Last month, we finally heard the brutal first single from Ibaraki, the black-metal project of of Trivium frontman Matt Kiichi Heafy and Emperor vocalist-guitarist Insahn. The band's long-awaited debut is one of our most anticipated albums of the year, and today (February 18th) the duo have unveiled that it's called Rashomon and that it'll be released May 6th via Nuclear Blast. What's more, Heafy has dropped another, even heavier single from the record called "Akumu" that features vocals from Behemoth frontman Adam "Nergal" Darski.
While the the last Ibaraki single, "Tamashii No Houkai," combined whirring black-metal assaults with the type of clean choruses Heafy sings in Trivium, this one is much more extreme. Most of the vocals are completely unclean, and although there're several blast-beat sections, there're also a couple utterly gnarly groove parts that bring to mind Meshuggah and other bands with walloping rhythms. Nergal is a natural guest here and it's got us even more stoked to hear the full record. Listen above while you watch its freaky music video.
"'Akumu' translates to 'nightmare' — and with this piece, I encourage the listener to work to find their interpretations of what they feel from the lyrics, music, and the haunting visuals of the music video," Heafy said. "I have always been fascinated by Sagazan's 'Transfiguration,' and for years, I have wanted to pay homage to his works with a performance art piece; to finally be able to immerse myself in his style was an intense experience."
He continued, "Having Nergal guest in this Ihsahn co-written piece allowed me to combine many of my long-time influences; and when I presented with Nergal of the challenge of translating my lyrics into Polish, it brought the song to another level."
Rashomon is out May 6th via Nuclear Blast and it's available for pre-order here. See the cover art and track listing below.
Rashomon track listing:
"Hakanaki Hitsuzen"
"Kagutsuchi"
"Ibaraki-Dōji"
"Jigoku Dayū"
"Tamashii No Houkai"
"Akumu" (Feat. Nergal)
"Komorebi"
"Rōnin" (Feat. Gerard Way)
"Susanoo No Mikoto" (Feat. Ihsahn)
"Kaizoku"
