Nocturnal Bloodlust (Koneko, issue May/June)
Metal meets Visual Kei - nothing unusual by itself, but it seems like there's something fascinating about the Japanese band Nocturnal Bloodlust that has numerous fans want to visit their concerts.
Nocturnal Bloodlust isn't an easy name for Japanese fans. They pronounce it like "Nokutanaru Buraddorasuto". But since this proves to be really long, they shortened it to "Nokubura", a word that you'll definitely come across if you'll search for information on them. Some of their members have already been together since 2009. In September 2009, singer Hiro, guitarists Junpei and Cazqui, bassist Masa and drummer Gaku started as a band and had their first appearance on stage as the Death Core Metal band Nocturnal Bloodlust just one month later.
If you look at the pictures from this time you'll have to look twice! Even though their music style didn't change much during the last few years, there's something conspicuous about the band's looks. Nocturnal Bloodlust started as a Metal band where looks nor costumes differed from other Japanese or western Metal bands. But this changed drastically after two years. When Junpei and Gaku left in 2011, not only did the members change, but all of Nocturnal Bloodlust did too. It didn't take long to find someone to fill the empty space that Gaku left: drummer Natsu had already been in a band with some of the members during their time in school and so he already knew what he'd be getting himself into. With Natsu joining the band, something else changed fundamentally as well: The whole band switched from a Death Core Metal band to a Visual Kei band. More make-up, fancy hairstyles and extravagant costumes brought about a 180° turn to the band. Nocturnal Bloodlust now shared the stage with other Visual Kei bands, met their fans on special events called instores in Visual Kei shops and focused their promotion and sales strategies on the Visual Kei scene.
Their first mini-album 'Ivy' was released back in February 2012, and three months later they released their first official single 'Bury me'. Despite them not having the appearance of a typical metal band anymore, that didn't change anything about their music. Hard and fast beats apply to their songs now as much as they did back then - there's no time to relax during their concerts. Even so, the band still also creates songs in which they connect metal with melodic sounds. Hiro often uses his voice to growl and scream, but clear vocals are also almost always part of their songs. Their first single "Bury me" already showed the direction in which the band was moving in. An interesting fact is that most of their lyrics are written in English. 'Bury me' for example was completely written in English, which comes as no surprise given that both Hiro and Masa had lived in America during their time in school and university.
In the beginning of 2013 the up until now last line-up change came. A new guitarist joined their band and they were back to being five members. The new member was called 'Daichi' and brought with him some fans from his previous band 'World in the Silence' to Nocturnal Bloodlust's concerts.
In May 2013 they finally released their first album to Japanese stores with more than ten songs on it. With this release entitled 'Grimoire', the five members showed their talent and combined heavy rhythms with fast paced songs. 'Pandemic', for example, is kind of slow, while 'Empty Glass' and 'Disaster' invite listeners to headbang. There are also some ear-thrilling guitar solos on the CD. 'Domestic Crisis' for example is one of those songs where the members push their instruments to their limits.
Although hard beats are Nocturnal Bloodlust's speciality, one shouldn't neglect their ballads. With songs like 'Aster', the band showed its calmer side. A touching melody and sonorous vocals which Hiro is able to sing despite his constant growling will surely surprise new listeners.
Around this time, Nocturnal Bloodlust started to work with the artist KAgaMI. She has been drawing their CD covers since 2013 and created an unmistakable design for the band. Her work shows humans or other beings in 'fantasy-like'-style. Quite noteable are her love for details and the creepy and dark atmospheres she aims to portray in her works. The design for t-shirts and other merchandise is also created by KAgaMI and matches the cover works.
In December 2014, Nocturnal Bloodlust released their next album 'THE OMNIGOD' which included a total of 13 songs. One and a half years later, their next CD 'ZeTes' hit the stores. This mini-album did not only include six new songs, but also an instrumental version and new recordings of their old songs 'Rebellion' and 'A bullet of skyline'. Fans were now able to see the changes Nocturnal Bloodlust went through during the last four years based on those two songs. But 'ZeTeS' is not their newest release you'll be able to find in CD shops. In March 2017 they released a 'Best of' album, in which they collected 22 songs from all of their former releases - from 2009 until today.
German (European) fans could already experience some of those 22 songs live as the band conquered stages outside of Japan as well. Their first concert abroad was in May 2016 in China, but this was only the first step out of many, because in July, they toured Europe with their tour called 'DEIMOS'. They held concerts in seven different countries before going back to Japan. They already announced another tour in Asia for April 2017.
They gained a lot of attention from fans abroad because of an interesting cover they previously released. In November 2015, fans could get their hands on a special CD during their concert at TSYTAYA O-EAST in Shibuya, Tokyo. Nocturnal Bloodlust covered 'We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together' from Taylor Swift. An exciting experiment seeing as they stayed faithful to their original musical genre and recorded a Metal version of the said song. Nocturnal Bloodlust will most likely surprise you because of their long-lasting activity - whether with announcements for concerts abroad or with cover songs from Taylor Swift. We can't wait for what the members will have in store next!
Translated by Midori Yoma