Interviews

Ryo Kinoshita - KNOSIS 'Yelling Like I've Been Doing For 15 Years'

Kayla Hamilton

Feb 13, 2025

7 min read

At the end of 2022, former Crystal Lake vocalist Ryo Kinoshita made his triumphant return back to metalcore in a big way. Introducing his experimental metalcore project KNOSIS (you can read more about the details here), it wasn't long before the man renowned for his monster vocals was taking the project across the world and picked up by Sharptone Records in the process.

Finally, KNOSIS will be hitting our shores this week as part of Void Of Vision’s Final What I'll Leave Behind Australian Tour, so we caught up with Ryo to find what he has in store for KNOSIS’s Aussie debut.

‍Ryo, Welcome to Wall of Sound. This is your first time being here, so welcome!

‍Yay!

‍We've been covering KNOSIS since mid-2023; a lot has happened. So looking back, are you surprised just how far you guys have come in the last two years?

Yeah, kind of surprised, but we just have done what we should have done, you know what I mean?

Actually, it's not a surprise. I just did all I could do and then, yeah, it turned out to be great. Finally, I'm coming to Australia and…this is a great thing.

‍So this is the second time for you touring Australia, but obviously first time for KNOSIS. Is there anything specific you are looking forward to on this tour?

I am so excited to hang out with friends, Void of Vision and Gideon. I toured with Gideon three times maybe and I'm so stoked to see them.

So it's like old buddies coming together.

Yeah. (Laughs)

Do you have anything like a happy or core memory from the last time you were in Australia that you can think back to?

Oh yeah, I went to Zoo and went to that koala place. [Was that] Brisbane or Adelaide?‍‍

Maybe it was in Brisbane. And the koala[s] were so cute and they smelled so good and then that was one of the best experience I ever had.

That's brilliant. I love that. So people may have heard of you, and obviously KNOSIS too, and it's your project and all of that, but who else is joining you on this tour and how did you guys come together?

You mean a tour member, right?

Yep!‍

So Moro our drummer and Kosuke on bass, and then Daiki…little Daiki*. He's playing for Tyosin and AWSM. He's actually a drummer, but now he's playing guitar for KNOSIS. And then Moro was my old band member. We met when I was in university and then we talked, I don’t know, it was like we hit it off from the first time we met and then we've been friends 15 years or so. And then, yeah, when I started KNOSIS and then I needed a drummer and then, yeah, I called him like, “Hey, do you want to play in my band?” he told me he decided to not play in a metal band anymore. But-

[*clarifying as Daiki Koide (CROSSFAITH) also plays for KNOSIS on occasion.]

You brought him back?

Yeah, I brought him back to the metal scene.

And then Kosuke? Yeah, Kosuke used to play for a punk band in Japan. And then I didn't know him at all at first and then I had never met him until Yosh [Yosh Morita, Survive Said The Prophet] showed him in person. And then when was there when the, I dunno was it was that, I guess it was at a Survive Said The Prophet show. I guess he was there for doing- there is a job called manipulator in Japan. Manipulator does like all the sounds and sequences. Like playing the laptop. And then he firstly joined KNOSIS as a programmer and then he told me,

“Hey, I'm actually a bassist and then I want to join KNOSIS as a bassist and I can make KNOSIS better.”

And then I said yes, because I know he's a great bassist and he actually can play bass really, really well. He's he's really good. KNOSIS bass phrases are super easy, like 0 1, 2, 3, 4 or kind of like that. But he can play. (DOES BASS IMPRESSION]

He does a good job. So last year actually you had to play guitar for quite a, with those tours and a lot of people may not know that you actually played guitar on all the records. That's right, isn't it?

Yes. Yeah.

So how was that experience playing guitar and doing vocals for you?

It was [a] super weird moment playing, doing both vocals and playing guitars. It was like a brain, brain-breaking experience and it was like, oh, I don’t know, I don’t know what I'm doing. And then I was like, I forgot lyrics when I played difficult phrases. And I always liked that. And then I used to practice Metallica and Machine Head playing guitar while singing. And then I remember I used to do it really well, but 15 years later, so I was so [a] mess and I just needed to play. I just need to practice playing guitar a lot. I need to, because I haven't played guitar for a long time, since I started my career as a vocalist. I just, you know what I mean?

And you're such a dynamic vocalist. You're always in the crowd jumping around. It would be so limiting having that guitar there now.

Yeah. Yeah. It was a chain. It was a chain that bound me.

You are you glad that you got out there and tried it though?

Yeah, it was fun. And then I want to do it again because I am always inspired by a singer/ guitarist, you know what I mean? It's like James Hetfield and then Robb Flynn and Matt Heafy from Trivium too. Oh it, it's so cool playing guitar while singing and nobody is doing that in the modern metalcore scene.

That's sick. So at your Japanese shows, you've been promising and talking about an album. Do you have any updates that you can share about the album?

Oh yeah. Mixing and mastering were done last week and then…you’ll be hearing it whole soon. Really soon. Pretty soon.

So we'll just go back to Void of Vision. So you've mentioned you've toured with them before. How does it feel to be part of their last tour for you?

I did. They're super funny. And I dunno, we were just goofing around during the tour. At first I thought they were super serious guys because their music and their appearance are super industrial. And then I thought they were scary guys, but they're not. They're super funny guys.

So to be part of their last tour is a bit, is it a bit bittersweet?‍

Yeah.

So what can Australian fans expect from KNOSIS on this tour? So why should they show up early to see you guys?

It's a good question. Well, we will do and then do as always…I'm going to yell in the mic and then yell at… the crowds. Yell in the face of the crowds.

Real classic Ryo?

Yeah. Like I've been doing for 15 years. Yes.

That's good. That's good. And I got one last question. So you've been dubbed the ‘King of Features’ before and you've collaborated with Australian artists, like The Gloom In The Corner and Galleons. If there was any Australian artist you could collaborate with, who would it be?

It's a good question too. I need to check my Spotify…sometimes I can't tell if the band is an Australian band.

[Laughs and does actually check his Spotify]

Actually, I hesitate to name these two bands because they're, they're super famous in the world, but Alpha Wolf and Speed. That would be so good.

I’m sure they would answer you.

And one more band [I would work] on a collab with, Diamond Construct.

Oh, that would be crazy.

Yeah that would be sick. Yeah, I love them. I love their sound. Their super effected guitars. (Proceeds to imitate Diamond Construct guitars).

Any last things you want to say?

Yeah, can't wait to play in Australia and then hang out with my friends and I'm so excited to go back there.

Interview by Kayla Hamilton @kaylazomboid‍

You better catch KNOSIS opening for VOID OF VISION on their What I'll Leave Behind Australian Tour.‍