Long delayed: my own thoughts on the album
In paradisum
This dramatic SE intro is better than Mana's usual intros - not much more to say than that. And who wouldn't want to be "guarded by wizards"?
The Seventh Veil
An especially strong introductory passage here sets the tone for this song (and much of the album in general): a successful synthesis and evolution of various elements from Moi dix Mois' history. Along with the aggressive guitar (and some cool solos) from the new-model Moi dix Mois, we have the welcome return of the continuo and a more dynamic, theatrical feel than we had in DIXANADU. The metal elements integrate nicely with this to create a powerful lead-off track.
My only quibble (here and throughout the album) is that Seth's screaming is really irritating. It's not enough to wreck any of the songs, but I just don't like it.
Witchcraft
One of my favorites, this song about a witches' sabbath was a lot of spooooky fun. You can tell Mana enjoyed writing this one and incorporating some of his favorite reading materials
Seth's vocals work perfectly here to create an atmosphere of elegant yet ominous eroticism in the chorus, and the electronic/metal verses deliver a dose of noisy loudness that is just enough to drive the impact home without becoming tiresome. Well done.
The SECT
A pretty straightforward song - again, striking pretty much the right balance between metal and lyricism. Strength and intensity are the keywords here.
Divine Place
It's a beautiful thing when a lord of darkness falls... in love~
While it's not the title track, and arguably not even the #1 best track, I think this is the heart of the album. We have here a mix of high grandeur and intense ardor - while the obvious comparison is to "bara no seidou" because of the return of the organs and female chorus, I would classify it as something else altogether. Much more of a hopeful song compared to "Xanadu" on the previous album which I think is the closest thing to it.
Pendulum
Continuing in the same dramatic vein from "Divine Place", we have a song conveying great power, yet also great restraint - deliberate but not clumsy, languorous but not lazy. It's spare at times, but organized for continuous motion and maximum impact. Seth's vocals have a chance to really shine again here - much as in "Xanadu", I think slower songs suit him best.
The Pact Of Silence
This should have been the opening intro track, I think. An SE with a sort of haunted-house feel, but rather than a pure mood piece, it has a sense of immediacy and urgency to it - nicely accentuated by the drum part. And then it just stops - but what were you really expecting?
Ange ~D side holy wings~
Well, everyone else has already gotten the first stabs in at this one, but yes - it is indeed a travesty. The instrumental musicianship is clearly a cut above the "Dix infernal" version, as one would expect after years of refinement and the addition of more instrumentalists. But the vocal part was very clumsily adapted for Seth. The chorus was transposed an octave down, resulting in a totally inferior effect when he launches into it. And what's more, it seems like various high and low notes were chopped off throughout the song, making it sound like it was hastily rearranged for an amateur with no vocal range. Mana should have taken the time to do a smarter reworking of this. There's no reason Seth couldn't do a
good "Ange", but this wasn't it.
Agnus Dei
Another of my favorites here - bold and insistent, yet sensitive. And one of the more sentimental tracks too - I'll admit I like it when Mana shows that side of himself XD
Sanctum Regnum
I'm sure this is a great pump-up/audience participation number at lives what with all the shouting and D-I-X chanting, but it's kind of superfluous on disc.
Dead Scape
This one was mostly straight metal that didn't do it for me, the exceptionally elegant short lyrical part at the end notwithstanding.
Dies Irae
The last and most apocalyptic of Mana's apocalypses on this disc gets off to a slow start, but ultimately it's not bad at all. Nice guitar parts in the middle too. Much like "The SECT" I don't have anything specific to call out here though.
Baptisma
Your usual ending SE, nothing out of the ordinary.
General thoughts:
Despite the overtly apocalyptic tone of the album, this was actually a lot
less angry than "DIXANADU". I guess Mana's just a man at home in the midst of destruction
Musically speaking, I mostly like what Mana did on this album. He used metal wisely (for the most part) without slipping into "Beyond the Gate" style self-indulgence, and brought back some of our favorite elements from the past without just copying the old material.
EDIT: also, if anyone cares, I also just got the one photo printout with no autographs.
