Jungle Life 2017
Cover & Interview: Shining with heroic brilliance, the four men of Matenrou Opera are pressing on with their heavy metal album, loaded with songs of steel (kotetsu).
Greeting their tenth year as a band, Matenrou Opera has completed their new album 『PANTHEON -PART 1-』. Last year, they released the full album Chikyu on January 4th, and in July they faced the departure of the guitarist Anzi, who had been part of the band up until then... However, they would not stand down in the midst of this adversity, and in October they released a two volume best album and the first mini album of the new system at the same time 『PHOENIX RISING』, they truly showed us their strong will to keep moving forward. They did a tour supporting that album to ring in the opening of this new chapter, and finally, they’ve created this full album now. Getting back to their roots, they’ve ultimately evolved, sharpening their strongest weapon, to form Matenrou Opera’s all time greatest heavy metal work. They’ve marked the title “PART 1” because these four men’s creativity has by no means run out, in fact they’re focusing on this point. Like steel, their resolve has hardened, they’re pushing forward, blasting their full, mature sound; we’re pressing these four now for the front cover and opening page 10,000 character interview.
Cover & Interview：摩天楼オペラ #1
I think there were a lot of detailed parts where we individually said “I want to do this!” But first and foremost, “we are doing Matenrou Opera as four people,” is the thing we all agreed on together, so I feel we are facing the same direction.
● Following the January release of “Chikyu” last year, you were hit with the withdrawal of a member in July, then in October the mini-album “PHOENIX RISING” also came along, and this time you’ve completed the new work, a full album, “PANTHEON PART-1” ... it’s a pretty insane pace of activity, don’t you think!?
Sono: It is, isn’t it? I’m thinking, “do we ever stop?!”
●For real, we might say the title of M-10 “tomarun ja nee” (don’t stop!) is in line with this mental state, right?
Sono: Absolutely, it’s in line with that. I feel like we spent every bit of time we had on this production, and it was barely (on release day) ready. But we had decided “we want to do the album with this timing!” so because of that we knew we’d be insanely busy on top of what we’d been doing, so it wasn’t a pain, y’know?
●At the point when you met the adversity of a member’s withdrawl, was the feeling that “now we absolutely don’t want to quit” growing stronger?
Sono: As far as the motive at first, there was the point you mentioned. There was a mood of “let’s try to keep going as 4 people, let’s do it!” But when we actually started to do it, our unity had grown stronger too, and the kind of music we wanted to do really emerged. Since we came to feel like “we can do it even with 4 people” we got to thinking that the band is more fun, y’know?
●Did you get into this frame of mind while making the previous work, “PHOENIX RISING” ?
Sono: Not yet, that was a time of searching for all of us. We had the“let’s do it!” feeling but we were still doing it in a state of groping about. Since the PHOENIX RISING tour at the end of last year, JaY has been with us as support guitar, I think it changed from around then.
●Would you say that JaY’s involvement triggered the change?
Sono: When we made up our minds “let’s keep doing it!” as four people, (JaY) brought in a fresh style, which made the mood even better. When we were going around during that tour, every performance was a lot of run, wasn’t it. At the tour final the fans did something for us we’d never dreamed of. This year’s “still more and more, you’ve gotta do it, you really can do it!” thinking is linked to our being able to have such a great experience after preparing ourselves for the worst.
●So, the band activities were becoming more fun than ever throughout the 『PHOENIX RISING』tour.
Sono: We enjoyed it up until then, but we were feeling like the band is about equal amounts of “joy” and “pain.” But, recently, even the detail work is fun somehow, and I’ve come to feel really thankful. So in that sense, I think that tour was a turning point.
●With the tour as a turning point, the band’s situation has been improving, huh?
Yu: Well, naturally doing the tour was a big deal, y’know. By hearing the audience’s voice directly at the live, that’s the best way to understand the reaction. We were still touring as 5 people during the Chikyuu tour when the Kumamoto Earthquake (April 16, 2016) happened, and the performances in Kumamoto and Fukuoka had to be cancelled. After all that, during the PHOENIX RISING tour, the formerly shy audiences in Kyushu [island that Kumamoto and Fukuoka are in] showed us their awesome loud voice. From there, once again, I truly felt “wow, they’re really looking forward to seeing us all over the country,” and that made me really happy.
