BALZAC

Balzac is a Japanese horror punk band formed in 1992. They are considered by some to be the Japanese counterparts to the American horror band The Misfits. The first line-up consisted of Hirosuke on voca

Balzac is a Japanese horror punk band formed in 1992. They are considered by some to be the Japanese counterparts to the American horror band The Misfits. The first line-up consisted of Hirosuke on vocals, Anti on bass, Tetsuya on guitar and Naoki on drums. Their first release was a demo tape called Scapegoat 666, and included six songs, one of them being a cover of the The Misfits song Where Eagles Dare. By the release of their second demo Descent Of The Diabolos (relesed 1993), the band had two new members: guitarist Atsushi and drummer Kohji. The band would feature on some various artists copilations and release a couple of more demos before releasing their debut album The Last Men On Earth in 1995. In 1997 the band featured Hirosuke (vocals), Atsushi (guitar), and new member Akio (bass). This line-up relesed the album Deep - Teenagers From Outer Space. They soon got a new drummer called Kill, to fill the void. The band would release three more albums before Kill would leave the band: 13 Stairway - The Children Of The Night (1998), Zennou-Naru Musuu-No Me Ha Shi Wo Yubi Sasu (2000), and Terrifying - Art Of Dying/The Last Men On Earth II (2002). The last one features seven new songs, plus a new recording of the bands first album. In 2002 they also relased a split single with The Misfits. Since then Balzac often is the show openers on The Misfits concerts. When Kill quit the band later that year, he was replaced by Takayuki. In 2003 Balzac released their first American relase with the compilation Beyond The Darkness on Rykodisc/Misfits Records. It featured the new single Beware Of Darkness. In 2004 Came Out Of The Grave was released, and in 2005 Dark-Ism. In America the two albums were relased on one CD, called Out Of The Grave And Into The Dark, and came along with a DVD.

The band has promoted clothing brands Shocker and Dementia 13, and distributes clothing and accessories such as gloves, bags, and jackets which are inspired by the band's horror imagery. The band also distributes several Balzac-themed toys and posters.