Balzac (band)

Balzac
Balzac performing at B72 Club in Vienna, Austria, 2005. Clockwise: Atsushi, Hirosuke, Akio and Takayuki.
Background information
Origin	Kyoto, Japan
Genres	Horror punk, hardcore punk, electropunk, digital hardcore
Years active	1992–present
Labels	Alchemy, Diwphalanx, Misfits Records/Rykodisc, FiendForce, Gan-Shin, Evilegend13
Associated acts	Astrozombies, The Clash Dogs, The Batties Boys
Website	http://www.balzac.jp/
Members	Hirosuke Nishiyama Atsushi Nakagawa Akio Imai Takayuki Manabe
Past members	Tetsuya Yoritsugu "Anti" Azuchi Naoki Koji Hajime Nishio Kill Masami Futoshi Okano Masami

Balzac (typeset as BALZAC) is a Japanese punk band formed in 1992 in Kyoto. The band was founded by singer and songwriter Hirosuke Nishiyama, who has remained the only constant member of the band since its creation. Since the beginning, Balzac was highly influenced by the sound and image of the famous horror punk band The Misfits and, especially during the very early years, Glenn Danzig's Samhain, adopting and combining the musical and visual style of both bands to create their own. The band often stays away from the "campy" horror lyrics and image found in most horror punk bands, as the lyrics by Hirosuke tend to be more like dark poetry and, though not always serious, deal with themes of darkness, loneliness and fear.

The band has gained a certain amount of recognition and exposure outside of their native country, where they are well known. Currently they have five official clothing brands (Shocker!!!, Dementia 13, Culture, XXXxxx and Balzac) with one store in Japan, plus three online stores (Shocker Webstore, Shocker World Wide and Shocker EU). They also have their own official record label called Evilegend 13 Records on which they have released EPs, singles and videos. Balzac is also well known for its toy releases, some created by the companies T.W.I.M. and Secret Base, and its extensive discography and side-projects.

The current lineup of the band consists of Hirosuke Nishiyama (vocals), Atsushi Nakagawa (guitar/chorus), Akio Imai (bass/chorus) and Takayuki Manabe (drums/digital effects/chorus). Musically the band has drawn from punk, pop, industrial and noise, across their various releases.

Astrozombies was a band from Kyoto, Japan fronted by vocalist/songwriter Hirosuke Nishiyama; it was heavily influenced by the legendary Japanese rock group Gastunk and The Misfits. After releasing just one demo cassette, entitled The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Hirosuke decided to disband and started his next project, Balzac, in 1992. The name of the new band came from the famous French novelist and playwright, Honoré de Balzac. Hirosuke first came in contact with the novelist's work during junior high school; he liked how the name sounded and decided to use it. The band's first lineup consisted of Hirosuke Nishiyama on vocals, Yoritsugu "Anti" Azuchi on bass, Tetsuya on guitar and Naoki on drums. During that time the band released their first demo cassette, which was limited to 13 copies only, entitled Scapegoat666.