Japan’s VAMPS To Release Bloodsuckers Album In March; On Tour With SIXX:A.M. In April
February 19, 2015, 9 years ago
Vamps, the Japanese rock band formed by and featuring Hyde (L'Arc~en~Ciel) and K.A.Z (Oblivion Dust), will release a new studio album, Bloodsuckers, through Spinefarm Records on March 24th. The pre-order is here.
This 13-track release, produced by Vamps and Josh Wilbur (whose previous credits include Gojira and Lamb of God) and housed in the artwork of mysterious Japanese artist Rockin' Jelly Bean, is the follow-up to Sex Blood Rock N' Roll, released in 2013.
Songs on Bloodsuckers include "World's End," a UK single in 2014, and used in the Sony campaign for the Xperia UK mobile), "Get Away," "Replay," "The Jolly Roger," and "Vampire's Love," which is not just a Top 3 single in Japan but also the song selected to launch Hollywood blockbuster, Dracula Untold, in that market.
In addition, "Replay" was the theme song of Dark Labyrinth, one in a series of a world-famous smartphone apps from Dark Summoner; the app has been downloaded over six million times. "The Jolly Roger" features in the TV commercial for Nissan's X-Trail SUV. It's no surprise then that the album has already been a Top 5 success in Japan.
Says Hyde, who launched Vamps with K.A.Z in 2008, "Bloodsuckers is a record that we spent almost one year putting together. For me, this is the best work we've done so far, and we would love to tour around the world with these songs."
Bloodsuckers sees Vamps pushing their take on contemporary hard rock to exotic new heights, blending melody and message over 50 minutes of dramatic, impassioned music.
"Our aim was to build on the excitement of our headline show at Koko in London last year, and of course our appearance at the Download Festival in the UK," explained Hyde.
Bloodsuckers tracklisting:
“Reincarnation”“Zero”
“Lips”
“World's End”
“Evil”
“Ghost”
“Vampire's Love”
“Damned”
“Get Away”
“Replay”
On the live front, Vamps have played over 300 dates around the world in the past five years, including shows in North America; they have also visited the South American continent, where their second album, Beast (2010), charted in the Top 4 - a unique achievement for a Japanese act. Most recently, they completed a run of dates in Japan (33 shows to 65,000 people), climaxing with a worldwide webcast of their Zepp Tokyo show on January 25th.
Next, on February 18th and 19th, Vamps will be hosting and headlining their own festival, Vampark Fest, set to take place at the legendary Nippon Budokan in Tokyo; the bill will be completed by special guests Sixx:A.M., plus Buckcherry, Gerard Way and Nothing More.
Outside of Japan, Vamps will tour the US with Sixx:A.M. in April; this major run of dates - which also features Finland's Apocalyptica - kicks off in in San Francisco on April 8th at The Regency Ballroom.
Says Nikki Sixx of Sixx:A.M, "Sixx:A.M. just played our first Japanese show ever with Vamps in Tokyo at Budokan. They really gave us our first opportunity to play in front of so many rock fans in Japan. We now want to extend the same for them by bringing them out on tour with us. We can't wait for our fans to discover them all across the US."
Tour dates:
April
10 - Las Vegas, NV - The Joint (with Sixx:A.M.)
11 - Los Angeles, CA - Club Nokia (with Sixx:A.M.)
13 - Denver, CO - Ogden Theatre (with Sixx:A.M.)
14 - Kansas City, MO - Midland Theatre (with Sixx:A.M.)
16 - Houston, TX - Warehouse Live (with Sixx:A.M.)
17 - Dallas, TX - Bomb Factory (with Sixx:A.M.)
19 - Minneapolis, MN - Mill City Nights (with Sixx:A.M.)
20 - Chicago, IL - The Vic Theater (with Sixx:A.M.)
21 - Detroit, MI - Royal Oak Music Theatre (with Sixx:A.M.)
25 - Ft. Myers, FL - Ft. Rock Festival
26 - Jacksonville, FL - Welcome to Rockville
28 - Philadelphia, PA - Electric Factory (with Sixx:A.M.)
29 - Silver Springs, MD - The Fillmore (with Sixx:A.M.)
May
15-17 - Columbus, OH - Rock On The Range