Yo: It was a tour to start up the new system after one member left, so, as for us, we were really facing the feeling that “it’s inevitable that fans who listened to us up until now will leave too.” But what really happened was that there were people seriously looking forward to seeing us, and that made us really happy. I’m so pleased with the people who are listening to us, yet I also hope to get lots more people to listen, that’s what the feeling became from then on.
●So, you felt like spreading it further, so to speak. Is this positive feeling also tied into the current work?
Ayame: The label was changing things during the making of『PHOENIX RISING』, it was a period of switching out some of the surrounding staff. And we were making 『PHOENIX RISING』while trying out a different approach to some of the finer points during recording, yet we were able to create a nice piece of work. After that we also had JaY going around the country with us on tour, and I think, “wow, so we made this album, didn’t we?” What I’m trying to say is that the perfect flow happened for 『PANTHEON -PART 1-』, and I’m glad we made it with such good timing, y’know?
●I guess this album’s concept came to you in the middle of the tour then, is that right?
Sono: Since I was planning it as the sequel to『PHOENIX RISING』from the start, I thought “let’s work on it now.” Our greatest weapon is chorus and heavy metal, so as four people we took that and ran with it. We didn’t just put it in six songs in『PHOENIX RISING』, we made the current album thinking “we want to do more heavy metal with this stance.”
●So your thought was that you could bring new life to this work by using your “greatest weapon of chorus and heavy metal?”
Sono: That’s right. When we ended up restarting as 4 people, we thought “let’s seriously take another look at our music.” This wasn’t just the time for creating the sound source, the first thing to be aware of in the time we had was “getting up on our feet as 4 people” I thought, let’s do it with that understanding.
●So, that means you went into the current work with that understanding?
Sono: We had a clear and simple concept this time: “heavy metal.” By deciding to aim for that from when we mentioned earlier, making the album became a lot easier. And so, we were steadily able to do the songs the way we wanted. When we put together the songs that we did like that, we saw the balance and it felt like “if this song is like this, then this kind of song goes next” we were able to connect them up one by one like that.
●That way, there’s less stress in song making?
Sono: Way less.
Ayame: Since last year we’ve been saying it totally direct that this time, “we’ll go straight metal.” Since we had that firmly in mind, it seems like there is less of the “how shall we do this song...?” stuff.
●Since the title song M-1 「PANTHEON」is the axis of this current work, at what time was this song made?
Sono: We made the original framework for this song about three years ago, but completing it and forming it into the current shape were done during the production of this album.
●So you made the framework three years ago?
Sono: At that time, the tune was a prospective for the album, but at that time there were a lot of other tunes that fit the concept of the work so we put it aside. But since Yo-san dearly loved the song’s melody, we kept it in stock.
Yo: At that point three years ago it was still just the one chorus, but I thought it was a really catchy melody. But the concept for the work at that time was a little different, so it wasn’t completed. I thought, “the prospective song will probably disappear if I don’t talk about it occasionally,” so every time we discussed the sound sources, I brought up that song!
●Yo-san wanted so much to give form to this song.
Yo: From the start, I was thinking this is such a Matenrou Opera kind of song. Once it was matched to the new work’s concept, I thought, if we brush it up, it could even become the main song, couldn’t it?
Sono: At first, when I heard this talk, “nah, it’s too weak to be the main song...” was really the thought I had. In the first stages, it didn’t have the sabi (strong part) when I just considered that, I thought it would be a weak main. But while we were working on it this time, the sabi came to me, and at then I thought “whoa, this is the main song, ain’t it?” This melody, it can become the album’s main song.
●Where does the 「PANTHEON」 title come from?
Sono: Since in the lyrics there is also “the strength of a hero,” as for me, my greatest desire right now is that I want to pull together the members and the guests by this strength I spoke of. While I was thinking about this, when I was writing the lyrics, 「PANTHEON」has a meaning of “the gathering place of heroes,” and I thought that fit perfectly. It also means “the place where the members gather” and “the place where the fans who kindly listen to us gather,” and in the main characters we came to present in the album’s songs are all strong and encouraging, “the gathering place of those songs” was even a meaning that perfectly fits, and so we named it 「PANTHEON」.
●Since 「PANTHEON」 is searching for the strength of a hero, and there’s “tomarun ja nee,” do you inspire yourself with these lyrics in some ways?
Sono: That’s true. Well, when I wrote these lyrics I felt that (for the listener) it’s probably nothing that they wouldn’t feel empathy with. Since I think somewhere in everyone’s heart there’s the hope for an encouraging push on the back, the desire to reach a helping hand. Because I also can be helped by music to continue the band, I’ve experienced that too, so “a song that gives courage to myself and to the listener is good” was the feeling I had.
