that may not be familiar with Woundeep?

Hello everybody. Woundeep was formed in early 2003 and our latest line-up is Akito:guitars, Masahiro:guitars, Masafumi:bass, and Yoshiki:drums. We are preparing for a full length album which is supposed to be released from Unmatched Brutality Records in the United States. Meanwhile we are playing a lot of local shows here in Tokyo. We have released two promos to which you can listen at www.myspace.com/woundeep. Our musical style is modern blasting brutal death metal.

On your official site, very little information is given about Woundeep’s history. Is there a reason why your history has been kept so secretive?

Excuse me about that. We do not intend to keep our information secret. It is just because of the design of our website, originally designed by our former vocalist Toshiyasu and we are going to have it renewed along with the release of our full length album.

Is there any special meaning behind the name, "Woundeep"?

As you may guess it is the mix of two words "wound" and "deep". It represents a condition of the nature; I don’t mean "forest" or "sea" by this word. Nature includes humans, genes, the universe and time, which is fated to be injured by their fight against each other beyond their control. Personally, I’m deeply influenced by a book "Selfish Gene" by Sir Richard Dawkins and our concept has something to do with his philosophy.

Originally the name of the band was given by Toshiyasu, who was in charge of lyrics and concepts of the band, and the name had been related to much more social and historical topics such as hypocricy, indifference, war, and religion. After he left the band I took over his work. We don’t have much in common about the band’s concept and I’m now changing it towards what I aim to represent by our music.

Could you tell us how Woundeep joined Unmatched Brutality Records?

We recorded our first demo which includes two songs in the year 2003 and I sent a lot of copies to several dozen labels. Reactions were amazing and more than half of them gave us an offer. Among them we chose Unmatched Brutality to release our full length.

What bands have influenced your music?

Talking about metal music, we are influenced by old death metal classics such as Morbid Angel, Vader, Brutal Truth and so on.

What is most important to you when you write the lyrics for your songs?

We are not interested in lyrics about gore or satanism which is typical in this kind of music. You can read some of ours at the website (www.woundeep.com) written by Toshiyasu and they are about war, atheism and conflicts of ideologies. After he left the band I have been writing lyrics for our newer songs and it is about much more profound topics like nature, the conscious and time.

What sets your music apart from other Japanese metal bands?

We make the most of melody in its true meaning; I am not talking about melodies of Stratovarious or In Flames, though I like both bands. We don’t adhere to typical death metal melodies and are always ready to introduce something new and something which cannot be found in typical metal music.

In your opinion, what makes a great death metal band?

All we need to do is to write good songs, play good songs and record good songs which should be carried down to next generations. Music is everything and it is common in any kind of music style in my opinion.

So far you have released two demo cds. Are there any plans of creating a full length album?

Now we are working on a fullength and hopefully enter the studio in late 2007.

What is the meaning behind your logo "A Matter Against Non-Spiritual Ones"?

This is a catch copy of the band and taken from a fundamental ethos in medieval time Japan. Separation of politics and religion has been strongly retained for a long time here in Japan and we don’t have "religion" in our school curriculum. We Japanese learn "ethics" in our school time, which has nothing to do with religions, instead of them and it should be a life time discipline for a person. The essense of those ethics have been inherited from generation to generation and our standard of behaviors is largely based on them.

Which of your songs is your favorite?

I love our recent songs because they have musically evolved comapred to our past songs. You cas see our live show video of a new song "Deus Ex Machina" at our myspace page.(www.myspace.com/woundeep)

Are any of the band’s members working on side music projects?

The guitarist Masahiro has been playing at a hardcore band called At One Stroke (www.myspace.com/atonestroke) for almost ten years and recently he also started a black metal project called Apocrypha (www.myspace.com/apocrypha)

What are your future plans for Woundeep?

We all are self-motivated and always have a lot of plans but our ultimate goal is to release somewhat masterpiece and to become a band remains in the memories of people and the history of Japanese metal music.

Could you give a message to your fans?

Death metal is an ever evolving form of music compared to other genres in my opinion and we believe we have ideas capable of bringing more an more evolutions to death metal music. Keep checking our latest news at www.woundeep.com

Thank you very much and best of luck!

Thank you too Katie, we appreciate what you are doing. Also I would like to say thank you to those who read this interview.

Additional Information

Official Site
Check out Woundeep’s Official Site for more information on their history, lyrics, discography, and more!


Woundeep @ J-Music Ignited
Click here to see J-Music Ignited’s page for Woundeep!

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