Band: Torture Smile
From: Kawasaki, Japan
Their formation story:
(xTRUEKILLx, vocals): "On February 4, 2023, I met our guitarist, zkchang, at the Japan show of One Step Closer. We became friends because we both loved new school hardcore bands like nervous light of sunday. One day, I found out that zkchang had been posting his own songs on Bandcamp, so I told him, 'This is too good to waste—let’s make it a band!' That was the beginning of everything.
"The two of us put together a demo, and after we released it on December 8, 2023, things started moving quickly. Before we knew it, we had shows lined up, and on February 3, 2024, we played our first live show at Shibuya Cyclone with support members."
Their sound in their own words:
"People often tell us, and we’re also very conscious of it ourselves, that we keep that early new school hardcore/metalcore vibe alive.
"As for influences, like I mentioned earlier, nervous light of sunday is a huge one. If it weren’t for them, we wouldn’t have started making music in the first place, so getting to play with them several times last year was a dream come true. I personally think they’re the coolest active band in the world.
"We’ve also been heavily influenced by the H8000 bands. Sound-wise, both of our guitarists use MT-2 pedals, which gives us that sharp, edgy tone.
"Personally, my ideal for everything—sound, energy, and performance—is the 1998 live footage of Arkangel on YouTube. My goal is to get as close to that as possible and go beyond it."
Latest release info:
"We released a 6-track EP called Smile: after death in February! This EP is basically our calling card—it’s packed with songs that say, 'This is who we are!' I really hope people check it out.
"It’s a super-important release for me because we got a lot of help from friends to make it happen. If you hit me up, I can even send CDs overseas, so don’t hesitate to message me!"
Future plans:
"We have a bunch of shows lined up in Kanagawa and Tokyo. I can’t announce it yet while doing this interview, but we’re also scheduled to play with an overseas band that I absolutely love. We’re putting in the work to make it a killer show.
"Right now, we don’t have any other releases planned for the year, but we’ve been talking about doing a split with SEWER, a band from Yokohama (we’re from Kawasaki, Kanagawa, which is right next to Yokohama)."
What other bands from their region should we check out?
"To be honest, we’re pretty much the only hardcore band in Kawasaki. But Yokohama, the city next to us, has a lot of great bands. That’s why we feel it’s on us to build up the scene in our own area."
Torture Smile on social media: Instagram
Tagged: torture smile
