Gekirock
2017.04.07
Members: 苑 Sono (Vocal) 燿 Yo (Bass) 悠 Yu (Drums) 彩雨 Ayame (Key)
Interviewer：杉江 由紀
The penetrating high tone vocals, resounding with powerful cries. The band sound, a profoundly magnificent presence, like wall of iron. Celebrating their 10th anniversary this year, it’s Matenrou Opera. The extraordinary determination they carry has huge results in the magnificently polished completion of their new album 『PANTHEON -PART 1- 』. Hasn’t it been less than a year with the new lineup? Not claiming that it’s been smooth sailing in the least, but dealing with an unexpected turn of events, choosing to tread strongly and surely, to continue to make progress forward, they brought it forth, nothing less than the distinctive Matenrou Opera, elegantly hovering heavy metal. Having the meaning “the gathering place of heroes,” the present work emits a radiance, honestly dazzling beauty!
-To commemorate their 10th year, Matenrou Opera is bringing a full album, PANTHEON-PART 1- to perfect completion. Considering how just last year, in October, you put out the mini-album PHOENIX RISING, introducing the sound of the new lineup, and now you’re here, it seems you’re creating this work at a pretty high pace.
Sono: All along! this work has been chasing us, y’know (smile). This time, PANTHEON - PART 1- simply happened to flow directly from the previous work, PHOENIX RISING, in that way I’d say we just gathered momentum making songs and recording. I’d say this album was made on the concept, “let’s make the heavy-metal we can make with these four people now.”
-That being said, at the time you were composing, what kind of things were you conscious of?
Ayame: Since we became this four person set, there are areas where our creative method came to have a simpler form, y’know. For example, around the time of ChiKyu (album released January of 2016), we were seriously obsessing over the change-up (baseball pitch that changes speeds) kind of approach, however, from PHOENIX RISING on out, we’ve started taking quite the opposite vector, song composition has gotten simpler, and we’re making songs in a more direct way. Well, strictly speaking, we still carefully place the change-up in lots of different little spots, for sure (smile). But overall I think that’s become more like a pinch of salt to bring out the hidden flavor.
Sono: In my case, at least, it took on the form of the heavy metal that I like, y’know. In particular, we focused on a beautiful melody above all. Because my personal view of metal is quite biased, just melodic speed metal is the best for me! (smile) And so now, as much as Matenrou Opera can, we made heavy metal having the best melody and furious sound.
-Indeed. In that way, it’s really centered on what you can do with Matenrou Opera style heavy metal compositions, so how did the rhythm crew manage?
Yo: They say one word “heavy-metal” but for practical purposes there’s a lot of particular specialties in it, and I think people have a lot of different ways of thinking about it! Nevertheless, among us four people Sono was saying that, and also “keep thinking about the beautiful melody as the axis,” was the point we had a common understanding about. That was an important concept for me too while arranging, and in how I played. That said, though, I often enjoy listening to the so-called Western melodic speed metal and such, but this time, concerning the bass in PANTHEON -PART 1- it was the other way, I felt “I don’t want to make it too much like THAT,” you know, I was thinking like that too. So, I made the sound feeling like “I want to keep doing it more in my own style.”
- So, in Matenrou Opera’s signature style, you were pursuing originality.
Yo: In particular, since we got into the current regime, without the former member on guitar, we began thinking about how to arrange music from the bass, y’know. Of course, that being said, we do have tunes starting with the guitar riffs too, and in those cases we asked the person who gave us support at live concerts, JaY-kun, to contribute, and matched the bass’ sound to that. Furthermore, there are songs that play chase, where I arrange from the bass, and the guitar keeps flying into there, attacking in pursuit (smile).
-So then, concerning the drum department, the foundation holding up that bass, how did this concept seem for you the time, Yu-san?
Yu: Awhile back, Sono was saying the same thing, like “we made our own favorite, heavy metal,” and this time in PANTHEON - PART 1- , well in the previous work PHOENIX RISING and onward, I also put in a lot of the drum sound of the kind of music I like to listen to. That is, previously in AVALON (the album released in 2014) and ChiKyu, it seems we’d grown a bit unyielding with the dramatic sound, and in that case, there’s some good to that, but if there are a lot of fast songs the sound from playing the single strike rock drum-phrases can really shine. This time, well, like when Ayame made the original steps of “AM6:00 ni shinro wo tore” (Track.6), there is a 2 pattern with the sabi having double bass on both sides, and outside that, there are many songs which call for the double-bass, and the result was that for every song the arrangement fit the best, I think, turned out to be like a “simple yet basically double-bass drum,” kind of feeling. (smile)
-AM6:00 ni shinro wo tore strikes me as extremely dynamic, having double-bass drum and a bassline playing simultaneously too.
