Be sure of one thing: Coldrain are going to blow up, and very soon. They’ve already conquered their native Japan, so it’s only a matter of time before they take over the UK with their incredibly catchy mixture of metal riffs and infectious choruses. Vocalist Masato, bassist RxYxO (Ryo), drummer Katsuma, and guitarists Y.K.C (Yokochi) and Sugi formed Coldrain in 2007 and promptly made a huge impact on their homeland. Last month they came over to Europe and the UK as support for Bullet For My Valentine, and it’s given them even more hunger to succeed.
So, how was the tour with Welsh superstars Bullet For My Valentine? Vocalist Masato says, “It was amazing. It was our first time in Europe and we got to play 21 shows in 13 countries. It was crazy. Of course no-one knew us, but throughout the tour we got a lot of people into our music while we were playing, so it was awesome.”
But first things first: Coldrain formed in 2007 in their hometown Nagoya. “We used to be two bands in our hometown, so our two guitar players and our bass player were in a different band, and me and the drummer were in one band,” says Masato. “We were basically like rival bands. But after a while, we realised we didn’t have the right members, and I guess they didn’t have the right members, so one day we just decided to get together. It’s a long story cut short but we decided to become one band and it’s been six years since then.”
Even though Coldrain are a fairly new name for us in the UK, they’re obviously a fairly established band in Japan. Was it always their aim to conquer their home country first before taking their music around the world? “We always had our goals inside of Japan, and I know we sing in English and play a more Western style of music than most in the Japanese market, but we definitely wanted to break that barrier first before we did anything international,” says Masato. “I think this ended up being the right time for us.”
It really is fairly unusual to hear English lyrics in Japan, but you have to factor in that vocalist Masato is half American. “I grew up on a lot of bands outside of Japan, and of course I’m influenced by both Japanese and Western music, but it always came naturally to me to write lyrics in English. We make sure all our lyrics are translated into Japanese and English though, so everyone can understand,” states Masato.
Coldrain released their mini album ‘Through Clarity’ in January, and it really is pretty spectacular. It’s their first record to be released internationally, and although they’ve recorded albums previously in Japan, this is their first release that they’ve geared towards the rest of the world. “We basically had our sights on the world when we recorded it,” says Masato. “I think every track shows our diversity.”
Although they’re reluctant to pigeonhole themselves within a certain genre, they admit to being nu-metal kids. “We grew up on heavy riffs and a lot of screaming vocals and clean vocals at the same time,” says Masato. “It was always natural to us to have good choruses and good melodies with aggression in there.”
As for the rest of 2014, Coldrain are going to be incredibly busy. Along with touring their native Japan, they’ll be back here in June to play the mighty Download, and they hope to be back in the UK before the end of the year for a tour. And their aim in the long run? “Well, we’ve just played all of Europe with Bullet For My Valentine, so I think we kind of know where we want to go now.” Could you be bigger than Bullet? “Let’s just say we’re aiming for that.”
Coldrain have the world in their sights, and they might just get it.
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