The History of Nocturnal Bloodlust
Whether you’ve been following Nocturnal Bloodlust since the very beginning or just recently joined the Nokubura family, I’m sure there was a time where you wondered how Nocturnal Bloodlust came to be and where it all started. I’m right, aren’t I? Well, in that case, I’ve done a bit of research online and decided to summarize my findings for you.
The group was officially formed in October 2009. In this month, NOCTURNAL BLOODLUST (also known as Nokubura, fully pronounced as nokutānaru buradorasuto in Japanese) held their first ever live performance at Shinjuku Antiknock. Back then, the band consisted of the ex. Bardiche-members Cazqui (guitar), Junpei (guitar) and Masa (bass), who, after the disbandment of the said band, decided to create a new one – a band with which they could establish themselves more in the Hardcore and Metalcore scene. While Cazqui and Masa have known each other and have been friends since school, Hiro, who at that time just came back from his five years of studying English abroad at a university in Seattle (where he also was the singer of the band Point Blank Range), was introduced to the band by Cazqui, who himself only got to know Hiro at the beginning of 2009. In mid-September 2009, drummer Gaku officially joined the band and the quintet was complete.
After about a year and a half of being a hardcore/metalcore band, the boys decided to switch to the Visual Kei scene. Up until that time, Nocturnal Bloodlust have officially released two singles: “voices of the apocalypse -virtues-“ (release: 30.1.2011) and “voices of the apocalypse -sins-“ (release: 30.1.2011).
In May 2011, both Junpei and Gaku decide to leave the band and it is only in the end of June of the same year that Natsu became the band’s official new drummer. In an interview in 2012, Cazqui furthermore revealed that Natsu, Masa and him have known each other since vocational school (the same school I mentioned above).
On the 1st February 2012, the band, now only consisting of four members, released their first mini album entitled “Ivy” which was followed by a new single (available both as a regular as well as a limited edition), “Bury me” (release: 30.5.2012) as well as a music video of the same name. But that was by far not all for the year, as shortly after in September, the band released a new single “Last relapse” (release: 19.9.2012) which was yet again followed by a music video of the same title.
The last single Nocturnal Bloodlust released as a quartet was “Obligation” (release: 16.12.2012) before Daichi, their new guitarist, joined the band on the 8th January 2013. “Obligation” didn’t come with an MV, but with a lyrics video that was released prior to the single on the 13th November 2012 instead. Three months later, the now 5-member band released their very first digital-limited single “UNBREAKABLE” (release: 12.2.2013) followed by a lyrics video which was only uploaded onto their official Youtube channel on the 28th February 2013.
May 2013 was truly an exciting month for the members since it marked the first time they ever released a full length album entitled “GRIMOIRE” (release: 29.5.2013, available both as a regular as well as a limited edition) that featured already known tracks such as Last Relapse, Disaster, UNBREAKABLE, Obligation, Lost Memory, Bury Me, Pleasure of Torture and A Day To Re:member, and also new tracks such as Pandemic, Empty Glass and Sphere to name a few, with the latter having been turned into a music video as well (release: 3.6.2013).
On the 30th October 2013, Nocturnal Bloodlust released their second mini album “OMEGA” that featured V.I.P, a track that was to become the nr.1 most played track at encores or generally at the end of their performances. The video to this song is the only one that they haven’t uploaded on their official Youtube channel (yet) for unknown reasons, but they did upload a live performance of the song which was taken from their tour final on the 19th December 2014 at Ebisu LIQUID ROOM. After only about a month, they released a new single entitled “Triangle Carnage” (release: 7.12.2013) which featured only two tracks.
Now, after so many singles and (mini) albums, it was high time for something new. This being said, Nocturnal Bloodlust’s first ever live DVD featuring their full length performance, their tour final of “GEARS OF OMEGA” at DAIKANYAMA UNIT on the 7th December 2013, was released on the 19th March 2014. You can see the teaser here.
