On the 17th December (Wednesday) Nocturnal Bloodlust released their second full album "THE OMNIGOD" in 3 different versions: a special extreme edition, a limited edition and a regular edition. They are now currently in the final stage of their 8th nationwide ONEMAN TOUR '14 "THE IMPERIAL RULER"'. The tour final will take place on the 19th December at Ebisu LIQUIDROOM. Moreover, they are set to appear and participate in the line-up of "stylish wave CIRCUIT '14 Fuyu Shogun'" and "stylish wave COUNTDOWN '14-'15" on the 31st December that are going to take place in Shinjuku ReNy.
This time, while we were talking about the album, I asked them about their enthusiasm for both the "stylish wave CIRCUIT '14 Fuyu Shogun" and the "stylish wave COUNTDOWN '14-'15" events.
Photographs by Takehiro Suganuma / Interview by Tomonori Nagasawa/ Translated by Nocturnal Bloodlust ノクブラ - Translations
Source: https://www.club-zy.com/sp/ncbl2/index.php
This summer, NOCTURNAL BLOODLUST continued to hold performances and events all throughout the country in quite a high spirited and positive manner. By the time our readers will be able to read this article, "NOCTURNAL BLOODLUST presents the 8th nationwide ONEMAN TOUR '14 'THE IMPERIAL RULER" will be approaching its end. And also this time, fans from all around will be awaiting your performances impatiently, ne?
Cazqui: As this year we only did event tours in different places, this ONEMAN
tour turned out to be an eagerly anticipated event for us as well as our fans. I
think "explosive" just about describes the feeling we are experiencing at the
moment.
Masa: So far it's been a game of rather short performance times that are quite
typical for event tours. I think that while we were performing at these events
there were many people who had come to see our concerts for the first time.
It makes me happy that at that time, while we could only play 4 to 5 songs, we
could nevertheless get people interested in us equal to the times we manage
to create an impact on people with a full setlist. We could finally send the
band's full essence out to others. That's quite a sensation!
The tour final will be held at Ebisu LIQUIDROOM on the 19th December. That
day, there will be a certain free space made available for the fans in the live
hall. I felt like this was a very nice and considerate way of letting your fans
enjoy themselves to the fullest.
Hiro: From those who come and want to make some noise to those who
prefer following the show in a careful and slow manner, NOCTURNAL BLOODLUST's lives are there for everyone to enjoy. Therefore, we decided to divide the space and install a free space for those who want to enjoy the live excessively. We thought: "Wouldn't it be good to let people who want to make some noise actually do so?"
Speaking of NOCTURNAL BLOODLUST's concerts, I think their main characteristics are the stage performance and the fans' hot battle in the audience. Or is it not so?
Cazqui: In the case of Nocturnal Bloodlust's concerts, there are not only such people present.
Masa: During the lives, there are many different fans, each with different ways of enjoying themselves. Therefore, the fans who want to be loud and make noise should be able to do so. Still I'm happy if the people who want to watch and listen to Cazqui's guitar solo or see each members' personal technique follow the show slowly and carefully. The idea for the installation of this special free space at the live this time came from the thought of us wanting fans that plan on rampaging more violently to actually use this space and rampage to the fullest without
hesitation. To say the least, this time we wanted to give all of our fans the opportunity to enjoy the live the way they preferred, because it is, afterall, various people and not just one single person who create the environment of the live.
Natsu: And since NOCTURNAL BLOODLUST has a wide range of different types of fans, we wanted to consider all of them.
And in between, there are also people who come becausethey want to admire Hiro's physical beauty, ne.
Hiro: The people who want to see my physical beauty should fight their way through to the front and well, it's best if they admire it from down below. For those wanting to rampage rather than admire, please definitely use the free space (laughs).
Meanwhile, voices from all across the country asking for NOCTURNAL BLOODLUST to perform have surely increased in number. The one phrase we get to hear the most is "Please hold a ONEMAN!"
Masa: There surely seem to be many voices going "I want to come to your live!" from really various places. As there are much more voices than before saying that they like events, but would like to see and listen to a longer setlist, we were glad that we were able to respond to this request with our ONEMAN TOUR that began in November.
Are you also going to play the songs you recorded on the album "THE OMNIGOD" during this tour??
