Onryō UK are named after the vengeful ghosts of Japanese folklore, and their debut EP Exit Here is just as unforgiving. The band are spread across the south-east of England. They blend metalcore with nu metal, with flashes of deathcore and tech metal, and it’s a heavy new outlet for Seething Akira guitarist John Corney. With Exit Here out on 23 October, we caught up with the band to talk misheard lyrics, marathon drives to gigs, and taking aim at the selfish powerful few.
Who are you and where are you from?
We’re Onryō UK and our members are scattered around the south-east of England. John (guitar) and Dave (bass) are from Portsmouth, James (vocals) lives in Croydon and Tom (drums) hails from Brighton.
How did Onryō UK form, and how did you find your sound?
A few years ago, James‘ main project, Gaia, broke up. John and James had played in separate bands on the same line-ups a few times together; John in Seething Akira and James in various projects. When Gaia finished, John reached out to James asking if he wanted to work together on some recordings. They went into it starting as a recording project, with a view to possibly play live in the future. Fast forward a few years, Dave and Tom are now on board and we’re releasing our first EP together.
Our sound originated with John kicking ideas over to James. John didn’t set any limits on what James could do vocally, so he really went about experimenting and using a wide variety of the tools in his kit when laying down vocals. The synth is quite forward in the songs, so John does spend some time in post production really perfecting how he wants them to sound and getting the tone just right. When Tom joined the band, we had him rewrite the drums to give them a more human feel and the tracks sound a lot better as a result.
How would you describe your music to someone discovering you for the first time?
Simply, we’d say we’re a metalcore band with a strong nu metal influence. However, there are smatterings of deathcore, tech metal and modern metal within the songs of the EP too. We always struggle to really pinpoint who we’re “for fans of”, but the influences of Volumes, Korn and SikTh, we feel, are pretty apparent throughout.
Where does the Japanese horror influence come from, and how does it shape the songs and imagery?
The Japanese horror imagery actually came after writing the songs. The band went nameless for quite a while until Dave joined. James went away and wrote out a list of potential names. It’s going back a fair way, but we can remember two of them were Tectonic and Onryō. Dave and James are very into Japanese culture and media in general, so Dave was drawn to Onryō. The UK was added before we started releasing music. As there are a few Onryō bands out there, it helps distinguish us a bit. After all, it didn’t hurt Darko US‘ popularity!
However, the band’s name does actually fit the lyrical content of the songs. We live in a world where the strong bully and abuse the weak, and power is consolidated to a very few selfish individuals. Onryō are ghosts from Japanese folklore who return to bring harm to the living after experiencing an unjust or traumatic death. Our resentment for the selfish powerful few is apparent on this EP. But we don’t just take aim at them; bullies and the way society shapes us are also in the firing line. We all seem to be part of a broken system that holds many of us down. We want revenge on that system and for all of us to lead comfortable, happy lives. So, there’s definitely a few glimmers of positivity scattered in there too.
John, how does Onryō UK differ from Seething Akira?
It differs from Seething Akira due to being more guitar driven, and it’s a touch heavier overall. This allows for a different creative approach in the writing process. These songs were originally penned by me and our singer James over the course of three years, from bedroom demos to final production. I’ve got full creative control musically, which is quite exciting for me as an audio nerd.
Your songs switch between deathcore and nu metal vocal styles. How do you approach that?
Most importantly, I (James) do what just feels right. John sends me tracks and I work through them, experimenting and making sure that each vocal technique and the delivery feels right for the section. I will often record demos based on pure emotion. How does each section make me feel? How am I going to portray that? For example, if I’m trying to present my heart in my hands to a listener, cleans are too pristine and gutturals muddy the message sometimes.
Initial demos often have lyrics that don’t make the final songs, and a lot of the time the lyrics are just gobbledygook. I’m sure people that get a kick out of misheard lyrics would find these versions pretty enjoyable. In fact, I was doing some recording with my wife, brother and friends over the weekend recently, and my wife misheard some of my made up lyrics as “F****d up the cheddar man”, which I kind of wish I had come up with.
I used to write lyrics as I went, but found that if things needed cutting for the good of the song, I could get a bit precious, as then the story of the song no longer made any sense. So this cuts out any potential ego. I think this approach has given us some pretty unique vocal performances on the EP. The only disadvantage is that it’s super challenging to pull off live, but very fun.
What’s the story behind your debut EP Exit Here?
The Exit Here EP is brimming with malice, rage and hatred. The vengeful spirit of the EP is frustrated by those that keep us from our true potential, including ourselves. The five-song EP lyrically explores exploitation, oppression and the lasting effects of bullying. But we can all be defiant: we can all say “no”, we can all go beyond a headline and embrace our differences. There is hope, and with these small defiances, the oppressive spectre that hangs over us all can be exorcised.
Are there any tracks on the EP you are especially proud of, or that mean the most to you?
A lot of us are really fond of the song ‘Exit Here’. It’s probably the most nu metal tinged offering on the EP. Lyrically, all the songs are personal to James, but in ‘Exit Here’ he confronts the evil in himself, views created by his social status and environment. John‘s pretty fond of ‘Tongues of War’. It’s the only track that utilises James‘s throat singing on the EP and is the lowest tuned song he’s ever committed to recording.
Can you tell us a funny, emotional or dramatic story from your time as a band?
While the band is around three years old, we’ve only just progressed to playing live. Our second show was in an awesome little venue called The Barrel in the small village of Banham. James helped organise the very first Parentheses Absolute day festival and we were part of it. Tom and James had made their way down the night before, but John and Dave left early on the day of the show. They left a good six-plus hours for what should have been a two and a half hour drive… several traffic jams later, they arrived dead on our set-up time. So they had to come from a six-hour drive right into a show. Thankfully we all got set up on time and the day went smoothly overall.
What’s next for Onryō UK?
Well, we’ve already picked the track list for EP 2, so we want to keep up regular releases. We’re sitting on around another 14 potential songs, so we have material. We’ve two shows under our belt and really want to play live more. We’ve a few shows already booked, which we can’t announce yet, but we’re thrilled a couple of those are some smaller festival slots and are very excited for them. However, we definitely want to play as much as possible to people up and down the country, so if any promoters like our sound and want to take a chance on us, we’re looking to make more bookings.
Where can people find and follow you?
You can find everything, including shows, music and social links, on our Linktree. We’re also on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Bandcamp and TikTok, so give us a follow!
Exit Here is out on 23 October.
