LOVEBITES has a famous singer and two lead guitarists. It exists because of the drummer.
Destrose
Haruna played in Destrose, an all-female metal band that broke up in 2015. So did the bassist Miho. When Destrose ended, the two of them decided to start again, and in 2016 they formed LOVEBITES in Tokyo. Everyone else was recruited afterwards: guitarist Midori, Miyako on guitar and keyboards, and Asami on vocals.
Miho left in August 2021. That makes Haruna the one founder still in the band.
Helloween
She has played drums since she was thirteen, and started writing songs on a keyboard a year later. Her favourite band through her school years was B’z. Heavy metal arrived with one album: Helloween’s Master of the Rings. She has said that her basic drumming style is that of Uli Kusch, the drummer on that record.
It is a very specific answer, and a useful one. If you want to know where the band’s drumming comes from, it comes from German power metal of the mid-1990s.
The Writer
She writes, too. The debut release, The Lovebites EP (2017), includes a song of hers called “Bravehearted.” It had originally been intended for Destrose, and it is sung in Japanese. A song meant for the old band became part of the first statement by the new one.
What the Band Became
The record since then: Best New Band at the Metal Hammer Golden Gods Awards in 2018, and Wacken Open Air the same year, as the first Japanese all-female metal band to play it. A first world tour in 2024, 17 shows in 10 countries. A fifth album, Outstanding Power, on 18 February 2026. A sold-out Nippon Budokan on 29 March 2026.
Why It Matters
Bands that lose a founder often lose their direction. LOVEBITES lost one of its two and went on to its biggest stages, with the other still at the back of the stage, keeping time.
Start with The Lovebites EP for “Bravehearted,” then Outstanding Power.