Cazqui: Until the official release of the album, we'll be revealing them little by little. After all, there are a lot of fans from different places who came to like NOCTURNAL BLOODLUST through the songs we played at event tours before THE OMNIGOD's release or generally through our past releases. So, to begin with, I wanted to show these fans this figure (or: side of NOCTURNAL BLOODLUST). As during the various tour events we were simultaneously confronted with statements such as "If you include this song in your setlist, it'll be great" or "If you develop it this
way, the width and depth are reflected even more in the expression", there were many pieces of music that were born thanks to these comments, most of them eventually being recorded on the new album. We accept these comments willingly while getting responses to new elements little by little.
Your second album will have already gone on sale by the time you'll be holding the concert at Ebisu LIQUIDROOM on the 19th December. Will you be revealing all the songs on it at this show?
Cazqui: I think that on the day of the tour final we'd like to show our fans the world that has been constructed within
"THE OMNIGOD".
Hiro: I would like the fans to have memorized all the songs recorded on this album which, by then, would have already been out for two days, so that at the live itself they can say "Ah! They played that song!" – I want to have this impression left within me when I think back to the day of the concert. The songs that were recorded on the THE OMNIGOD are all songs that we are able to play with confidence. Don't let the music escape your ears, especially because this album was created while always striving forward, following a goal. So I think that no matter what song you listen to, you should be able to enjoy it.
I now have a question concerning the second full album "THE OMNIGOD" itself. At the beginning of the album production, what aim was it that you were following?
Cazqui: I hear some people say that for example, in the limited time available at event lives, we are not really able to express ourselves to the fullest and up until now I also felt this coming when looking at the songs' size of amplitude. There probably may be some sort of misunderstanding that only Western music can be truly violent/h
eavy, because it doesn't have this playfulness and fun aspect to it. To somehow get rid of this image, so to say, have people open this "box" called Nokubura and discover us for themselves, it's necessary to convey our concept with one song – a song one gets to listen to by chance. Having one person listen to only one song is the biggest chance for us. A second song may be not.
For example, when wondering what type of style our music might belong to, I would like you to feel NOCTURNAL BLOODLUST's full essence in just this one song you happened to hear before. All the songs on this album have been created while constantly being aware of this.
But it's also the case that the listener is able to hear really various drumming techniques in each one of the songs.
Cazqui: If that's really the case, then it makes me really happy, ne. Compared to our previous production, "GRIMOIRE", there is no contradiction to the rich amplitude, and I think this new album gives NOCTURNAL BLOODLUST the possibility to establish a lasting impression while being passed on to others.
Your previously released singles "Strike in fact", "DESPERATE" and "Libra" are also included on the album. It's said that these three songs and especially "Libra", here arranged and recorded in an acoustic style, where recorded this way specifically to create (or: undermine) the album's expressive side, ne.
Cazqui: These three previously released singles are creations that let the nucleus of NOCTURNAL BLOODLUST shine and appear in a new light. It basically means that the current NOCTURNAL BLOODLUST's standard is included in these 3 songs and that it keeps the path NOCTURNAL BLOODLUST took this year in one piece. Therefore it was necessary to have these three title songs recorded on the album.
The second album is really full of expressive music. In between, there is also one piece, "Resurrection", which tells a story.
Cazqui: The beginning of Resurrection certainly has a new, fresh taste to it.
Beside being Hiro's idea, this was a musical piece born under great reflection.
Hiro: While alone, it came to the point where I was running out of ideas. At such
a time it so happened that the final version of the song eventually showed an
expanse to it which was more than I had expected it to have once I asked our
composers for their ideas. What I mean is that there was a certain premise to it. I
got together with Cazqui to discuss my idea of wanting to present our listeners
with a story through this song.
It was all thanks to Cazqui's input that the atmosphere you can experience at the
beginning of the song can be compared to the one people normally experience at
the beginning of a movie. It's undoubtedly the case that the depth in
"Resurrection" came forth thanks to the increase in this initial part.
Cazqui: Though originally, in the case of NOCTURNAL BLOODLUST, there were
already a lot of film-music-like approaches during the lives' musical parts and
songs themselves, in "Resurrection" we created a world with a view focussing
only on one certain aspect. Maybe something like "NOCTURNAL BLOODLUST – The movie" (laughs). Actually, you can refer to the whole album "THE OMNIGOD" this way.
Resurrection is.....the album "THE OMNIGOD" is for itself rather more like a NOCTURNAL BLOODLUST that is captured and firmly grounded in this world. This is mainly because it should become a musical piece that can help break this common impression that loud bands are always only loud and metal.
