KURO Talk New EP, Single And More

Sep 11, 2025 | Interviews

Words by Glenn Sargeant

Feature Image Photo Credit: Supplied By San PR

Impressible Scottish alt-metallers KURO unleash a vicious new sound: filthy riffs, hammering beats, and an electrifying electronic edge that hits as hard as it hooks. Their engrossing new EP, Circling The Drain, lands Friday 3rd October 2025 ,preceded by the stomping new single and video, ‘No Exit’, out now. We chatted to the band:

Who is in KURO, how did you meet and what do you play?

Hey! KURO is comprised of four misfits that all met within Glasgow, it started between K (vocals, synths) and J.B (bass) who met in another band but out of frustration for it’s inactivity decided to get together and start jamming, later on the outfit was joined by J.B’s long time friend Ruffy whom we didn’t know actually played drums (drums) and from there a hard-hitting live sound was born only to be completed by Robbie’s (Guitars) joining of the band. Which leads you to the 4-piece alt-metaller fit you see today.

What is your earliest musical memory?

Ruffy – Watching my dad’s friends family playing Scottish folk music with his 8 children in pubs and festivals in the early 90s shortly after that making my own drumkit at like 9yrs old out of plastic tubs. Listening to Peppers Lonely Hearts Club band at around 9yrs old. My grandfather and uncle were also drummers, music was always in the family, my mum and dad used to play records everyday when I was growing up.

J.B -Earliest child hood memories of music probably stuff like Tina Turner and Bryan Ferry and The Eurythmics, my parents love all that 80’s stuff.

Robbie – As a young kid I insisted on listening to The King of Rock n Roll by Prefab Sprout every bath time. I called it the hot dog song.

K – As cheesy as it sounds, hearing Demon Days by Gorillaz at about 5 years old, hearing music have so much depth really got me transfixed.

When did you begin songwriting?

K – The early KURO demos go back to maybe when I was 16-17 living in a small town with a guitar, synth and drum machine – where I felt misunderstood and angry at my isolation. Some of these became the basis for when J.B and I started playing together, however what we stood for then was only the beginning of the transformation to what we stand for now.

You have your new EP ‘Circling The Drain’ released on Friday 3rd October 2025. How did you want to approach the making of the EP?

We wanted to approach Circling The Drain having taken everything we’d previously done and using it as a launching point to get to where we wanted to now. If you heard Social Venality then think of that as the beginning of the transformation to the sound we wanted to achieve now, and if you liked that then we think you’re going to LOVE this.

Where did you record the EP and who produced it?

We got real DIY with this one, recording all the parts amongst ourselves, the amazing thing about music technology is how it gives so much power to independent artists to be able to have control over their sound. Once we’d all worked to record and arrange we had Pieter Rietkerk step in to work his magic on production and when the final mixes and masters came around we had that intense In-Your-Face sound we have for this record.

Do you have any interesting, funny or memorable stories from the recording sessions?

Ruffy blasting out the most intense drum beat and swearing at the top of his lungs whilst doing it. Having it sound absolutely insane but then having him want to repeat it all again, swearing and all, because he thought he could do it better (and the results were always amazing)

Did you use any particular instruments, microphones, recording equipment to help you get a particular sound/tone for the record?

Having a drum kit, guitar, bass guitar and vocal microphone really helped to create this. Gear wise though we heavily used a lot of synthesizers and samplers to achieve our more electronic edge throughout the songs. For example Ruffy utilises Roland samplers that work in with his playing and Robbie uses a Neural Quad Cortex for the ease of high-gain tones that can quickly shift to creating eerie background textures. K uses a lot of Roland modulators for vocal effects and J.B. uses just some heavy distortion pedals to crank up the high gain bass tone.

Which of your new EP tracks hear you at your a) happiest, b) angriest and c) most reflective?

If you want happy bright music then this might not be the record for you. If you want angriest then tracks 1-5 will get you going. Reflective wise, Closing In and No Exit were ones that came from particularly vulnerable moments.

Was it a difficult EP to write?

