Lovebites
Personal Intro to Todays Japanese Metal
I stumbled on their music during COVID and they quickly became an obsession as I dug deeper and deeper into their catalog. I first watched the music video for When Destinies Align and it literally wore me out by the end of it. There is so much going on in that song that by the finishing bars I was both exhausted and enthralled by what they were doing. I generally never get hooked on a band until after hours of listening, but this was an exception for me. I couldn’t focus on any one thing, there was so much amazing playing happening all over the place. Being an old school bass player, immediately I heard Haruna’s drumming laying a groove that any bass player could just fall into without any hesitation and Miho knew how to fill it. Then I realized that Asami’s vocals were so unique and clear, like nothing I’ve heard before in the heavy metal genre. When the Midori’s and Miyako’s twin leads kicked in and that was it for me. The complete package, there is something for everyone who likes heavy metal in this band.
Members
Lovebites has been around since 2016 so they have become seasoned at this point. There has been one member chanage during that time, losing Miho a founding member, who went on to be a part of Zilgy (I’m sure I’ll be posting about them in the future). Miho was replaced by Fami who I’ve heard was the most followed bass player on YouTube from Japan. I get it, she is an amazing player and you’ll see her smiling continually while performing. You can tell that she really loves being in the band.
Haruna: Founding member. Called “Little Big Engine” by fellow bandmates. One of the best drummers in rock that I’ve heard. Her control of the kick drum and the fills she does with it is over the top.
Asami: Lead vocals. She has the vocal control of a trained singer although I don’t know if that is the case or not. If not, she is even more amazing of a singer.
Miyako: Trained on piano from a very young age. You will notice a piano on their stage at times as she will play piano or keyboards during the set. Didn’t start playing guitar until late teens which makes her playing even more amazing. She is the “focused one” on stage. Generally with a more serious, concentrated look. She also creates some really interesting piano covers. See if you can guess this one without reading the title. Piano Cover
Midori: Similar background to Miyako, was trained in piano and didn’t pick up the guitar until she was 20. Amazing that she can play as she does being such a late starter on the instrument. Interesting side note, she is also heavily into body building and has competed there as well. I suspect that may be why she is the “pose striker” when playing live.
Fami: The last member to join the band replacing Miho, I suspect she may also be the youngest member, still in her early 20’s. As mentioned prior does have a YouTube channel that attracts a ton of view. Here is a summary video of the selection process in case you want some more details on Fami Auditions
Rather than regurgitating everything I found on Wikipedia for them, here is a link for those that want to learn the backstory. Lovebites Background
Music
What would it be without some samples of their music that I found interesting. Below are a number of both live performances as well as music videos.
If you want to see a very cool live groove check out Raise some Hell. To be blown away as I was definitely check out the live version of When Destinies Align. For something a bit older, more classic, I would look at Holy War which was one of their earlier hits. Both The Castaway and Reapers Lullaby are music videos and are recent releases so you can get a feeling of where things are going currently.
Up Next
The next deep dive I’m planning to look at is from the band that I probably have followed as closely as Lovebites and also was lucky enough to get to see live recently. Looking forward to the next installment. Stay tuned…