SUNS OWL releases "DEAD ANIMAL" which recorded live broadcasting in Australia on January 11.

They keep performing with strong convictions of popularizing Heavy Metal. Their live album of Australia tour (last Sep.~Oct.) will be released January 11th and we asked them about it and what they got from the experience.

I was convinced that it did not make a mistake in us that we came over so far.

- First of all, how was the event "BEAST FEAST" you participated in.

GO: It was fun. That was our 2nd time, so we could enjoy more than the first time. We would like to thank everybody to invite us to that event.

- Did you play there well as usual?

GO: We played a little stiff but performance wise. We could play well as usual. In fact we found out later by watching VTR that the audience got excited very much. We couldn't see them from the stage during the performance.

- Did you see any other acts there?

GO: Of course. SLYER was great. I was wondering how Dave Lombardo plays because of his age, but it was perfect. It was better than ever.

SAB: SLYER、SOULFLY、HATEBREED、ARCH ENEMY、KILLSWITCH ENGAGE. They're bad! I mean great.

MZM: I wanted to see DOWN. So it's too bad they canceled at the last moment. But over all I enjoyed it very much.

- You have done Australia tour in the last September and October before "BEAST FEAST" .

ALL: FANTASTIC!

SAB: It went pretty good. We learned a lot from it. It was a great experience for us for the future.

MZM: I am very glad to find out I was right that constant hardworking can make it happen.

- You were right?

MZM: We believed ourselves before, but we were also worried a little bit "We may got boo from audience..." before the concert. Our anxiety was cleared. They got very excited from the beginning.

SATOO: I am glad we were well received by them.

SAB: I saw other bands and talked with them and got inspired pretty much. I realized that no matter how good instruments you have, it means nothing if you don't have chops. I feel the level of Japanese players isnﾕt so much different from them, but they (foreign musicians) are more flexible in thought. For example, even audience who wear Iron Maiden T-shirt said he also likes SOULFLY very much. Nobody categorize Metal in new or old. There seem to be no border.

- Did you change your guitar sound after Australia tour?

SAB: I have been always working on the guitar sound no matter what it is. But sometimes too much thinking didn't get the answer. I tried to think different way after Australia tour and cut the bottom and put more middle.

- Is it opposite to before?

SAB: Well...Not exactly but it needs a lot more skills for sure.

- Did you get any influence for your bass?

SATOO: Many bass players play the root, therefore my playing style surprised them. But they play great even playing the root.

GO: If you talk about drummers, Japanese are defeated perfectly. Circumstances are different. To be a good drummer, you have to practice your drums as long as you need. They can do it in their home but we Japanese can't do it since we don't have space in home. We only practice in studio. By the way I felt very comfortable to do Australia tour because we were with DEVOLVED which we invited to our Metal Popularizing Committee and did Japanese tour together before Australia.

- I think you must have faced language problem when you have concerts there. How did you make it?

MZM: Well, the most important thing I feel is my passion to the audience. If we keep high-level performance, we can get good feedback from them. But I also strongly felt necessity to communicate in English when I talk on the stage and when I try to communicate people there.

- Did the audience in Australia know anything about SUNS OWL?

GO: I guess so, a little bit. Some came down to check us out.

SATOO: There are some fans who know all our songs because they watched our video clip on TV. Some came down all shows of ours in their area.

- Then your live album of the tour has released.

SATOO: Yes, but I remember their recording equipment wasnﾕt in good shape. We recorded using mostly microphones instead of lines. Bands over there may get used to these situation. They do sometimes without sound check.

Well, but free bear made me happy, though.

- Did you feel anything uncomfortable in that circumstance?

SATOO: I just let the things go.

GO: Not at all. We just tried to concentrate on our performance and it came out pretty good even the monitors are almost useless.

- After we hear the story, we can enjoy this alum even more.

GO: Me, too.

SATOO: I remember at some venue that PA engineer got drunk too much and couldnﾕt operate the sound. No wonder DEVOLVED canceled the gig that night.

- We can tell the audience passion from listening to this album. How did you feel about the audience over there?

SATOO: More enthusiastic than Japan.

SAB: Yes, hot and pure. Everybody wears metal T-shirts. They don't care what kind of metal. But unfortunately we do in Japan....

- It doesnﾕt matter to them.

SAB: I rather say there seem to be no small categories in Metal.

MZM: They choose whatever they like.

- You did a cover of SLYER in this album. Could you tell me the reason?

GO: It's a worldwide great song. In fact the audience went crazy with it.

- Didnﾕt you have a plan to do a new original song for this album?

GO: Yes, but it's just a matter of time. It's a good timing for live album with a cheaper price.

- It might be good for the people who are interested in SUNS OWL but donﾕt know that much. It's a kind of best song album.

SATOO: Yes, it is an album since "RECHARGED".

GO: We would like to share our memory with everybody. So check it out.

SATOO: This is a snack before next album. There is no gimmick here. Please wait for the next album with listening to this live album.

MZM: I think we are the only Japanese band to release a live album performed abroad. You can hear and feel our power, the audience reaction and the atmosphere in general. I think anyone else can do it as we did if you work hard. It doesn't have the greatest recording sound but what we want to say with it is the fact we got the peek of our passion and power in this tour. I hope you can enjoy it with your favorite drinks or something.