“It’s not even the first year,” says Peter Rono, vocalist for the Philadelphia metalcore band. Kaonashi. “That’s what makes this release so different. People are listening with experience and expectations. They know what it is and they feel like it’s good for them to embrace it.” I am.”
In their latest EP, The Three Faces of Beauty: The Violent Misconception of Morgan Montgomery Now out on Equal Vision Records, the band takes a business-as-usual approach to concept albums.
“This is a fictional high school that the characters attend. It’s really like a story,” Rono explains. “Lemon House High School is the school they go to. The main character is Jamie B. Moore, and we covered her on[the 2021 album]. final year. However, the next release will feature Jamie’s bully adversary Morgan Montgomery. So this EP is set in her third year at the same school and in the same timeline. We’re giving context to our debut LP. ”
Inspired by real life, the lyrics have always been rooted in reality, but figuring out how to convey the right emotion and avoid being taken too lightly was a big challenge. The concept of “Lemon House High” and the progression of the characters and story over the years were developed by Lono and drummer Ryan “Pao” Paolilli, who realized that they had many similar views and experiences. It started before I knew it. We wanted to go deeper and a concept album was born.
“I said to Pao, ‘Why don’t you give it a try?'” Rono says. “I don’t know why I wouldn’t do it, but I never thought I’d be in a position to do something like that. At the time, it was a challenge. But now I’ve dug deeper and continued to increase it every year. I’m glad I did, because even though I was at the foot of the mountain in the beginning, now, all these years later, it’s so cool to look back on these characters, these moments, these eras.”
Ah, what a 10 years it has been when I look back. The group, which started in 2012 and consists of Rono, Paolilli, Alex Hallquist (guitar/vocals), Sidney Williams (guitar/vocals), and newcomer Ryne Jones (bass), quickly caught everyone’s attention. We collected. Although they signed with Equal Vision Records in 2019, they continue to focus on writing songs that are meant to be heard live but can be performed on stage. On average, groups spend approximately five to six months on an expedition. But they still let their creativity run free and continue to build Kao-Verse. The roots and foundation of trust we’ve built from the beginning have borne fruit as big move after big move, along with an incredible record of touring and concept art. It may have been a slow effort, but the effort was well worth the reward for Rono.
“I used to think, ‘Why doesn’t it happen to me?’ But the older I get and the longer I’ve been doing this, I realize it’s not personal. This is something that many people experience and it takes a long time for them.”
Building a new world takes time, and Kaonashi is just getting ready.
can hear three faces of beauty here.Follow Kaonashi Facebook, Instagramand twitter For future updates.
Photo by Madison Walters.