Yo: As far as this song, I played the bass, daring to not match with the double-bass drum. I came closer to the vocal part in this song than to the drum.
Sono: You often have the same tempo as the vocal part during the sabi* too, right?
*translation note: “Sabi,” often translated “hook” (or incorrectly as “rust”) is the strong point of the song. The word sabi may come from “wasabi,” the Japanese horseradish which is also intense, or sabi may come from the haiku term “sabi,” meaning the most beautiful part of the haiku which gives a sense of melancholy and wonder. This word is a lot more charming than “hook,” so let’s use it!
-Still more, as for AM6:00 ni shinro wo tore (Get on Course! at 6:00AM) the world of those lyrics has a dreadfully real atmosphere, I think that is extremely interesting. Would you kindly let us in on how you matched this lyrical concept with this melody, please?
Sono: No problem, well, from the start it’s not like I was thinking “let’s write reality style lyrics!” or something. When I got the tune and listened to it, I made the lyrics that flowed naturally, that’s all there is to say. (smile)
-Usually college students and business professionals get up around 6:00AM. A rock musician putting out lyrics with this point of view is a little unexpected.
Sono: Nah nah, I get up! Bandomen are getting up at 6:00AM too. (smile)
-Whoa, how cool. I’m often hearing talk like they go to bed at 6:00AM......
Yo: It was almost 6:00AM when I went to bed today. (smile)
Sono: Well, maybe I got up to swap out for Yo (hahaha)
Yu: I got up at 6:00AM today too!
Ayame: Y’know, 6:00AM is so earlyyyy. Today, I got up around 8:00AM.
- Same band, yet the lifestyle of the members differs. (smile)
Sono: At least, every day I get up somewhere between 6 and 8 o’clock, definitely. As long as I have my alarm clock, I get up around then.
- That is like a healthy endeavor, isn’t it?
Sono: Well, it’s more that, at night I’m drinking sake and I get sleepy relatively early on, so I go ahead and lay down, so then it turns out that I generally get up around that time. (smile)
Yu: In this band, we rehearse in the morning a lot of times too, eh. And so, I often tend to go to bed around 10 in the evening too.
Yo: You guys, early to bed early to rise, huh. (smile)
-Now, let’s get back to the main topic from here. Regarding the title tune of the current work PANTHEON -PART 1- , “PANTHEON” (Track.1), being recorded, the tune and the words are in Sono-san’s hands here. Was it created from the start? That is, I wonder, was there a feeling ahead of time that this will surely be the title song? Or, was there another song that was made to be title song at the start that was beaten out by it?
Sono: This time, first off, when the discussion turned to “let’s make a heavy metal album,” all the members talked about it. At that time, we were saying “if that’s the case, didn’t we have any songs we were making before that fit, y’know?” we dragged it out, and for sure, it was this PANTHEON. But the thing is I made it partway as long as three years ago and left it alone like that all that time, huh (smile). It seems that Yo was kindly fond of it from back then, “let’s do this one too!” he told me. With that, I did the arrangement once again, and because of the big sabi (strong point) getting included, it became like “that’s the right song for the title tune, alright.”
Yu: Originally, that song was made at the time of AVALON wasn’t it?
Yo: That’s right! That whole time, I was thinking about the original tune like “the melody is terribly awesome, y’know” and I really liked it. It stayed on my mind all along, though now the arrangement has changed a lot from there, I’m so glad it’s been able to take on this form at last.
- As for PANTHEON’s arrangement, what kind of aspect did Ayame-san have to keep in mind?
Ayame: To put it briefly, I wanted to give it a highly colored mood. When we were doing PHOENIX in PHOENIX RISING, I also gave it a highly colored mood with flamboyant synth sound. I think, by putting brass sounds and such into that song too, we were able to deliciously elicit something that goes forward powerfully on it’s own, weren’t we?
Yu: This time, as a result of the premise of putting it into a heavy metal album, it became more majestic compared to the original song, y’know. With the drums too, the word I got from Sono was “at the climax of the song, it’s just great to do it completely with all your heart, ain’t it?” I tried to ganbatte (be tenacious) a bit here (smile).
Ayame: At this final part, the various drum patterns you put out in succession sure are interesting, huh. I think that sense of chaos is good. Like a revolving lantern,* it feels like various scenes going around.
*a revolving lantern is a display of one paper lantern within another, which had scenes cut into it and turned. Nowadays it is also to describe a near death moment when your “life flashes before your eyes.”
