It is now 5 weeks to go until we get to invade the fields of Castle Donnington again, rock out to a whole host of rock and metal music in a field, and get drunk with friends. To celebrate the countdown to one of the UK’s biggest rock festivals I have decided to highlight a number of smaller or less well known bands that you may have missed on the line-up.
I know, it’s becoming scarily close to the party, and Vamps (JPN) are bringing the party on the Saturday. Vamps (JPN) are made up of just two individuals, K.A.Z. and Hyde, and both are as out of this world as their names suggest. In fact, Vamps (JPN) is a side project of Hyde, the leader singer of the incredibly popular Japanese band L’Arc-en-Ciel, who complements K.A.Z, guitarist for Oblivion Dust’s musical ability fantastically. The side-project was actually a way for these two to try and tap into the American and British markets a bit more. They realised that Japanese speaking bands don’t necessarily make it big in the foreign, and arguably bigger, markets, so rebranded themselves a bit for the new project. It has worked perfectly, and the music that they’ve been producing is ready to create a party wherever they are.
It is riff central when it comes to these two, and the tracks they produce are incredibly infectious and continues to make you beg for more and more. Their sound stems from something catchy, a tune that sticks in your mind, something Japanese music misses quite a lot of time. The likes of Dir En Grey and Cinema Staff for example can often forget the melodic side of things, or the chorus’ in favour of other directions. Vamps (JPN) on the other hand are all about the catchy riffs and the infectious beats. These tracks are going to stick in your head for days upon days.
Their first full length release came in the form of ‘Sex Blood Rock’N Roll’, and serves to show exactly the sort of music that Vamps (JPN) are all about. There are some serious stand-out tracks on this album. ‘Revolution II’ is a party starter. The chants of ‘Bang on stomp everybody’ is going to get everyone jumping and the whole tent moving when they hit Download in just a few short weeks. It is also the first track to properly introduce the electronic hints in their tracks. ‘Angel Trips’ is certainly one of the best tracks on the entire album, pulling together pretty much all the angles that they’re going for, the infectious rifts, the memorable melodies, and wraps them into an incredibly tight and impressive track. This year they teased everyone to a brand new and incredibly impressive single in ‘World’s End’ which gives us all a taste of what they have to show us in the future. It is, overall, a more refined release, and works out the little kinks that they still have to work on.
Vamps (JPN) are certainly going to bring the party atmosphere to the Pepsi Max Stage this year. They have started to build a reputation for incredible live shows, but with a limited set time, one must wonder how much of a stage show they’ll be able to bring with them. Realistically they’ll have to rely on their music for the set to work, and if they’re able to pull it off without a hitch then it’ll be a goosebump creating set to say the least. I can see these two being some of the best hidden gems this weekend.
Release to own: ‘Sex Blood Rock’N Roll’
Tracks to listen to: ‘Angel Trips’, ‘Revolution II’, ‘World’s End’
You can catch Vamps (JPN) on the Pepsi Max Stage at this year’s Download Festival, Saturday 14 June 2014.