Nowadays, in regard to NOCTURNAL BLOODLUST, people around the world have an image of you being a band with an intense dark sound. As for the band itself, you don't seem to want others to only see you this way, ne.
Cazqui: Of course, we all most likely have this intense dark sound to us and we're also thankful to the people who love this side of NOCTURNAL BLOODLUST. There are many bands that have an extremely dark and good sound to them in this world. That's why we came to be very conscious of giving NOCTURNAL BLOODLUST its own certain color. We therefore want our listeners to consider the so called substance of what we want to tell them through this original style. This is what the album "THE OMNIGOD" tries to capture and picture in itself.
For us personally, it's different - with this style that incorporates the so called "scream", riffs with many metal core elements and breakdowns in between – these are all elements that make NOCTURNAL BLOODLUST what it is.
Hiro: NOCTURNAL BLOODLUST has always been labelled as a "deathcore band". We never persistently bound ourselves to the "deathcore genre", it's just that we, in our own type of way, stick to performing songs that we think are cool. As we continued to be active while constantly aiming for creating something new in an already known collection of music since the time we formed this band, there was never really a feeling of wanting to stick to only one music genre.
So, it's like this collection of music is wilfully categorized, ne?
Cazqui: Of course, while this image (by chance) also happens to be the one we are most interested in, I don't think that innately categorizing something is bad, especially when it comes to deathcore. Nevertheless, it's different when it (a style) is determined by a certain aspect or characteristic.
As for us, we want to be able to express our music freely. It is only with this feeling strong inside of us all that we keep going on. At the same time, you should be able to feel a certain firmness in the freedom of the product we
have produced.
You recorded the previously released single entitled "Libra" in an acoustic version in this album, now calling it "Libra-another scene-". This approach too, was it a necessary style (change) to show how wide an expression the band has?
Daichi: The song "Libra" has different styles in which it can be presented –
consequently, with only this song, we are able to show the width of NOCTURNAL
BLOODLUST’s expressive style. To put it short, it means that by broadening the
depth of our expressive side in this piece, we wanted to show you this other side
(of us).
It’s the same with any song actually. If we take all the different styles that can be
found in our music, then there is most definitely (and always) NOCTURNAL
BLOODLUST’s core element present in all of them. It’s rather that the band would
find it difficult to finish something if various expressive characteristics would not
be taken into consideration, so that it, in the end, in form, would represent that of
a musical piece.
"Libra" too, more than just representing the music that we had wanted our
listeners to hear, featured not only one single form, but was a creation featuring
many different approaches.
Turns out that we were able to get quite a taste of one of the many sides "Libra"
has to offer, with it having been expressed in an acoustic style this time, ne.
Daichi: With respect to "Libra-another scene-", we arranged the middle ballad more delicately this time while keeping a certain notion of a heavy sound constantly present. This is something I, for my part, would want our listeners to concentrate on.
Hiro: With an acoustic version, the possibilities of "Libra" expanded. The depth of the words "importance of life"
further increased in the new melody of "Libra –another scene-" through singing the previously in a "shout-style"
recorded title, which by the way, can be found in the original version of the song. We thought that having the listener feel this fresh breeze in this type of arrangement sure would be nice, ne.
"Libra-another scene-" sounds like a song that is very much poetic, like, overflowing with poetic
meaning, ne.
Daichi: What "Libra" should have been originally is now "Libra-another scene-". I personally have this impression.
Amongst the songs, there was also "T.Y.R.A.N.T" which incorporated some folk music elements. I listened to the dramatic as well as really expressive development of the song and while I was getting all passionate about it, I also felt some sort of thrill.
Cazqui: T.Y.R.A.N.T is a song that was born from the idea where we thought that fusing Flamenco and present day loud music (djent level) would be quite interesting. As a result, the song turned out to be a song that compiled the present NOCTURNAL BLOODLUST’s sound while also showing an approach where a passionate chorus work by women was added and a tapping rhythm was incorporated.
T.Y.R.A.N.T shows a combination of elements from various music genres, ne.
Cazqui: It also has one of my own personal music(-ality) features in it, but it’s actually a nice mix of styles that combines Nokubura’s colors with every musical element (out there). Each song was mixed with a precise and definite intention. By doing so, what I mean to say is that since it’s NOCTURNAL BLOODLUST and there is no other band out there like us, we are able to show and create a new type of music.
Of course.