Yu: To be honest, I got that idea from Sono too, “it would be ok if you mix up the drums there, wouldn’t it?” “Aaah, is that so? Indeed!” and like the scales fell from my eyes. I thought that was a fresh and terribly interesting opinion, taking a look at the sound from outside the drummer’s point of view, don’t you think so?
- Meanwhile, as far as PANTHEON’s vocalization, I wonder what part Sono-san paid special attention to.
Sono: From A-melody on through the big sabi, it’s the drama, right? Because it’s crucial to convey the song’s dramatic nature, even just through the singing, so in the A-melody I set my throat like for talking, and then it unfolds from there, through to the big sabi; by that point I’m doing it “opera style” deep and spreading wide, while singing powerfully.
- Looks like Matenrou Opera’s name is not just for show, huh.
Sono: Most likely, from getting to read this article and then listen to PANTHEON, I think the meaning of what I said can basically be understood. “Ah, that’s what he’s talking about”
-By the way, about PANTHEON’s lyrics, it seems like there are various parts that link with Matenrou Opera’s present condition. That is, does it have non-fiction elements, to some extent, might I catch that?
Sono: Yes, in these words there were a ton of parts practically just like you said. The main point, “there’s really a hero in you, so trusting it, let’s go ahead freely,” that’s the object of these lyrics, and the admiration for the particular strength to fight that heroes have is in here too. It exists within right now, there’s some tiny bit of courage there or pride, it could be called hope, it might be just a single beam of light, but from here I most certainly want to keep going, I want to bolster it, so in the future to gain the strength of a what society calls a hero, to be become a steady presence to lead, to pull everybody, the members and fans together, that is the wish I have for myself.
- So there a relation of the place, [PANTHEON] meaning “sacred temple” to accomplishing that aim...?
Sono: So it seems, there’s the meaning of temple for “PANTHEON,” there’s also the meaning “gathering place of heroes.” And so, for me, that’s where I got the word “PANTHEON,” so more than “temple” I was using that other meaning.
- So it was like that?
Sono: So, in saying “PANTHEON,” there is the place I must face and go towards, and at the same time as far as Matenrou Opera there’s a place we should go, and naturally we want it to be a place all the fans want to come together too! The song title comes from this meaning, and it’s essential to the album title too.
- Originally, the word “PANTHEON” has it’s origins in Roman mythology, additionally, Greek mythology shows up in this album with 「ICARUS」(Track 3) having this 登場人物 motif and also the song「Excalibur」（Track.5）has a connection to British アーサー王伝説 Arthurian Legend Somehow, the album itself is feels like a work completed on a magnificently grand scale, don’t you think.
Ayame: The instrumental 「SYMPOSION」（Track.7）is from the Greek language too, eh.
Sono: But, well, all the locations are unplanned, each one just turned out like it did by chance.
- For 「SYMPOSION」 all the members of the instrument-party are credited by name for coming up with that composition, how was that song composed?
Ayame: Yo laid this song’s foundation for us “I want to do the instrumentation like this,” Yu attached the rhythm to this, I did the arrangement on top of that, it took shape like that.
Yu: Doing the sound among us, like “huh? it’s not like this!?” and like, “that clashes,” there was some of that as we were feeling it out along the way, but I’m glad that somehow or another we were able to make something interesting.
Yo: Wow, the mood making it with everyone was awesome. So far, I kinda got the feeling that I was able to do the instrumental a little different than a guitar instrumental.
Sono: It’s like a jam session, it really turned out to be an interesting instrumental, huh.
-Who gave “SYMPOSION” it’s title?
Ayame: It was totally Yo.
Yo: Where does this feast image come from? It really came from, like, the feeling of everyone’s excitement building up, y’know. I was searching for a word like that, and I came upon the word that was just right:“SYMPOSION,” meaning feast. It really fit into the album’s worldview for me too.
Sono: And then, the ending of this 「SYMPOSION」and the entrance into the next song “nandomeka no prologue” (Track 8), are really well connected by the bassline.
Yo: Or, how should I say, originally having the riffs of “nandomeka no prologue,” the instrumental was possible from there, it might be right to put it that way, y’know?
-So then, “nandomeka no prologue” was composed by Yo-san and Sono-san together, is that so?
Yo: I think the color of this particular song, out of the whole album, has a bit of a different mood. Maybe cause we were making this song before this album’s “heavy metal” theme was decided, eh? Looking at it on a grand scale, the song has a manly hard rock element, so you could say it seems HR/HM overall, so it can just barely squeak into this category, I guess, right?
