Keisuke Fukawa

Keisuke Fukawa
Fukawa performing with Sonic Flower in 2007.
Background information
Birth Name	Keisuke Fukawa
Occupation	Musician
Genres	Death Metal, Grindcore, Hardcore Punk, Crust, Speed Metal, Psychedelic Rock
Instrument(s)	Drums
Years active	1992 - Present
Labels	Leaf Hound Records, Heavy Psych Sounds, DiwPhalanx Records, Metal Blade Records, High Society Satanic
Associated acts	Sonic Flower, Desperate Corruption, Defiled, Slogg, Bleed For Pain, G.A.T.E.S.

Keisuke Fukawa is a drummer based out of Japan. Starting his career performing with hardcore and brutal death metal bands, he is best known as a founding member of the speed metal band G.A.T.E.S. and the psychedelic rock band Sonic Flower.

History

Fukawa's earliest known band he would perform with would be the brutal death metal band Desperate Corruption, active from 1992 - 1999 and releasing three Split 7" releases among three demos. Fukawa would also perform with the short-lived death/thrash band Slogg and the death metal band Defiled. He'd also perform briefly with the hardcore band Bleed For Pain.

Fukawa would found two bands with Church of Misery bassist Tatsu Mikami: The satanic speed metal band G.A.T.E.S. (God Admires The Evil Soul) and the instrumental psychedelic band Sonic Flower.

Fukawa, along with Tatsu Mikami (Church of Misery, Sonic Flower), Yoshiaki Negishi (Coffins, Church of Misery, Assault) and Masayasu Futatsugi (Life, Antiauthorize), would found G.A.T.E.S. (God Admires The Evil Soul) sometime in 1999 initially as a side project. The band's sound would be a mix of punk and speed metal influenced by the likes of Motörhead, Venom and Celtic Frost, with lyrics heavily themed on death, occultism and satanism. After a few years of the respective members being busy with other projects, G.A.T.E.S. would perform their debut gig at Kichiyouji WARP on 16 March 2002. The band would work on their first demo and a split album in 2002, eventually releasing DEMONlition 1 and a split album with Metal Skull (Total High Society Satanic Rocks) in the Fall of 2003 following a gig on 12 October. Both of these releases would be comprised as a compilation known as Total Death, released on 21 January 2005 via DiwPhalanx Records. Fukawa would leave the band around 2005.

Sonic Flower began roughly around 2000 as a side project involving members of Church of Misery among other bands in the local Japan area at the time. The band would eventually release their self-titled album in the Spring of 2003 via Leaf Hound Records. The band would perform their debut gig on 28 June 2003, followed by a gig in 2004 in Nagoya, Japan. The band also performed as support to Acid King on two dates of their Japan tour. The band also had a second album in the works at the time though it was never released. Sonic Flower's last known performance to date was in November 2007 supporting Electric Wizard. The band was also intended to open for The Hidden Hand but that respective band dissolved before their Japan tour with Church of Misery.

On 26 February 2019 Tatsu Mikami would state "Sonic Flower rides again!" and announce a second album in the works along with a new lineup, including original Church of Misery singer Kazuhiro Asaeda. The forthcoming album is slated to have seven original songs along with a Savoy Brown cover. On 4 November 2020 it would be announced that Sonic Flower had signed with Heavy Psych Sounds. Along with planning this new studio album for 2021, the label would re-issue the self-titled debut in 2021 along with a previously unreleased album in Rides Again, recorded and shelved in 2005 and featuring covers of Graham Central Station and The Meters. Fukawa would leave the band once again in 2021.

Fukawa would also play drums on the debut studio album for Skull Pit, a thrash metal side project featuring Tatsu Mikami, Mem Von Stein (Exumer, Of Rites, Sun Descends) and and Taichi Futo (Varam, Cemment). This eponymous debut album would be released on 16 November 2018.

Bands

• Desperate Corruption - Drums (1992 - 1999)
• Defiled - Drums (1995)
• Slogg - Drums (1997 - 1999)
• G.A.T.E.S. - Drums (1999 - 2005)
• Bleed For Pain - Drums (Unknown Time Period)
• Sonic Flower - Drums (2000 - 2007, 2019 - 2021)

Selected Discography

• Desperate Corruption - Promo 93 (Demo) (1993, Self-Released)
• Desperate Corruption - Deadly Spawn (Demo) (1994, Self-Released)
• Desperate Corruption - Insatiable Mass (Demo) (1995, Self-Released)
• Desperate Corruption - Enemy Soil / Shapeless (Split with Enemy Soil) (1996, Bovine Records)
• Desperate Corruption - Disgust / Desperate Corruption (Split with Disgust) (1996, Self-Released)
• Desperate Corruption - Incomplete Effect / In Apocalypse...Now We Reborn (Split with Massground) (1997, Bloodbath)
• Slogg - Slogg (Demo) (1998, Self-Released)
• Sonic Flower - Sonic Flower (Studio Album) (2003, Leaf Hound Records; 2021, Heavy Psych Sounds)
• G.A.T.E.S. - DEMONlition 1 (Demo) (2003, Self-Released)
• G.A.T.E.S. - Total High Society Satanic Rocks (Split with Metal Skull) (2003, High Society Satanic)
• G.A.T.E.S. - Nuclear Hell / Black Plague (Split with Disclose) (2005, Dan-Doh Records)
• G.A.T.E.S. - Total Death (Compilation) (2005, DiwPhalanx Records)
• Skull Pit - Skull Pit (Studio Album) (2018, Metal Blade Records)
• Sonic Flower - Rides Again (2021, Heavy Psych Sounds)

External Links

• Discogs