Cazqui: As for the maker (me), it turns out to be somewhat an easy task as I use a template when I create songs that our similar to the ones I came up with in the past. But, isn’t it a betrayal in regard to the listener if, in order for the template to be supported, I demand stability there and don’t challenge myself at all? That’s what I thought to myself.
Didn't you experience some sort of fresh taste when you listened to your favourite artist for the first time and thought to yourself: "Who's that band?? They're good!" I think to be able to continue giving people this same taste of freshness is the most important thing of all for a band. For this, till the very end, I don't want to forget to keep this challenging posture upright.
Among the recorded songs there is also "DEAD END" that, admittedly, attacks its listener quite loudly. So in the end, this way of expressing yourself, was it also a necessary step in order to express what the band NOCTURNAL BLOODLUST was all about?
Masa: That's right. After all, since it's an album, shouldn't it show the whole width of expressions we have to offer? There was some sense of reality that was born in form of a full length album once I incorporated my own specific loud sound to the song while, at the same time, Cazqui and Daichi could freely express themselves here. In other words, writing the song like this was also a necessary expressive act to be able to express what we as NOCTU
RNAL BLOODLUST really are.
There are many people who are fascinated by this loud expressivness, ne.
Masa: We are too - we simply love this sound. While firmly defending songs of such a genre, we continue expressing more and more different forms and melodies with new aspects to them. Normally, a band that conforms itself to the so called "loud style" doesn't stop at just being "loud". Of course we, since we too are a part of this so called loud style, don't keep it quiet, but we also have various other ways of expressing ourselves.
What I mean to say is that we, above trying to express ourselves in the best way possible, have a certain balance of power. That's why we were able to create such songs like "T.Y.R.A.N.T", which incorporates folk music elements in it as well as "Punch me if you can" - one piece that is really specific in this "loud genre".
We'renot a band that can only express itself in one single way, we can do so in many various and different ways. This is what NOCTURNAL BLOODLUST is really all about.
Cazqui: I mean, of course, we members are engaged in this kind of music, but we are also well aware of the fact that this type of music style is quite saturated, especially once you listen to the various songs already present in the loud music scene. "What are we able to do, what must be there?" - with this in mind, we continue pursuing our career as musicians.
I think to myself that I'd like to push this band's loud music to a state where we won't ever lose to the quality of what other bands out there produce. I really want this wish to become reality.
This album, "THE OMNIGOD", was created with a feeling of wanting to be able to confidently say that yes, this sound you can here here is something you've never heard before anywhere else. Therefore, while proudly sticking out my chest, I want to send THE OMNIGOD out to the world.
Natsu, when speaking of the album „THE OMNIGOD", what type of impression do you have of it?
Natsu: It’s something that doesn’t change over a long period of time. I strongly
believe that also this time,it’s a piece containing music that would nicely fit our
live performances. When we recorded it this time, I thought about this aspect,
but the album generally already contains songs that steadily rise in tension. As
for this, it basically means that we made various changes to the expressions in
each musical piece while reflecting on how we could control the different
sounds – sounds once present in one song while completely being left out in
another. This time, we could proceed with the album production in greater
detail since we put a lot of thought into the detailed production of each song.
Of course a lot of different technical stuff had to be taken into consideration.
Let’s take "DEAD END" for example, whose tense image intensely immerges
through its performance at a live - it’s definitely not a song that is difficult to
play live and even so, while listening to it, you are still able to experience a yet
unknown taste of NOCTURNAL BLOODLUST. Even though the drum solo (or:
phrase) of our title song GENESIS was very difficult, when I went to the studio
with the original composer of the song, Cazqui, I really started to like it since it
turned out to be a song on which we worked with extreme detail, not leaving
our posts (till it was ready).
Why did you decide to make GENESIS the lead track for this album?
Masa: In the recent album THE OMNIGOD, we, to tell you the truth, put GENESIS in the center of the world view that can be found in the lyrics and from there on, the album developed into many stories, all spreading from this one song in a spin-off type of way. Apart from the song aspect, when Cazqui came up with GENESIS, all the members strongly agreed that only this could be used as the title song of the album.
Daichi: When we heard it, we all willingly agreed that the form (of the song) was nice, ne.