Circling The Drain maybe wasn’t so much a hard record to write as it was a journey, it started out as a collection of riffs, textures and lyrics and from there we spent the time forming them into structured songs and the initial ideas we had evolved and so did our direction over time. What started as a collection of heavy riffs turned into a reflection on surviving, vulnerability and disillusionment throughout the songs.

Who designed the EP artwork?

Ruffy actually created the artwork in an abandoned nuclear bunker utilising a friend’s hand, a cigarette and some red lighting. He’s a killer photographer and so was able to create this intense visual using just a few available elements. The results are killer!

You have released the single ‘No Exit’. What was the story/inspiration behind the track?

No Exit is about the difficulty of trying to thrive in a world that feels volatile, where the odds are forever stacked against you and that you’ll never succeed. It’s about finding what you love (for example, art) and letting it kill you, but also about the frustration at trying to survive with it. Something we think many artists relate to.

The single is accompanied by an official music video. What was the thought process behind the video and who directed it?

We’ve been friends with Loki Films for a long time and so when the chance came to do a music video with him we leapt at it! During our location search we by change came across a nuclear bunker with the people renovating it being surprisingly keen to have us film our video in there. From there it wrote itself, huge winding corridors, decaying machinery and a sign that said NO EXIT. All we had to do was look badass and the location did the rest.

Where is your hometown and could you please describe it in five words?

Our hometown is Glasgow and if we had five words to describe it, it would be…

Gritty, industrial, grey, diverse, energetic.

How do you look after your voices?

K- I can’t speak for the rest of the band, but for myself lots of tea, honey, warm drinks and also using Vocal-Zones before going on stage. I’m very loud and push myself a lot on stage but I’m painfully aware that the voice has to be looked after 24/7

Do you have any live dates planned in the UK/Europe in 2025/2026?

From early September we’ll be on the road for the northern dates with Genitorturers (03/09 Newcastle, 04/09 Glasgow) before we have our big Glasgow headliner on 13/09. Then we hit the UK on a co-headliner tour (Manchester 02/10, Sheffield 03/10, London 04/10, Nottingham 05/10) before November we hit Helsinki for Helsinki Industrial Festival (06/11)

What two things do you hope to have achieved once you have left the stage?

An encore, and connecting with everyone who came to see us perform after the show.

Do you have any favoured stage instruments, effects, pedals, microphones etc?

K – A wireless vocal microphone is all I need here…

Robbie – Moving over to a Neural DSP Quad Cortex completely changed the game for me. It sounds top tier and as much as I love my old Peavey 5150, traveling around with that thing sucked. Load ins and changeovers have never been easier.

Ruffy – Im a kinda basic ” tech ” “guy when it comes to playing drums. As long as I have some heavy duty cymbals (paiste) and a solid sounding kit I’m happy. However for me as a hard hitter I need gear that is going to be durable for sure. I am due an upgrade on my pedal so I’ve been looking at some new pearl demon drives as they look sick..

J.B – That’s a tech question so the answer is no favourite stage instrument would probably be….. The Bass Guitar!

You are given the opportunity to write the score for a film adaptation of a novel that you enjoy. Which novel is it and why?

Robbie – Not going to lie, it’s been forever since I read a novel. I’ll need to ponder that one, unless someone else has a shout.

J.B – I’ve never read a novel in my life – If there’s a movie adaptation then I’ll watch that instead saves a lot of time.

K- Well looks like it’s me answering then… If I might be controversial I’d say the Dune Soundtrack, reckon we could give Hans Zimmer a run for his money!

Who are some of your musical influences? Do you have any recommendations?

The great thing about this band is that everyone’s brought their own unique influences to the table, K has brought his love for bands like The Prodigy and Nine Inch Nails, Robbie the edge of classic nu metal bands like Limp Bizkit and Norma Jean, J.B a touch of classic rock like Sister with an undertone of more Black Metal and Ruffy his more brutal taste in music from bands like Lorna Shore.

What makes Kuro happy and what makes you unhappy?

Playing shows 🙂 Not playing shows 🙁