Leetspeak Monsters (stylized as Leetspeak monsters) is a Japanese visual kei rock band whose songs and appearance are centered around Halloween and dark fantasy themes. The band members perform as characters from the fictional city of "Gravetown", with each adopting an archetypal "monster" persona.
Leetspeak Monsters | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Japan |
| Genres | |
| Years active | 2009[1] –present |
| Labels | GLK Music |
| Members | D13 Yo’shmeer Euskyss DieWolf |
| Past members | Mattünurg |
| Website | leetspeak-monsters |
History
editLeetspeak Monsters released their first single "Monster's Party" with label GLK Music in 2017,[2] following band leader D13's concept of creating a "crossover of rock and hip hop within the imagery of a haunted house."[3] In the same year, the band released a mini-album Storyteller in the Strange Night, followed by their first full-length album Monster's Theater, which ranked in the top 100 on the Oricon album chart.[4]
The band's subsequent releases continued to expand the mythology of Leetspeak Monsters' fictional home of "Gravetown", with lyrics in English and Japanese about normal people having scary encounters.[3] D13 insists that the true meaning of the band's name will remain a secret, saying that he enjoys hearing different interpretations from their audience.[5]
In 2018, Leetspeak Monsters released the mini-album Mixtured night between Life and Death and a single covering The Nightmare Before Christmas theme song "This is Halloween", resulting from D13's admiration of filmmaker Tim Burton and composer Danny Elfman.[6]
On May 26, 2018, Leetspeak Monsters began their one-man tour of Japan called "Leetspeak monsters 1st Oneman Tour Life and Death Tour - Seija to sisya no yoru". The tour went across 3 cities with the final performance at Takadanobaba CLUB PHASE on June 3.[7]
In 2019, the band released the maxi-single 13th Friday Night and their second full album Monster's Theater II. They also contributed an original song, "Gekkouin -Moonlight Shadow", to the album Bad Ass Temple Funky Sounds from seiyuu rap project Hypnosis Mic.[8]
In 2020, Leetspeak Monsters released the maxi-single "Beltane", named after the Gaelic bonfire ritual.[9]
Band members
editCurrent members
- D13 (skeleton cemetery guide) - vocals (2009–present)
- Euskyss (vampire prince) - bass (2011–present)
- Yo’shmeer (Frankenstein's monster) - guitar (2017–present)
- DieWolf (werewolf) - drums (2011–present)
Former members
- Mattünurg - guitar
Discography
editStudio albums
edit| Year | Album details | Oricon[4] |
|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Monster's Theater
|
90 |
| 2019 | Monster's Theater II
|
106 |
Singles and EPs
edit| Year | Single and EP details | Oricon[4] |
|---|---|---|
| 2017 | "Monster's Party" (maxi-single)
|
— |
"Storyteller in the Strange Night" (mini-album)
|
— | |
| 2018 | "Mixtured night between Life and Death" (mini-album)
|
112 |
"This is Halloween" (maxi-single)
|
53 | |
| 2019 | "13th Friday Night" (maxi-single)
|
64 |
| 2020 | "Beltane" (maxi-single)
|
44 |
Videography
editMusic Videos
edit- 2017: "Monster's Party"
- 2017: "Black Owl"
- 2018: "This is Halloween"
- 2018: "Wonderland"
- 2018: "Greenman"
- 2019: "13th Friday night"
- 2019: "Gothic"
- 2020: "Beltane"
References
edit- ^ Zansouki (2017-08-13). "Let's search for Leetspeak monsters' "Black owl" in their newest music video". JROCK NEWS. Retrieved 2020-10-18.
- ^ "2017 年 GLK Music より異色で斬新な新感覚バンド Leetspeak monsters 登場！ ViSULOG". ヴィジュアル系ポータルサイト ViSULOG (in Japanese). Retrieved 2020-04-15.
- ^ a b "Interview: Leetspeak monsters welcome ghosts to enjoy music with them". jrocknews.com. 2019-11-19. Retrieved 2020-04-15.
- ^ a b c "Leetspeak monsters Oricon ranking". Oricon News. Retrieved 2020-04-15.
- ^ "Leetspeak monsters stage a scary celebration for "Beltane" (Interview)". J-Generation. 2020-04-29. Retrieved 2020-05-01.
- ^ "Interview with Leetspeak monsters". JaME. 2019-11-25. Retrieved 2020-04-15.
- ^ "Leetspeak monsters コメント動画到着！1st Oneman Tour 大阪公演、Sold Out！". びじゅなび (in Japanese). Retrieved 2020-04-17.
- ^ "Leetspeak monsters create new song for Hypnosis Mic". J-Generation. 2019-11-26. Retrieved 2020-04-16.
- ^ "Leetspeak monsters journey into the forest for new single "Beltane"". J-Generation. 2020-03-24. Retrieved 2020-04-15.