Vampires Everywhere! is an American

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band from

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, currently based in

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

. The last lineup consisted of vocalist Michael Vampire and guitarists Matti Hoffman and Grey Soto. In 2021, the lead singer Michael Vampire reformed the group, and the band signed with

Cleopatra Records Cleopatra Records is an American independent record label based in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 1992 by Brian Perera. The record label has since grown into a family of labels, including Hypnotic Records, Purple Pyramid Records, Dea ...

, releasing "Witch,"

a single A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes'' ...

from their second EP, ''The Awakening'', released in October 2021.

History

Formation and ''Lost in the Shadows'' (2009–2010)

Vampires Everywhere! was founded in 2009 by Michael Orlando (a.k.a. Michael Vampire). The band's name came from the movie '' The Lost Boys''. "Vampires Everywhere!" is a comic book in the movie that explains the rules of vampires and how to kill them. On February 9, 2010, Vampires Everywhere! released their debut EP ''Lost in the Shadows''. The first single and music video, "Immortal Love", was released exclusively on PureVolume on January 18, 2010. Together with director

Scott Hanson Scott Richard Hanson (born June 24, 1971) is an American television anchor and reporter for NFL Network. He has served as sports reporter and anchor for several regional stations and was hired by NFL Network in 2006. He is currently the host of ...

, who worked with

A Day to Remember A Day to Remember (often abbreviated ADTR, and previously known as End of an Era) is an American rock band from Ocala, Florida, founded in 2003 by guitarist Tom Denney and drummer Bobby Scruggs. They are known for their amalgamation of meta ...

, Carnifex,

A Skylit Drive A Skylit Drive is an American post-hardcore band from Lodi, California. The band has released one DVD, one EP and five studio albums: '' Wires...and the Concept of Breathing'' (2008), '' Adelphia'' (2009), '' Identity on Fire'' (2011), ''Rise ...

and

Alesana Alesana ( ) is an American post-hardcore band from Raleigh, North Carolina. The group was founded by Shawn Milke, Dennis Lee and Patrick Thompson during the fall of 2004, and is currently signed to Revival Recordings and Artery Recordings. Alesa ...

, Vampires Everywhere! produced a music video for their song ''Immortal Love'' which was shown at

MTV 2 MTV2 (formerly M2) is an American pay television channel owned by the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. The channel launched initially as an all-music video service, once the original MTV had started to shift its programmin ...

(

Headbangers Ball ''Headbangers Ball'' is a music television program that consisted of heavy metal music videos airing on MTV and its global affiliates. The show began on MTV on April 18, 1987, playing heavy metal music videos from both well-known and more obs ...

Heavy Rotation In broadcasting, rotation is the repeated airing of a limited playlist of songs on a radio station or satellite radio channel, or music videos on a TV network. They are usually in a different order each time. However, they are not completely sh ...

and Fuse On-Demand. The group toured through the US and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

with acts including Escape The Fate Brokencyde,

Black Veil Brides Black Veil Brides is an American rock band based in Hollywood, California. The group formed in 2006 in Cincinnati, Ohio and is currently composed of lead vocalist Andy Biersack, rhythm guitarist and violinist Jinxx, lead guitarist Jake Pitts, ...

, Eyes Set to Kill, Get Scared, Dr. Acula, Aiden,

Honor Bright Honor Bright is an American rock band from Syracuse, New York. History Formation Honor Bright first started when Liam DiCosimo and Tim Paige's post-hardcore band broke up, leaving them without a project. Together they started writing new songs t ...

, Our Last Night,

Polkadot Cadaver Polkadot Cadaver is an American band formed by members of the Rockville, Maryland, rock band Dog Fashion Disco. The band is stylistically similar to Dog Fashion Disco and inherited many of their fans. History Inception and ''Purgatory Dance Part ...

and

Modern Day Escape Standby Records was an independent record label originally from Ohio. Lawsuits In 2016 Davey Suicide leaked to Alternative Press that the group had entered into a lawsuit with Standby Records. This prompted label-mates As Blood Runs Black to spea ...

. They shared stage with X Japan and Murderdolls as the opener. They played a gig at

SXSW South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Te ...

2010 with D.R.U.G.S.,

VersaEmerge Versa (stylized as VERSA) was an American rock duo formed in Port St. Lucie, Florida, in 2006, as VersaEmerge. The group consisted of Blake Harnage (guitar, vocals, and programming) and Sierra Kay (lead vocals). They had a revolving line-up, their ...

and

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...

. Their single "Undead Heart" was released on November 29, 2010.

