For me, the release of the debut album of Trivium frontman Matt Heafy turned out to be good news. I remember that a long time ago Heafy took part in various bands (including the black metal band Mindscar), pursuing slightly different traditions that differ from the main project. However, all this was not very noticeable to the general public, and many of his side projects were generally ignored.
Thirteen years ago, Heafy, armed with an appropriate pseudonym, created a demo in black style and sent it to his idol, vocalist Emperor. By the way, Isan liked the work.
The musician has had a love for black metal and fantasy themes since his youth. In addition, his mother is a native Japanese and addiction to this culture and, especially mythology, made itself felt. This is what led to the creation of Ibaraki.
If we talk about the genre of the studio work, then the music here is sustained in the following styles: prog metal/melodic black metal/folk/sympho-metal.
Interestingly, but not surprisingly, Ibaraki includes Matt's Trivium colleagues. And to be more precise - the composition is identical. Accordingly, the original idea to do something similar to Darkthrone, early Dimmu Borgir and Emperor grew into something else. Something more coherent and powerful (IMHO). However, the music itself is very strongly reminiscent of Trivium.
The lyrical component represents Matt's Japanese heritage. He used Japanese folklore and mythology as a monolith on the record, and Ibaraki (the band's name) is the name of a Japanese demon.
The song "Kagutsuchi" tells the story of the god of the same name, whose mother was burned in flames at his birth and died. In grief, his father cut his son into eight pieces, which later became volcanoes. And Kagutsuchi's blood dripping from the sword gave rise to various deities who came to our world. The musical component of the song is quite strong, melodic and multi-layered, and the entire timeline feels the darkness that permeates the history of Kagutsuchi.
The story of "Jigoku Dayū" is about an infernal courtesan. When her father was killed, she fell into slavery and was soon sold into a brothel. Taking the name Jigoku, she became a monk's apprentice, beginning to wear a kimono adorned with bones.
In lyrical terms, each composition is quite emotional, deep, well thought out and subsequently realized. The album is not just black metal mixed with Trivian metalcore. An amazing and rich arrangement allowed Matthew Heafy to make an amazing album. The work is not sustained in the traditions of black metal, as it was intended, but this is good. This is something more, something personal, emotional, catchy and memorable.