March, April and May 2014 were also quite some interesting months for our five boys, seeing as these were the months they released their three consecutive singles, first up being “Strike in Fact” (release: 26.3.2014), which was followed by “DESPERATE” (release: 30.4.2014) and then “Libra” (release: 28.5.2014). All three singles were accompanied by music videos of the same name as the single titles. For Strike in Fact, press here; for DESPERATE press here and for Libra press here.
After this, Nocturnal Bloodlust had a long production stop that lasted till the 17th December 2014 where they released their second full length album “THE OMNIGOD” (available in three versions: regular, limited ed. as well as a special extreme edition that featured all 13 songs, an instrumental CD and a DVD with all previously released MVs), whose title track “GENESIS” was made into a music video.
Yet another quiet phase followed the release of this album, where Nocturnal Bloodlust was busy with tours, instore events and many interviews (e.g. SHOXX, Rock and Read, Trickster etc.). Their next release was “Juusou/銃創”, a live limited single that was sold only at their ONE MAN live at Akasaka BLITZ on the 20th June 2015 (1000 copies only!). Needless to say that it was sold out. Three days before the concert took place, the five members released their single “PROVIDENCE” (17.6.2015) with an MV of the same name. Soon after they announced the release of a new live DVD, this time featuring their whole 3-hour long performance at Akasaka BLITZ on the 20th June 2015. You can see the spot here.
Other than just being active in their own band, Cazqui and Natsu have also appeared as support members in, for example, GACKT’s MV for “ARROW” (feat. Natsu) and in Ladybaby’s MV “蓮華チャンス！／Renge Chance !” (feat. Cazqui) that was released on the 14th March 2016. Hiro equally had a guest performance in Katsuya's song "Souleater" alongside the main vocalist for the song, 久恒 (Lumber Coated Rust, Hook for It) - you can hear his unmistakable scream kick in at 2:36 and is clearly audible for about a minute after that.
On the 20th April 2016, the band released their third mini album “ZeTeS” that consisted of a total of 6 brand new, up beat tracks with a PV for "Malice against" following shortly after on the 22nd April 2016.
On the 1st May 2016, Nocturnal Bloodlust held their first ever overseas ONEMAN live in Shanghai at 浅水湾文化芸術中心2楼 q.house. And this was not the end of their overseas activities, as shortly after, namely on the 22nd May 2016 at their tour final of VANADIS at EX THEATER ROPPONGI, they announced their first ever European tour set to take place in 8 different countries:
15.7. - London, UK @Underworld
16.7. - Paris, France @La Boule Noire
17.7. - Amsterdam, Netherland @Melkweg
19.7 - Hamburg, Germany @Headcrash
20.7. - Cologne, Germany @MTC
23.7 - Budapest, Hungary @KVLT BP
24.7. - Munich, Germany @Feierwerk
26.7. - Moscow, Russia @Club Teatr (this date was added a few days later on the 24th May 2016)
27.7 - Helsinki, Finland @Nosturi (added on the 3rd June 2016)
Another goodie each fan got at the live at EX THEATER ROPPONGI was a special M-card with which you could view exclusive material (namely live videos featuring a total of 7 songs from Nokubura's live in Shanghai as well as three instrumental songs - 1. Origin of beast, 2. DEAD END intro and 3. the end of Vanadis). The seven live songs were GENESIS, T.Y.R.A.N.T, Punch me if you can, DEAD END and NG+ (as the beginning songs), and I-V-III and V.I.P as the ending ones.
The band moved on to release a best-of album on March 8th 2017 that included a total of 22 tracks on two CDs featuring two new songs "BREAK THIS FAKE" and "Calamity of Victims". Moving on, the band's next release included a digital limited single distributed on iTunes "Live to Die" whose official release was noted down as the 18th August, yet the song itself was made available to fans for download a day before already (17th August).
(last updated on the 18th August 2017)
[Disclaimer (please read): I do not claim nor can I guarantee that all information listed here is 100% correct. This is the result of research I did online as well as what I have been told or things I witnessed myself. Information (e.g. dates, history prior to and concerning the formation of NCBL....) is subject to change.]