''Kiss the Sun Goodbye'' (2011)

The debut album '' Kiss the Sun Goodbye'' followed on May 17, 2011, and was released worldwide via Hollywood Waste Records.

Wil Francis William Roy "wiL" Francis (a.k.a. William Control) (born January 8, 1982) is an American rock musician, record producer, author, and artist. He came to prominence as the lead vocalist and principal songwriter of the horror punk band Aiden. Bio ...

( Aiden, William Control) was guest singer in the song "Bleeding Rain". The Deluxe Version includes 3 Bonus tracks. Their second music video was directed by Fred Archambault who worked with

Avenged Sevenfold Avenged Sevenfold (abbreviated as A7X) is an American heavy metal band from Huntington Beach, California, formed in 1999. The band's current lineup consists of lead vocalist M. Shadows, rhythm guitarist and backing vocalist Zacky Vengeance, ...

and Deftones. The album ranked on Place 19th at the Billboard ''Top Hard Rock Albums'' and on Place 43 on ''Top Independent Albums'' (

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

). Since then Alex Rouge and David Darko have left the band to form their own band called The Automatic Me. In August 2011, Vampires Everywhere! played at

Sunset Strip Music Festival The Sunset Strip is the stretch of Sunset Boulevard that passes through the city of West Hollywood, California. It extends from West Hollywood's eastern border with the city of Los Angeles near Marmont Lane to its western border with Beverly H ...

. The band covered Katy Perry's song Teenage Dream. In Fall 2011, they played on the "Something Wicked This Way Comes Tour" with Wednesday 13,

& Nightmare Sonata. In December 2011, they announced that they would be releasing a new album sometime in 2012.

''Hellbound and Heartless'' and disbandment (2012–2013)

On April 25, 2012 bassist Philip Kross left the band, amicably, to pursue other projects. The next day, Vampires Everywhere! announced that Adam Vex would be replacing him temporarily while on tour. Their second album, '' Hellbound and Heartless'', was released on June 19, 2012, presenting a drastic change in style from

metalcore Metalcore (also known as metallic hardcore) is a fusion music genre that combines elements of extreme metal and hardcore punk. As with other styles blending metal and hardcore, such as crust punk and grindcore, metalcore is noted for its use of ...

and

gothic rock Gothic rock (also called goth rock or simply goth) is a style of rock music that emerged from post-punk in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s. The first post-punk bands which shifted toward dark music with gothic overtones include Siouxsie a ...

industrial metal Industrial metal is the fusion of heavy metal and industrial music, typically employing repeating metal guitar riffs, sampling, synthesizer or sequencer lines, and distorted vocals. Prominent industrial metal acts include Ministry, Nine In ...

, featuring influences from

shock rock Shock rock is the combination of rock music or heavy metal music with highly theatrical live performances emphasizing shock value. Performances may include violent or provocative behavior from the artists, the use of attention-grabbing imagery ...

and industrial metal acts such as

Ministry Ministry may refer to: Government * Ministry (collective executive), the complete body of government ministers under the leadership of a prime minister * Ministry (government department), a department of a government Religion * Christian ...

and

Marilyn Manson Brian Hugh Warner (born January 5, 1969), known professionally as Marilyn Manson, is an American rock musician. He came to prominence as the lead singer of the band which shares his name, of which he remains the only constant member since it ...

. The band played the entire Summer

Vans Warped Tour The Warped Tour was a traveling rock tour that toured the United States plus three or four stops in Canada annually each summer from 1995 until 2019. It was the largest traveling music festival in the United States and the longest-running touring ...

to support the album. In October 2012, the band embarked the road with

In Fear and Faith In Fear and Faith was an American post-hardcore band from San Diego, California. Formed in 2006, the group was signed to Rise Records and released three studio albums and two EPs. Their debut full-length, ''Your World on Fire'', being released ...

, and Glamour of the Kill, then joined Orgy and Davey Suicide on the "Wide Awake and Dead" Tour throughout March 2013. In November 2013, Michael released a statement, announcing that Vampires Everywhere! had been disbanded, and that the members would instead release new music as The Killing Lights. They released a new song, "Don't Turn Around", a few days later.

The Killing Lights (2014)

On August 14, The Killing Lights released a video, directed by Will Da Rosa, for "Lies Spread Like Fire", a new song from their upcoming EP. The Killing Lights later performed their first headlining show at Chain Reaction on October 4, where they played their EP in its entirety. On October 21, The Killing Lights released a second single, "Until I Bleed", through

Kerrang! ''Kerrang!'' is a British weekly magazine devoted to rock, punk and heavy metal music, currently published by Wasted Talent (the same company that owns electronic music publication ''Mixmag''). It was first published on 6 June 1981 as a one- ...

around the same time pre-orders for their EP, '' The Killing Lights'', went live, the EP was released on December 2, 2014. A music video, directed by Brad Golowin, for "Until I Bleed" was planned for a November release, but was instead released on December 11, a tour in support of the EP was planned for 2015.