-In “nandomeka no prologue” rain and tears overlap, I felt the lyrics are sensitive and nuanced. When there’s a negative situation, how do you go on from there, the lyrics’ theme is like that, right?
Sono: Absolutely, it sure is. When something happens, it’s important to go on from there, right? Even when there’s no other way, just through the way of thinking, humans can grow positive so much! I believe it’s precisely because I truly felt that way myself, that these lyrics came to have that kind of substance.
- So to speak, this also is nonfiction again concerning Sono-san and Matenrou Opera, huh?
Sono: Things like the part in the first line “walk with my back hunched over” are totally me. *smile*
- So, as it gets to that, perhaps the lyrics of 「Excalibur」 too...
Sono: Aaaah, you’ve got it, my feelings now are that very thing, y’know? This part within, the “let’s go! let’s do it! do it!” mode, has grown frightfully strong. *smile* That’s why this time the album has an extremely heavy metal sound and such, that’s why the words are recklessly, outrageously positive.
- In the ultimate song on the album, “tomarun ja nee” (Track 10), the message is honestly this very thing as well, is it not?
Sono: Concerning this album, we really did not want to “cleanly drop the curtain.” From here, we ain’t stoppin’, we’re gonna continue, I really wanted to convey that kind of positive, forward facing feeling, even at the end of the album.
- In positive terms, I feel there’s a powerful purpose to the lyrics of 「Mammon Will Not Die」（Track.4）as well. But first, regarding the sound, at the beginning here Ayame-san said “putting the change-up in lots of different little spots, like a pinch of salt to bring out the hidden flavor,” I think this song turned out to be fresh like that.
Ayame: Listening to it naturally, I guess I did things mostly like usual, but on top of Pro Tools, the way I did the tempo does change up the song a little bit, doesn’t it.
- Putting the little change-ups in the tempo, did you make the drummer cry with this song?
Yu: At first it was a little tough *laughs.* But, somehow or another it seems I managed to do it just fine, huh?
Ayame: I don’t know what you’re talking about, I would think you’d want to headbang to this song as usual, *smile.*
Yu: It’s really the type of song where the composer has a big grin on his face, huh?
- As for this song’s lyrics, how did they come about?
Sono: I felt that the music had a demonic mood to it, so I made the motif Mammon, the demon who signifies, among the seven deadly sins, the greed to pursue wealth. However, to me, since I’m thinking “Mammon” is not really a bad thing, the theme is a demon yet the substance is extremely positive, right? So called “desire” undoubtedly moves people, I think it probably turns out to be a basic driving force really, hmmm.
Yu: Perseverance for something you want, there’s something like that for everyone.
Ayame: I want money, it’s my favorite, lol.
Yo: Indeeeeed. “Mammon” shows up in a lot of video games. What! this is a demon? I just began to understand the story when Sono talked about it, lol.
- You have been recording music that has an overwhelming presence. For example, with how metal the sound aspect is, with Sono-san’s piercing shout from the beginning in 「Curse Of Blood」（Track.2), in this we hear the most discernibly metal song in the present work, I think. Yet even while following the heavy metal formula, the magnificent soundscapes of Matenrou Opera seem to dance, it’s a wondrous thing.
Sono: While making the album this time, there was one thing that really became clear. It turns out, shouts and high tone and such are so suited to heavy metal because they’re just born that way, y’know. I have a powerful impression that this kind of thing might be the result of overflowing emotions and stuff, surging feelings that we want to convey.
Yu: The double bass barrage and stuff too, it’s definitely something like that, eh. For 「ICARUS」 I’m doing like a three hit barrage and stuff too, I think if it weren’t for metal I probably wouldn’t want to do all that, lol. But, there’s some real meaning to that.
- Furthermore, however furious, however heavy, there’s always an elegant grace drifting on Matenrou Opera’s sound, don’t you think? That is absolutely what we’ve come to expect, and I think this time you really put it to the test.
Sono: Wow, really? I feel that same thing too. I dare say it could be because we’re doing it with a little bit of a different sense than the usual metal bands, I guess. Of course, that’s not to deny the virtues of the heavy metal band. Somehow, the distinctive, delicate virtues of Matenrou Opera doing visual kei come through in the sound.
- On the occasion of Matenrou Opera’s 10th anniversary, in『PANTHEON -PART 1-』, you’ve accomplished a really aggressive, yet positive album, it’s very significant, isn’t it.
Sono: The determination to earnestly push through keeps growing, I think this album suggests that exactly. Also, at the live concerts coming up, I want for us and everyone to enjoy sharing these songs together. Every day from now on, we are really looking forward to it.
Translated by: Ruth