is a

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

group (formerly duo) led by EXO-CHIKA (vocals/lyrics) and RAVEMAN (music) from

Tokyo, Japan Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

History

EXO-CHIKA and RAVEMAN met at

high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...

, where they experimented with writing songs. They recorded several tapes together, eventually performing as a duo alongside their friends'

hardcore Hardcore, hard core or hard-core may refer to: Arts and media Film * ''Hardcore'' (1977 film), a British comedy film * ''Hardcore'' (1979 film), an American crime drama film starring George C Scott * ''Hardcore'' (2001 film), a British documen ...

band. After this first performance, they began to perform live shows and record tapes under the name ''Aural Vampire''. Aural Vampire released an indie album '' Vampire Ecstasy'' in 2004 and a single called ''Death Folder'' in 2005 that was made available to download online. In 2008, the band announced they had been signed to the label

Avex Trax is a record label owned by Japanese entertainment conglomerate Avex Inc. The label was launched in September 1990, and was the first label by the Group. History Two years after Max Matsuura began a career distributing studio albums from othe ...

and, at the end of the year, they released a set of three self-titled EPs on

iTunes iTunes is a media player, media library, and mobile device management (MDM) utility developed by Apple. It is used to purchase, play, download and organize digital multimedia on personal computers running the macOS and Windows operating s ...

. Their second album '' Zoltank'' was released on May 5, 2010. In 2008 and 2010, Aural Vampire made musical appearances at the annual

Anime Matsuri Anime Matsuri is an annual four-day anime convention traditionally held during spring at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston, Texas. The convention's name comes from the Japanese word 'matsuri' meaning festival. Programming The c ...

in Houston,

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

. In 2009, Aural Vampire made a musical appearance at Katsucon 15, as well as at AnimagiC in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. Aural Vampire toured

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

in 2010 as a support act for the Canadian band

The Birthday Massacre The Birthday Massacre (abbreviated TBM) is a Canadian rock music, rock band formed in 1999 in London, Ontario and currently based in Toronto. The current lineup consists of lead vocalist Sara 'Chibi' Taylor, rhythm guitarist Michael Rainbow, lea ...

, making musical appearances at

Anime Central Anime Central (ACen) is an annual three-day anime convention held during May at the Hyatt Regency O'Hare & Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, Illinois. The convention is organized by the Midwest Animation Promotion Society (MAPS) ...

and Convencion de Juegos de Mesa y Comics. Aural Vampire released an EP, Kerguelen Vortex, on November 18, 2011. EXO-CHIKA has made a guest appearance in the

visual kei , abbreviated , is a category of Japanese musicians that have a strong focus on extravagant stage costumes that originated in Japan during the early 1980s. Koji Dejima of '' Bounce'' wrote that visual kei is not a specific sound, but rather it " ...

band AND -Eccentric Agent-'s promotional video for the song LIBERATE. Aural Vampire created and performed a song for the video game Let It Die.

Members

;2004-present *EXO-CHIKA (エキゾチカ) - Vocals, Lyrics *RAVEMAN (レイブマン) - Total Sound Master ;2012-present *Wu-CHY - Bass *Higuchuuhei (ヒグチユーヘイ) - Guitar *ZEN - Keyboard *IZU - Drums

Discography

;Album studio *'' Vampire Ecstasy'' (2004) *''Zoltank'' (2010) *'' Razors on Backstreet'' (2014) *''MIMIC YOUR HAIRSTYLE'' (2015) ;EP *'' Death Folder'' (2005) *''Aural Vampire'' (2008) *''Kerguelen Vortex'' (2011) *''Ninja vs Amazones'' (2018) *''WANI'' (2023) ;Singles *''BOSS ON PARADE (Aural Vampire's BLAST-O-MATIC)'' (With Dj Technorch, 2007) *''Blood (Feat. EXO-CHIKA)'' (With BLOOD, 2008) *''Freeeze!'' (2009) *'' Soloween'' (2012) *''Mainazuma 13'' (With Dj Technorch, 2017) *''Bloodline 血統 2091'' (By Megahit feat. Aural Vampire, 2021) ;Other works RAVEMAN composed most of the tracks in the album: "code:Real" (2023) by the trio "QueeenMarionette".

References

External links

*
2009 InterviewJ-Pop World Interview

Aural Vampire artist database+ at musicJAPAN+
{{Authority control Gan-Shin artists Japanese electronic music groups Japanese electropop groups Japanese dark wave musical groups Musical groups established in 2004 Musical groups from Tokyo