●Track 8 “nandomeka no prologue” has the lyrics “Walking with my shoulders hunched, I notice how I hate myself,” and track-5 “Excalibur” has the lyric “I didn’t come all this way Just to slump my shoulders and gulp” too, doesn’t it? So I’m wondering, are either of these are based on personal experiences as well?
Sono: “Nandomeka no prologue” is totally written from the experience I was having in my everyday life. When I’m depressed I unexpectedly notice how much I’m bending towards the ground as I walk. When I notice, I always think “well, that sucks, fix it!” I sang about things like “I’ve got no choice but to go on!” and “I will do what there is to do!” they’re really life-size lyrics, aren’t they.
●You’re singing life size words with an open heart.
Sono: Naturally, I sang my own true feelings, but it’s because I really think it will stick in the heart of listener too. In the kind of words that I’m singing, stripped naked, the listeners are feeling the shock passed to them too. I think the impact of the words of my “stage self” compared with my “naked self” has sort of a different emphasis.
●About when did you get into this frame of mind?
Sono: It became this way gradually, since about 2 or 3 years ago. I was singing in a life-size way at lives too, putting the emotion in it directly, because I felt that way it flows directly to the people listening as well. In the old days I would often write the lyrics from the standpoint of the imaginary main character I developed in a story I made, but I am personally feeling the strength of the current words much more. It really feels good singing this way.
●Do the members find something of themselves layered into the lyrics too?
Ayame: Well, since we’re in this together, y’know.
Yu: But, as for the members, from my point of view it’s really strong actually. And so, I feel like it’s the best “lyrics that fit me to a tee.” With whatever works all along, as the lyrics came to reflect (Sono)’s own feelings more, I’ve been thinking it’s a good thing. Because of this, there are way more spots where I can relate, I’m singing along so to speak. I think there also come to be a lot of phrases that stick with me.
Yo: Even if we’re not precisely the same, there’s some parts that we can link on, like, we all have different interpretations, but I think there are more and more songs where we overlap. Since I’m usually a relatively resilient type, I don’t force myself to encourage myself, and I just keep living, but in a spot like that where I say “huh, there is that way of thinking too,” I’m surprised but I get it, y’know. Ayame also said “we’re in this together,” well, with 4 people, I think we’re facing the same direction together, since now we’re really getting the feeling of awesome momentum.
●Coming to face the same direction together, that’s since the time you restarted as 4 people I guess?
Sono: From the time we agreed “let’s do it as 4 people!” our bearing has been coming together, y’know. At little details there is “I really want to do it like this!” I think there are really a lot individually. But, in that “we’re truly doing Matenrou Opera as 4 people” there’s primarily cooperation, I think, wow, I guess we are all facing the same direction, aren’t we.
Cover & Interview：摩天楼オペラ #2
“So, I understand, the motive is pretty good, huh. So, it’s your own thought of “I wanna do it one more time” is essential. If this is the kind of feeling, I think I can do it however many times.”
●The band is doing well now precisely because the members are all agreed upon the same direction, it seems like a lot of songs and ideas have been born from this. As far as compiling the songs, did you feel like you gathered prospective songs from everyone?
Sono: At first we did what Ayame and I were making, but I’d say I feel like Yo-san created something that was missing for us, y’know.
●From looking at the flow throughout, my impression was that track 6, which Ayame-san composed, “AM6:00 ni shinro wo tore,” is especially light and catchy.
Ayame: I had an idea that, more than the melody, the guitar would keep on doing the same thing throughout. I think usually we make it from the baseline or the chord progression but having the guitar continue playing the same phrase throughout, this was a composing experiment in how the four of us could add color and variation around that fixed point. I hate to say it now, but at the time it was really because I wanted to do it without a guitarist.
●Were you challenging yourself because the former guitarist was not there?
Ayame: It started out as that kind of “experimental composition,” and we encountered many twists and turns on the way to the being able to make it now, but I think extraordinarily good chemistry was born. “6:00AM ni shinro wo tore” in particular was arranged part by part from the situation and it turned out to have a really pleasant worldview.
●This time for recording it seems you had the same person on support guitar, JaY-san, who also participated in the tour, so is there chemistry that was born there too?
