One of our most anticipated albums of the year is the long-awaited debut from Ibaraki, the black-metal collaborative project of Trivium frontman Matt Kiichi Heafy and Emperor vocalist-guitarist Insahn. After teasing the collaboration for years, Heafy finally revealed last summer that their debut record was complete, and today (January 21st) we're getting a taste of what it sounds like. As we hoped, lead single "Tamashii No Houkai" it's brutal as hell.
Although Heafy's music in Trivium draws from numerous strains of metal including metalcore, thrash and prog, black-metal isn't really present in their sound, so hearing the vocalist-guitarist unleash pained roars over grinding blast-beats and whirring leads is pretty damn wild. There're still a couple clean choruses that'll feel familiar to diehard Trivium fans, but overall it's a way heavier, darker approach that we can't wait to hear more of. Check it out above via YouTube.
"'Tamashii No Houkai' means 'the breaking of the soul' or 'soul collapse," Heafy, who is of Japanese heritage, explained. "It's a Japanese term that didn't exist before, but one we forged to reflect the song's meaning. 'Tamashii No Houkai' is co-written by Ihsahn — the legend behind Emperor and a musician who has been a longtime influence and mentor to so much that I do in music. The writing of this song was the turning point for Ibaraki — it summarized everything from the past, present, and future of what I thought black metal was, is, and could be."
