Interview: Hebi Katana – Tokyo Samurai Doom Unit Unveils Impermanence

Interview, News
Ryan Dyer
May 24, 2022

Interview with guitarist/vocalist Nobuhito Matsuo

Japan has always had a knack for producing high quality stoner, doom and sludge acts. From Church of Misery and their serial killer/NOLA aesthetic to Ningen Isu’s classic, Sabbath-style heavy rock, the variety of bands matches the choices you might see at a vending machine in Shinjuku.

With new stoners on the block, Hebi Katana and band leader Nobuhito Matsuo has infused more of a domestic flavor with the down tuned riffs and psychedelic aesthetic, with the band being labelled as “Tokyo Samurai Doom.” With their second album Impermanence released within two years of their forming this June, Matsuo isn’t wasting any time in making Hebi Katana into a deadly new force within the Japanese scene. We catch up with him and attempt to discover some secrets of the katana.

Since 2020, Hebi Katana has released two albums. How long have you been writing and preparing material for Hebi Katana? Did COVID accelerate your writing process?

I started writing materials for Hebi Katana in the beginning of 2020. Yeah, COVID affected and inspired me a lot for the song writing process and lyrics—the arrangements as well.

You refer to the band as samurai doom. The name Hebi Katana means “snake samurai sword.” What other samurai elements do you throw into the mix?

It might be an indirect way, but I think we are inspired by samurai a lot. I’m a huge fan of Akira Kurosawa and Mifune. My favorite movies are Yojimbo and Seven Samurai. They have really good stories and even nowadays, it has an impact on us, showing the fundamental quest to the human heart and how you live and love. I have tried to put those elements into our songs. Also, we already had enough of English band names, so I wanted to name it something new!

What is your history with stoner/doom/sludge and Japanese bands in this scene?

I played one doom band called Dakuon from 2018 to 2019. We just did several gigs and wrote some demo songs. It wasn’t bad at all, but we just couldn’t find a way to go beyond that. Before that I’ve played a lot of different styled bands, from an early era Beatles cover band to cover bands for Nirvana and GNR, a Chili Peppers influenced rock band, a STP influenced acoustic unit … Anyway, living in Tokyo as a musician is like a roller coaster!

Likewise, what foreign stoner/doom bands have you seen personally in Japan which may have influenced your direction?

I saw a Candlemas gig in 2019 in Tokyo. Awesome show with their original singer.

You teamed up with Italian SSD label Argonauta Records for your new release. How did you hook up with them?

We have posted a lot about our inspirations to Instagram. Then one day, Gero from Argonauta asked me, “You want to release a vinyl?” and I said yes! Awesome chance, and I thank him a lot for his hard work.

Outside of Japan, where do you find most of your listeners are located?

I think we have a bunch of supporters in South America, especially Argentina and Chile. The scene is kinda massive. Also, supporters from Europe often buy CDs and cassettes through Bandcamp. I also appreciate U.S. and Australian supporters for that as well and the enthusiastic Canadian supporters too!

You just released a new music video for “Pain Should I Take.” Where was it filmed?

It was filmed in a venue called Traffic Tokyo in the Azabu area. A great venue.

The album art/aesthetic is a very important element to SSD. What guidance did you give for the album art?

My guidance to artists is usually “samurai sword, sexy lady, snake!” Only these three. I trust and respect their own artistic styles!

I lived in China and got to know a bit of the stoner/doom scene there—have you played with any of the bands or sought to do some collaborations/splits with any? For example, Ramblin’ Roze, Never Before, Electric Lady …

I’ve heard all of them, and I like them a lot! Funny thing is, I’m friends with an awesome doomer from China, and he’s now a bass player for Sithter. And he joined Ramblin’ Roze before. I also heard of them through Mr. Okazaki (Eternal Elysium). They played in Beijing back in 2018. I hope we can perform there soon too!

Currently, I am back in Canada, where smoking pot is legal, and there is a stoner band around every corner. Do you have any favorite Canadian artists?

Yeah, I have some connection with Montreal bands. I do like Seum, and we are good friends! Also, Dopethrone and Lochness are awesome. I have a vinyl copy of a Lochness album.

There is a festival in Calgary which caters to SSD—Sled Island, which Boris played several years ago along with Sleep, Red Fang, and others. (If anyone from Sled Island is reading this, book Hebi Katana!) Are there any foreign fests you’d like to get on in the future?

Definitely! One of our goals is performing abroad. Any metal /rock fest out there, and we are in. My friend’s band in Chile, Arteaga, invited us to Ritual Electrico this December. Still figuring out how to make it, but we would like to.

Any last words?

Thanks for this interview, Ryan! Hope you guys are enjoying our music and see you on the road! Live photo by Akira Hinohara