Oblivion Dust

Formed in 1996, the Japanese alternative rock outfit Oblivion Dust first drew notice at home by serving as openers for the U.K. electronica group the Prodigy. Led by English-born, half-Japanese frontman Ken Lloyd, the trio issued its debut album, Looking for Elvis, in 1997. For that project, Lloyd, guitarist-programmer K.A.Z., and bassist Derek Forbes—a onetime Simple Minds member who had appeared on the U.S. chart-topper “Don’t You Forget About Me”—moved the sessions to Los Angeles and also performed several West Coast concerts. Forbes soon departed and was succeeded by Matt Garrett, previously of Ian Astbury’s post-Cult project Holy Barbarians; Garrett’s own tenure proved brief, yielding the bass chair to Japanese musician Rijiki. With this revised lineup, the band delivered its largest concert yet in 1998, again supporting the Prodigy before a 10,000-strong Tokyo audience. Following the release of the second album Misery Days, K.A.Z. joined Hide, ex-member of the massively popular visual kei act X-Japan, for the guitarist’s solo endeavor Spread Beaver while maintaining his role in Oblivion Dust; he later produced Hyde’s third solo album, Faith. The group’s third release, Reborn, arrived in 1999 and gained momentum after MTV Japan placed the single “You” into heavy rotation. Beyond headline tours, Oblivion Dust appeared on the Japanese festival circuit alongside Marilyn Manson, Rage Against the Machine, and Muse. After contributing “S.O.S.” to the domestic edition of the Mission: Impossible 2 soundtrack, the band issued its fourth album, Butterfly Head, in late 2000 and announced its dissolution the next year. Lloyd subsequently launched FAKE? alongside Inoran of Luna Sea, another leading visual kei outfit, while K.A.Z. formed the short-lived Spin Aqua with future star Anna Tsuchiya and later reunited with L’Arc-en-Ciel’s Hyde in Vamps. Oblivion Dust declared its reformation in summer 2007 and delivered a sixth album in January 2008, its first full-length since the 2001 set Radio Songs.