Reformation, ''Ritual'', and second break-up (2015–2016)

On February 11, 2015, The Killing Lights reverted to Vampires Everywhere! and, shortly after, announced that they were recording a new album in two sessions, the first to commence in March, the second in April, in

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

. Michael Vampire later performed with

Motionless In White Motionless in White is an American metalcore band from Scranton, Pennsylvania. Formed in 2004, the band consists of lead vocalist Chris "Motionless" Cerulli, guitarists Ryan Sitkowski and Ricky "Horror" Olson, drummer Vinny Mauro and bassist Ju ...

at Rock on the Range. On November 30, the band played on the Bat2Bat Tour with Consider Me Dead and Set to Stun. Immediately after the tour ended, they released the song "Black Betty", off the new album, ''Ritual'', which had a tentative release date of early 2016. On January 19, 2016, they released the first official single from the new album, a cover of "

Take Me to Church "Take Me to Church" is a song by Irish singer-songwriter Hozier (musician), Hozier. It was released as his debut single on 13 September 2013, originally featuring on his extended play of the same name, before being featured as the opening track ...

", featuring Alex Koehler of

Chelsea Grin Chelsea Grin is an American deathcore band from Salt Lake City, Utah. Formed in 2007, the group have released two EPs and five full-length albums. Since 2018, no original members remain in the band. Chelsea Grin was originally founded under ...

. ''Ritual'' was finally released on March 18, 2016, and was supported by a short headlining tour, before they joined Filter, Orgy, and Death Valley High on their Make America Hate Again Tour. November 2016, Vampires Everywhere! disbanded once again and Michael Vampire started a new band called Dead Girls Academy.

Second comeback

In March 2021 Michael Vampire announced that Vampires Everywhere will have a second comeback and playing the first concert at Summit Music Fest. In July the same year, the band released their comeback single "Witch," announced the release of their forthcoming EP ''The Awakening'', and the signing with

as well as an US tour throughout October with Assuming We Survive and The Bunny the Bear.

Musical style and influences

Vampires Everywhere!'s sound spans several genres, including

post-hardcore Post-hardcore is a punk rock music genre that maintains the aggression and intensity of hardcore punk but emphasizes a greater degree of creative expression. It was initially inspired by post-punk and noise rock. Like post-punk, the term has been ...

industrial rock Industrial rock is a fusion genre that fuses industrial music and rock music. It initially originated in the 1970s, and drew influence from early experimental and industrial acts such as Cromagnon, Throbbing Gristle, Einstürzende Neubauten a ...

alternative metal Alternative metal (also known as alt-metal) is a genre of heavy metal music Heavy metal (or simply metal) is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the United Kingdom and United States. With r ...

and horror punk. Noisecreep described the band as "an ultra-catchy hybrid of goth, metalcore and

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop!, a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Albums * ''Pop'' (G ...

". The band maintained an emo and goth image with

horror Horror may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Genres *Horror fiction, a genre of fiction ** Japanese horror, Japanese horror fiction **Korean horror, Korean horror fiction * Horror film, a film genre *Horror comics, comic books focusing o ...

themes in their lyrics, mainly around

vampires A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead creatures that often visited loved ones and caused mischief or deaths ...

. Lead singer Michael Vampire uses screamed and clean vocals, having already used synthesizer and autotune effects, especially at the beginning of the band's career. Vampires Everywhere!'s influences include Slipknot, Atreyu,

Cannibal Corpse Cannibal Corpse is an American death metal band formed in Buffalo, New York in 1988, now based out of Tampa, Florida. The band has released fifteen studio albums, two box sets, four video albums, and two live albums. The band has had little radi ...

Dimmu Borgir Dimmu Borgir () is a Norwegian symphonic black metal band from Jessheim, formed in 1993. The name is derived from Dimmuborgir, a volcanic formation in Iceland, the name of which means "dark cities" or "dark castles/fortresses" in Icelandic, ...

, The Black Dahlia Murder,

Children of Bodom Children of Bodom was a Finnish melodic death metal band from Espoo. Formed in 1993 as Inearthed, the final line-up of the group upon their split in 2019 consisted of Alexi Laiho (lead guitar, lead vocals), Jaska Raatikainen (drums), Henkka Sep ...