Ayame: There is. While we were going around on the nationwide tour, with the guitar side, as well as with the human side, we were establishing communication, and so that really great condition went into this recording. I think if we had just asked him to do guitar from the very first “nice to meet you” it would not have come out this way. What I mean is, I’m glad we went around on the nationwide tour with JaY.
●As far as pursuing the heavy metal sound, I would think the guitar would be an extremely vital position, right?
Sono: It is vital, indeed. When we got JaY participating, he could play Matenrou Opera’s songs perfectly, I was really surprised. I knew he had skills, but when I gave him a song he was coming back with it with the high talent for arranging, I thought “badass!” He’s got a really good ear.
●So, what you got back was beyond your expectations?
Sono: Way beyond. Because when we were putting in the simple guitar he’d come back saying “nah nah, it does’t really have to be like that, does it?” And with that, then he’d bring it back with the guitar incredibly transformed! Lol
●So, I guess you were able to leave some of guitar arranging up to JaY-san?
Sono: Like with “AM6:00 ni shinro wo tore,” for sure there were ones where we told him ahead of time “the guitar really has to be just so in this part,” but basically he’s free to do what he wants.
Ayame: Like, since we 4 made the framework very tight in “AM6:00 ni shinro wo tore” and “nandomeka no prologue” we gave him specific instructions. But like in M-2 “Curse of Blood,” for example, we were thinking that the guitar riffs are a pretty big deal, and we asked JaY-san about the guitar since we were going hard at putting together the bass and keyboard. We changed the order in which we put sounds into the songs during production, so we did this during the adjustments.
●Out of the current piece, I felt that people living an everyday life could especially see themselves reflected in the lyrics of “AM6:00 ni shinro wo tore.”
Sono: It’s full of parts that strike me personally too, but I wouldn’t say that the main character of these lyrics is me exactly. When I listened to this tune my impression was that it was airy, like drifting or wavering. So from there the lyrics “One adrift, wandering through life” came out. This thought came to me of someone persevering at work every day, repeating the same thing every day, but having this worry, like, “isn’t there something more I want to do?” nagging at them, and that’s the person I imagined as the main character while I wrote it.
●The ending lyrics “To change tomorrow, be a hero in the way of kings! That’s me,” I wonder if that is the part that the band members themselves relate to most.
Sono: Absolutely, it’s about strength to face the future, that’s one reason why I want to sing it now. In the first sabi “I am the mundane hero! That’s me,” is totally resigned to their own fate. But, it think, “well, that’s really disappointing then.” Isn’t every person the main character in their own life? In that case, thinking like Son Goku (from “DragonBall”) “this will probably have to do with me somehow or another,” so I wrote the lyrics thinking, “I wonder, isn’t it fine that the main character simply had the right to rule, easily?”
●I bet everybody wanted to be a hero like Son Goku when they were kids, but before they know it they end up assuming “it’s impossible to become that,” right?
Because once you grow up there’s the thought that it’s a pretty tough process to try to do that, but isn’t dreaming free? I want to keep doing that myself too, so I also want to tell the listener, “it’s really fine to think this way.” That’s the meaning I’m singing about with “be a hero in the way of kings!”
●Concerning the title of “nandomeka no prologue,” are you putting the question of “I wonder, how many times do I have to start over again?” in it?
This title definitely has that meaning. The concept is that however many is really ok. Because thinking to oneself “yeah, I want to do it one more time,” is very important. I feel that if I have that thought, I can do it any number of times.
●Maybe more than the celebration of reaching the tenth anniversary of forming the band, I feel the will to go on from this point even more strongly.
Yu: That’s right. Heavy metal was our greatest weapon from the beginning, and we were also putting a number of songs into the albums up until now that were like that, but with this album we are trying to make a heavy metal themed album for the first time. I think with that meaning, it was a new challenge, yet for myself, loving heavy metal, this is a good direction for the band to be going in.
●M-7 「SYMPOSION」is an instrumental composed by Yo-san, Ayame-san, and Yu-san together, is this method also a new challenge?
Yo: We had been including an instrumental song in each full album up until now, but every one was a guitar instrumental. Having a new order now, I thought “it might be good to do the instrumental song differently from how we’ve done it up til now,” and we made this song. The challenge was for all the current member’s faces to be seen clearly. I’ll talk about a point that’s easy to understand, maybe the keyboard was taking the lead, the bass was floating and stuff, the rhythm pattern was basically the drummer’s idea and stuff, we were thinking of it from that kind of point.
