VAMPS

Vamps is a project of Hyde, the vocalist of the visual kei stars L'Arc-en-Ciel, and guitarist K.A.Z., mastermind of the industrial/alternative rock unit Oblivion Dust. K.A.Z. and Hyde had collaborated since 2003, and in 2006 K.A.Z. co-wrote Hyde's third solo album, Faith, but it was only in 2008 that they finally made their musical relationship official, announcing the creation of Vamps, which was to be recorded on its own label Vamprose. L'Arc-en-Ciel scheduled a three-year hiatus, while Oblivion Dust was meant to go on with K.A.Z. splitting his time between the two bands. Vamps debuted in 2008 with the single "Love Addict," followed by a Japan-wide "Zepp" tour of 46 stops and two more singles in 2009, paving the way for the band's self-titled album in 2009. ~ Alexey Eremenko