Vampire Rodents

Vampire Rodents was the name of an industrial music and experimental rock band formed in Phoenix, Arizona, although its core members originally came from Canada. The band was formed by singer, guitarist and composer Daniel Vahnke (aka Anton Rathausen) and keyboardist Victor Wulf. Andrea Akastia (violin, cello) joined after the re-release of War Music in 1991. The band was well known for their use of guest vocalists on many of their songs. Although almost all of the instrumentalists credited, such as Jing Laoshu and Consuelo Buenviento, were fake. Daniel Vahnke was primarily influenced by classical and Avant-garde music, whereas Wulf was more focused on Ambient music, and both styles contributed to the mood of the band.

Across their five album career, they appeared on four different record labels, including Dossier, Vampire Rodents Productions (their own label), Re-Constriction Records and finally on Fifth Column.

As well as Vampire Rodents, Vahnke also had a side project called Ether Bunny, and Wulf had a solo effort called Dilate, which released two albums on Cleopatra Records. The Rodents also collaborated with Babyland to create Recliner, which released a few songs direct onto compilation albums, and later onto full VR albums.

While the band was mainly active during 1988-1996, Vahnke has expressed his desire on his Myspace page to restart the group, however there has been nothing new produced.

In January 2008, Daniel released on his Myspace page raw material from the proposed side project Pillow which was to be done in collaboration with 16volt.