, As I Lay Dying, Parkway Drive,

August Burns Red August Burns Red is an American metalcore band from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, formed in 2003. The band's current lineup consists of lead guitarist John Benjamin "JB" Brubaker, rhythm guitarist Brent Rambler, drummer Matt Greiner, lead vocalist Ja ...

Death Death is the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain an organism. For organisms with a brain, death can also be defined as the irreversible cessation of functioning of the whole brain, including brainstem, and brain ...

Obituary An obituary ( obit for short) is an article about a recently deceased person. Newspapers often publish obituaries as news articles. Although obituaries tend to focus on positive aspects of the subject's life, this is not always the case. Ac ...

, Theatres des Vampires, Aiden, AFI, Misfits,

and

Behemoth Behemoth (; he, בְּהֵמוֹת, ''bəhēmōṯ'') is a beast from the biblical Book of Job, and is a form of the primeval chaos-monster created by God at the beginning of creation; he is paired with the other chaos-monster, Leviathan, and ...

. Regarding the band's vampire themes, Michael Vampire has stated "We didn't get inspired by Twilight or True Blood at all. I love True Blood and own season 1, but all of our influences come from the classics. By classics I mean '' The Lost Boys'', ''

Nosferatu ''Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror'' (German: ''Nosferatu – Eine Symphonie des Grauens'') is a 1922 silent German Expressionist horror film directed by F. W. Murnau and starring Max Schreck as Count Orlok, a vampire who preys on the wife ...

'',

Bram Stoker Abraham Stoker (8 November 1847 – 20 April 1912) was an Irish author who is celebrated for his 1897 Gothic horror novel '' Dracula''. During his lifetime, he was better known as the personal assistant of actor Sir Henry Irving and busine ...

's ''

Dracula ''Dracula'' is a novel by Bram Stoker, published in 1897. As an epistolary novel, the narrative is related through letters, diary entries, and newspaper articles. It has no single protagonist, but opens with solicitor Jonathan Harker taking ...

'', Bela Lugosi, ''

Fright Night ''Fright Night'' is a 1985 American supernatural horror film written and directed by Tom Holland (in his directorial debut) and produced by Herb Jaffe. It stars Chris Sarandon, William Ragsdale, Roddy McDowall, Amanda Bearse, Jonathan Stark, D ...

'', and more."

Members

; Current members * Michael "Vampire" Orlando -

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of t ...

(2009–2013, 2015-2016, 2021–present) * Craig Nello Pirtle -

guitars The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

(2021-present) * Tyler Strattin -

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

(2021-present) * Jesse James Smith -

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

(2021-present) ;Former members * Jason "Jay Killa" Shaffer -

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

synthesizers A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and ...

(2009-2010) * Zak "Night" Dunn -

lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featur ...

(2009–2010) * Alexander "Rogue" Hernandez -

(2009–2011) * David "Darko" Hernandez -

(2009–2011) * Aaron "Graves" Martin -

rhythm guitar In music performances, rhythm guitar is a technique and role that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with other instruments from the rhythm section (e.g., drum kit, bass guitar ...

(2009-2013) * Charles Philip "Kross" Anthony -

(2011–2012),

(2010-2011) * DJ "Black" Blackard -

(2011–2013) * Miles Rogers-

(2012–2013) * Chris Paterson -

(2013) * Frankie Sil -

(2013) * Matti Hoffman -

(2015–2016) * Grey "Mr. Grey" Soto -

(2015–2016) * Joshua " J.J. Gun" Ingram -

(2012–2013, 2015-2016) ;Former touring members * Adam Vex -

(2012–2013) ; Timeline

Discography

Albums

EP

* 2010: ''Lost in the Shadows'' * 2021: ''The Awakening''

Singles

* 2010: Immortal Love * 2010: Undead Heart * 2012: I Can't Breathe * 2012: Drug of Choice * 2012: Star of 666 * 2016: Perfect Lie * 2016: Take Me To Church (

Hozier Andrew John Hozier-Byrne (born 17 March 1990), known professionally as Hozier ( ), is an Irish musician, singer and songwriter. His music primarily draws from folk, soul and blues, often using religious and literary themes. He had his interna ...

Cover) * 2016: Truth in You * 2021: Witch * 2021: Death of Me * 2021: The Hills ( The Weekend Cover) * 2022: Tear Me Down

References

{{The Killing Lights American industrial metal musical groups Musical groups from Los Angeles Musical groups established in 2009 Musical groups disestablished in 2013 Musical groups reestablished in 2015 Musical groups disestablished in 2016 Musical groups reestablished in 2021 Metalcore musical groups from California American post-hardcore musical groups