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, who used to work with Hide of X-Japan as well. 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 recording on its own label Vamprose. L'Arc-en-Ciel scheduled a three-year hiatus, while Oblivion Dust, which ended its own six-year break in 2007, 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 first album, the eponymous record set for the release in the summer of 2009, after the end of Vamps' second live tour. ~ Alexey Eremenko, Rovi