●What kind of meaning did you place in the title?
Yo: This is read “Symposion” but it means “banquet” or “feast.” The song also has a feast-like mood to it, I thought, so I gave it this title. 「PANTHEON」 means “the place where heroes gather,” but more than a “place”「SYMPOSION」the nuance of “everyone getting fired up” is stronger.
●Hearing「PANTHEON」 and 「SYMPOSION」the Metal and Symphonic image is majorly gushing forth, isn’t it?...
Sono: We wanted it to have that kind of image, so we intentionally pushed it with the title 「PANTHEON」. Doesn’t it feel like we made it reek of metal!?
●Track 3 “ICARUS” is like that too somehow [metal and symphonic image], isn’t it?
Sono: Yes. And “Excalibur,” this title really wouldn’t meet it’s potential except in heavy metal, would it? *smile*
●Track 4 “Mammon Will Not Die” is pretty metal-ish too, huh.
Sono: As for “Mammon,” that is the name of the demon who rules over “greed,” which is one of the (Christian) “Seven Deadly Sins.” But I don’t think it’s wrong for “greed to exist.” Since people have it, greed should exist, so rather than hiding that, “isn’t it better to transform it to a strength?” that’s the kind of lyrics.
●Without desire, you never feel the will to rise up, something like that?
Sono: For real, just like that, yeah!
●Speaking of metal-ish metal, “Curse Of Blood” is like that too, what kind of meaning are you giving it?
Sono: The title means “curse of blood.” “Curse” could make it sound bad, but in these lyrics it’s like “the strength of inherited blood,” it represents “the strength of the blood that has struggled, through the cycle of birth and death repeating, to reach all the way to today.” The song itself has a tough forceful feeling to it, so I thought this “strength of blood” would fit well with it.
●Is there also a bit of an overlapping meaning here about the curse of continuing to lead the band for a long time, that is, the strength to press on towards the future?
Sono: Really. That certainly overlaps.
●And then, with lyrics like “lighting up the lane,” “we walk” Track - 9 「SHINE ON」 is a song that shows the meaning of continuing of your own free will at this point I guess?
Sono: This was originally made as a Christmas song, but what you said just now made me feel like it fits perfectly with everything in the album, huh?... thank you *smile.*
●With the subject of the lyrics and the style of the music I feel like it’s wrapping up the album, and saying that the finale “tomarun ja nee” is coming.
Sono: We’re trying to give a sign that “there will be a PART 2!” y’know! To end with “SHINE ON” we’d risk having a feeling of the curtain totally closing, but that’s not what we want, we really wanted to put forth the feeling that “still, still, we’re going on!”
Yu: Naturally I thought “SHINE ON” would be the final song but Sono suggested this new song order to me. When he mentioned to me “won’t it be nice if “tomarun ja nee” is the final song?” I thought “Ahh, that is nice!” I did think that it’s different from how we’ve always done it, but it fit with the “to be continued in PART 2” idea. On top of that, it ends pretty abruptly, doesn’t it? I think this “ooops, it just ended,” feeling coupled with the “I can’t wait for what’s next” feeling, is really good.
●So, you really named it 『PANTHEON -PART 1-』 with plans for “PART 2” already in mind!?
Sono: Yes. Well, somehow without planning to plan it, there is a “PART 2.” We were in the midst of making this album thinking “we can’t fit this in, can we...” Because a lot of ideas were born while we were making the current work, we needed a second part to give them form. Metal bands often do a PART 1 ~ PART 2 series, but we’ve never done this with our works before, so thinking “now is the time, this!” we decided to make a “PART 2” as well.
●So you’ll be fitting in some of the ideas that came to you during the first part, I think the band has set it up with a great first half then.
Sono: Indeed. We can already mentally go through the plot for PART 2 little by little! From here on out, we will be going around on tour, so we’re thinking we’ll work on it gradually.
●Though you haven’t announced it yet, you also have big plans for the tenth anniversary year it seems?
Sono: Finally, I’m thinking “whatever it is, let’s do it!” Of course the 10th anniversary is a happy occasion, but we are putting an emphasis on starting to “stand up as four people” now. The title of the tours this time “ZERO,” “the first,” “the second,” also follows this series concept, so as it finally takes shape, I think it will be great if everyone will celebrate the tenth anniversary.
Interview：IMAI
Assistant：室井健吾
Translated by: Ruth