Rising To The Masses: Kensei

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Before the first riffs echo through the fields of Catton Park, we are diving head first into the pulse-pounding world of the New Blood Stage at Bloodstock 2024. So grab your backstage pass, tune your senses, and join us as we explore the stories, inspirations, and the relentless drive of the bands who are rising to the masses! Introducing Kensei…

How would you describe your band to someone who’s never heard you?

RAW BRUTALITY! We are a melodic death metal band with big riffs and big breakdowns but being influenced by old school Metalcore we also love Big Catchy choruses! We are very much what you see on the tin is what you get! And we pride ourselves in having that Raw sound!

Tell us about your band’s origin story. How did you all come together?

So we are all veterans on our local scene being in various bands for over 10-15 years in the midlands! An idea was sparked by our drummer Luke and Bass Player Inky to start a band one day, Then they reached out to our Guitar Players Matt and Rhys and Vocalist Dave to form Kensei! After our brother Rhys decided to step down from Kensei then We were champion of the local metal scene in Mr Ian Hiseman to complete our line up!

What song would you recommend for someone’s first listen of your band?

Describe your songwriting process. How do you create your music?

We are quite easy when it comes to making music! Our Guitarists Matt and Ian are both excellent writers so they will tab out a song with some basic drums and basslines then we will take it into the studio to find tune and add lyrics!

What are your musical influences?

Many different bands influence such as Trivium, In Flames, Gojira, Bullet For my Valentine, Killswitch Engage, God Forbid and many many many more

What’s the story behind your band name?

Our Guitarist Matt had the idea of the name ideally, he is very much into history and thought it would be unique, easy to search and easy to remember! Plus it sounds cool as fuck!

What’s your guilty pleasure music outside of metal?

CREED, just all of the Creed haha.

Tell us about your most memorable live performance or tour experience.

There are a couple! We Got asked to support Thrash Legends Xentrix on our 3rd ever show to a packed out room in Wolverhampton and they were absolutely Lovely!! Secondly we supported the amazing Vexed at our second home the Devils Dog in Digbeth which is sadly no longer with us! And lastly The Grand Final of Birmingham Metal to the Masses in which we won this year we will never forget that moment! The crowd was electric from start to finish and it was a beautiful night!

What’s the most challenging aspect of being a metal band in today’s music industry?

All of us being able to book a practice together because we are so damn busy haha! No but seriously and I suppose it would be just getting your name out there! With so many different types of social media out there showing many different types of things you can get lost in the shuffle sometimes! But that is why we are working our arses off so people will pay attention!

Any advice for other aspiring metal musicians?

Just be kind to each other, support each other on shows! Show no animosity towards each other, and be kind to your audience without them there is no you and without other bands there to support and guide you there will be no progression in the world so talk to everyone, meet everyone and be kind to everyone ❤️

What’s next after Bloodstock for the band?

So we have recently shot our first music video with the amazing Ironside Studios! And that will be dropping after bloodstock so keep your eyes peeled! And then just more shows and meeting lots of new people!

Kensei are set to play The Hopical Storm New Blood Stage On Sunday 11th August 2024.