Getting an album from a Japanese band for a review is nearly impossible, let alone getting an interview with one of the band members. Fortunately, there’s always something like the internet. One email to MAGISTINA SAGA was enough for the review and a second resulted in an interview with singer Iori. Their new, fourth album “Blood Moss Agate” is coming out on January 22nd via Starwave Records. We had a chat with Iori about that remarkable album.
Hello Iori, nice to meet you. We don’t get to interview members from Japanese metal bands too often, so please introduce yourself and the others in the band.
“Hello, my name is Iori and I am the vocalist of a Japanese band called MAGISTINA SAGA. MAGISTINA SAGA is a mixed-gender four piece band consisting of Iori (vocals), Urugi (guitar), Mirei (bass), and Mira (drums). When we first started we were a visual-kei band, but after changing members we are currently active in a wide range of metal and rock styles.”MAGISTINA SAGA is not an average Japanese metal band like Lovebites, Band-Maid or Bridear. Besides, you have a male guitarist named Urugi. How would you describe the sound of MAGISTINA SAGA?
“MAGISTINA SAGA is currently more of a symphonic rock band than a pure metal band. The sound of the songs is made by incorporating elements of modern metal and melodies that are easy to listen to, like Japanese Jpop and anime songs.”When somebody listens to your new album “Blood Moss Agate” and clicks on the play button, the first song that person hears is the instrumental title track, which sounds like steampunk metal a la Fate Gear.
“Every MAGISTINA SAGA album always begins with an instrumental. At live performances, the members appear to the stage during this song. “Blood Moss Agate” is inspired by
game music, so it may be similar to Fate Gear in that respect.”
Next song “Chain Of Causality” is of a total different caliber. Here you mix nu-metal, industrial metal and gothic metal with progressive metal. Can you give us an insight of who wrote this song and what the lyrics are about?
“I wrote the lyrics to this song. The lyrics are based on a story I read a long time ago, and I interpreted the feelings of the characters in the story in my own way. The lyrics depict the deep affection of a person who is tossed about by an inescapable fate, but in the end tries to carry out his or her single-minded love.”
Listening to “Blood Riding Psycho” and “Luna Ring”, one word comes to my mind: chaos! But when you listen closer, you hear it’s all very cleverly done. Your task is to rein in all the runaway instruments with your voice. Does that sound about right?
“Urugi, the composer, likes that kind of music, and we have made it so that all the elements combine to make one. It is true that the core of the song becomes more prominent with the addition of the vocals, and the shadows and lights are highlighted in the finished product.”
“Trinity Blaster” is much more structured with a drum and guitar solo. Same goes for “Voltage” with a really nice shredding guitar piece from Urugi and lovely vocals by yourself. Next is “かざした手”, what does the title mean in English? And do you sing part of the chorus in English?
“It is “Holding My Hand To The Sky.” Mira, the composer and our drummer, gave the title to this song, which suggests: “I wonder what the meaning of life is”. As she looks up at the sky,
she holds up her hand and thinks: “I wish someone would grab this hand and rescue me.” The first part of the chorus is indeed in English. This was done also because Mira requested me to do so.”
After the pretty standard gothic metal song “Regret”, the album closes with the fairly quiet “Lament”. Also the only track so far that has a music video. Are you going to bring out more videos off the album before the release?
“The music video for “Regret” will be released prior to the album’s official release. We hope many people will watch it when it is released.”In short, “Blood Moss Agate” is an interesting album that starts fiercely, but gradually enters calmer waters. It sure needs more than one spin to dig into the music and Japanese lyrics, but after a while the listener will appreciate both. The big question is, will we ever see MAGISTINA SAGA live outside Japan?
“In the past, we have performed as guests at the Animethon convention in Canada and at the Metal Female Voices Fest in Belgium, one of the world’s largest metal events for female voices only. We have no plans to perform overseas in the future. However, we are still working on our activities with overseas live performances in mind, so if there are any overseas event organizers who read this interview and are interested in MAGISTINA SAGA, we would be very happy to hear from them!” ■
Henk van Nieuwenhoven