'Heavy and Chaotic and Overwhelming': Kaonashi On Their New Album and UK Tour

Credit: Dazey Doom

“What the fuck?” Kaonashi drummer Ryan ‘Pao’ Paolilli says out of nowhere midway through our talk. “Sorry, this gas station we’re at is fucked up.”

There’s an air of chaos about almost everything that the Philly metallers do, and apparently that extends to quickly being surrounded by random sketchy goings on outside their van during a quick stopover in Arizona while on a US tour. 

Formed in 2012, the group have gradually established themselves at the vanguard of experimental, challenging and emotional metal, with their sound also regularly leaning into mathcore, screamo and post-hardcore. 

Having recently released their third album ‘I Want To Go Home.’, they will follow their US plans with a UK and European tour, including a stop at 2000trees. We caught up with them to chat about how they broke free from genre expectations while getting to the bottom of the deep lore that surrounds their recorded works to date.

For the uninitiated, how do you describe Kaonashi?

Peter Rono, vocals: “I like to boil it down to just a metal band. Before, I used to use specifics. But I just say we’re a metal band that just has a really crazy live show. Well, it’s technical post-hardcore but in using all those words, I feel like I lose people immediately. But when I just say we’re a metal band with very emotional, chaotic music, people can grasp it better than saying mathcore, because then they go, ‘Mathcore? What is that?’”

You’re certainly very hard to put in any specific box, but has it got you into any surprising lineups or situations where people have misunderstood you entirely?

Peter: “We’ve played with Rivers of Nihil and we were the lightest band on the show, and in the same month we played with Hail the Sun, and we were just the heaviest band of all time. It’s always one or the other. Even with bands that I would think the crowd would understand, something like Fall of Troy or Protest The Hero, there's always one guy standing there like, ‘This band's too heavy.’ Right next to them is someone saying, ‘This band is so light.’ I don’t know. It’s just always hard to grasp for some folks.”

It does feel like a lot of those ‘hard to define’ bands like yourselves are on a hot streak at the minute. We’ve just had the new Callous Daoboys, and in the past couple of years we’ve had Vein FM, HIRS Collective, Death Goals all putting out phenomenal work. What do you think is resonating with audiences?

Ryan: “I feel like stuff always comes in cycles. There was a time where this was regular, where there were all these bands like Dillinger Escape Plan, Heavy Heavy Low Low and The Number 12 Looks Like You. And then that ended, and there was a lot more straightforward music, you know what I mean? I think it’s just coming back the way Y2K aesthetics are coming back, and the way kids are going back to other styles. Things come and go and I think people and finding that in bands like us. It’s just a cycle like everything else.”

What’s it been like for you guys to see the reaction to ‘I Just Want to Go Home’, especially being out on tour like you are at the moment?

Peter: “Dude, last night, everyone said When I Say was a highlight of the set. It's such a straightforward song for a band like us and to see that reaction — it’s the best part of the set, in my opinion. I feel like a lot of our set is heavy and chaotic and overwhelming, but that part is easy for everyone to sing along to. But it’s been just one week, and it feels like it’s been out forever. I’ve been thinking about it all day, every day for a week straight, and it’s been amazing to see the reactions to it. People I haven’t talked to in years are coming out and being like, ‘Damn, y’all really are doing this.’ You know what I mean? This isn’t just, ‘Here’s some songs, hope you like it.’ For it to be out and to feel validated, it’s been amazing.”

What was the creative process like across the album, finding those melodic pockets and trying to give something that, as you say, fans are singing back in full voice already?

Pao: “Honestly, we just write music. For this one, we kind of laid out what we wanted to say with the story, and then tried to match it musically with that and emanate the style or the vibe. So, that’s where we are, but we just write music and hope it goes for the best.”

Alex Hallquist, guitar: “We’re always writing riffs and parts and sections, and then afterwards we take that, and pinpoint what part it matches in the story, and then build from there. Sometimes it starts with the riff, sometimes it starts with the story itself. It's ultimately all based around the story.

So, let’s talk about the story for ‘I Want To Go Home.’. There is a very strong throughline on the record, but where did the idea come from and how did that come together?

Pao: “The entire album was really based around the story because it was the freshman year of this high school story, and then our 2021 LP ‘Dear Lemon House, You Ruined Me’ was senior year. So it was really important to have all these facts that have been presented from 2021 up until now. We have things we need to tie up or refer back to; there are things we cannot contradict. The story was at the forefront of the writing, and it’s really just about the character, Taylor, and their contributions and their part in the story. I’ll just put it that way. It’s the origin story, essentially. 

Peter: “Yeah, so we talk about Jamie on ‘Dear Lemon House…’, we talk about Morgan on the 2024 EP ‘The 3 Faces Of Beauty’. And I talk about Casey on the 2024 EP ‘A Second Chance At Forever’. So this final piece, this fourth main character, Taylor, is the big question mark this whole time. We referenced Taylor on the first track of ‘Dear Lemon House…’, so we’ve sort of been ‘clueing’ about this character, that this character has been behind a lot of the plot for a long time and it’s finally coming out now. It’s always been about Jamie and Taylor’s just over there, but you’re gonna see that this whole time, Taylor was so fucking important to the entire story.”

What does this mean for future Kaonashi albums? Are they already mapped out?

Peter: “It’s over with. That is the end of it. I mean, there are things I want to talk about in other formats, but as far as writing an album about it, there will not be another. That’s the completion of the story. I mean, there will be another Kaonashi album on other things, but ‘Lemon House…’? It’s just these five parts.”

What does the rest of the year hold for you? Obviously you're on tour now — are you pretty stacked through to 2026?

Peter: “Up to December this year, we are booked solid. As far as next year, there’s nothing planned right now, but it will be. It always shows up, you know what I mean? But it’s really just about reinforcing this album. I want to push it like a real campaign. So we’re coming to the UK and Europe immediately after this US run, and we’re doing a Puerto Rico run in September, and we’re doing another full US run in September and October. There’s the Coheed cruise in November, too.” 

And with this upcoming UK stint, is there anywhere in particular you’re excited to play?

Peter: “We’re doing 2000trees, which we’ve never done. I’m just looking at the flyer getting so excited. We did Arctangent last year, which is by the same people, and that was amazing. We’ve been going to Brighton since we first started going to the UK, I think. I love it — Club Revenge down there and hitting the boardwalk.”

Kaonashi’s ‘I Want To Go Home.’ is out now through Equal Vision.

Kaonashi Upcoming Tour Dates are as follows:

Mon July 07 2025 - BRIGHTON Prince Albert
Tue July 08 2025 - LONDON Shacklewell Arms
Sun July 13 2025 - EXETER Cavern Club

Compare & Buy Kaonashi Tickets at Stereoboard.com.

Related News