Masa: I think that it really gets to you once you listen to it. More than anything, our musical elements are all tightly packed into this one song. The total balance of different view points and sides to this song is also extremely good and it manages to portray the world view that Hiro had wanted to show through it. And that’s why, with all of us agreeing on making GENESIS the title track of the album and by thinking about how good it would be if we could transmit all of NOCTURNAL BLOODLUST’s feelings we had wanted to portray as well as our intentions, it turned
out to be like this.
There was a story about how, in the lyrics, the word GENESIS had a central meaning.
Hiro: So it has. In this album "THE OMNIGOD", the world view that was central to the lyrics is all described in the term GENESIS. And in this similar manner, many various stories spread from this one song.
I’m really interested in the contents of the song.
Hiro: GENESIS is a word that means "origin", "the book of GENESIS" and "the creation of the world". It is said that god judges people and this is exactly what is being described in GENESIS. Moreover, I also included this thought of why god judges people in other lyrics. One such reference can be found in "I-V-III" – this time, a story of how people revolt against god was drawn and recorded in this song. In other words, in this creation called GENESIS, with a god who created people, a foolish story of people who were created by god is depicted in it.
Speaking of this war between god and man, isn’t it a considerably big story (to tell)?
Hiro: That’s right, ne, but I don’t think that god is a sovereign person (original: absolute existence). According to the song, it describes god's anger towards the stupidity of wars between human beings. God is never (seen as) "justice"/"right". In some way, I also sing about people and the same incompleteness that can be found in all of them. While opening this scroll (= album), I think you will be able to enjoy the songs recorded on it.
The opening instrumental song „Gottmord" and „Punch me if you can" that follows shortly after really give the listener quite a horrifying/terrible shock. And this continuous rough attack also, after all, was a result of some thought put behind it, no?
Masa: That...well, of course!
Cazqui: I wanted to give people that shocking BANG-moment once they pressed the play button (with a click) on the CD!
Masa: My speakers at home were about to explode (laughs).
While the first half of the album intensely attacks its listener, the second half shows various expressions music-wise until it finally reaches the last song that peacefully closes the curtain in a nice flow – that’s the type of form that
was created here, ne.
Hiro: And in the last song, the heart is purified.
Cazqui: With the second song of the album, Punch me if you can, all the things standing in the vicinity of my speakers at home exploded while I listened to it and I barely made it to the last song (laughs).
Daichi: There might be a possibility that there are people who don’t listen to the full album (in one go), no??....because their stereo system exploded earlier on (laughs).
On to "Linaria", a beautiful and lovely song all in Japanese and the last song that was recorded on the album. For the final stage of the album, it turned into a composition giving off a very peaceful expression, ne.
Masa: Linaria really is a song that gives you an end-roll type of feeling. When you listen to it, you (instantly) want to return to the first song. With this flow, I think it really turned into a nice album.
Speaking of the already finished 2nd album THE OMNIGOD, what impression do you have of it, Masa?
Masa: It turned out to be quite a nice album as we sped up with the release pace. Continuing to produce the same work is out of the question - it’s always important to present our listeners with something fresh. This year, we also released our 3 consecutive singles in the course of 3 months and just like that time, this album was also done in a high paced manner. Of course, I think that this OMNIGOD album was also a product that was able to bring in some fresh taste judging by its end result.
Daichi: All together, it also seems to have managed this (= bringing in some fresh taste) through the world view depicted in the lyrics that were all diffused. I think that this album "THE OMNIGOD" is a product that represents a collection of short films that are centred around one theme . In order for each view on a song to be different, each song had different supervisors taking turns in its creation with the megaphone and with that, the various stories we were all able to create areall concentrated in the very base of the title THE OMNIGOD.
And so it became such a rich piece of work.
Masa: We, by all means, use Daichi’s SEs for the beginning of our songs and also at the beginning of our live performances. As for that certain meaningful push that is present in his works, this time it's yet again brought to you in the form of the more than worthy to listen to finalized music composition "Gottmord" ...
Daichi: And with the following "Punch me if you can", all of your stuff will explode in the first three seconds of the song (laughs).
Masa: Punch me if you can is a song that I wrote. As for its title – "Punch me if you can" first was temporary, but then we decided to use it as the official one, ne. The initial title would have been "I’d hit you if I could", but then I/we thought: "Wouldn’t it be a bit too direct/straightforward?" (laughs)
Daichi: Seeing as the impact of words surely is strong, ne.
Masa: But the lyrics Hiro wrote for that song didn’t change very much from then on and so we eventually decided to use the temporary title as the official one.
(stay tuned for part 4 of the interview!)
