At last, Mana's band (or as I like to say, his birthday present), Moi dix Mois, has marked their 10th anniversary! I thought it would be fun to go back in time and review one of their releases that is not a full album, but the first piece of one (of two) of their vocalists. (This may turn into a DIX marathon, you never know...)
Beyond the Gate is an EP (extended play) released by this lovely gothic band on March 1st, 2006. It was recorded after the band was basically "reborn", as Mana had to find nearly all new members (K, however, had not taken on the death voice until Dixanadu, so the ever faceless Shadow X is still active at this time). A limited edition, containing instrumental versions of songs from the record, was released as well. The regular edition also includes a booklet of 16 pages, but not the instrumentals. Let's take a look at this EP they had released between Nocturnal Opera and Dixanadu that is not quite a full album.
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Let's take a look at the cover of this album. As we all know, Mana's face is always ever present on the front while he presents his entire band on the back of the CDs. Here, he is being crucified with half of the decagram behind him. It's a bit ironic, don't you think? Then there are hands reaching and grabbing him from, what looks like, a body of blood as opposed to water. Still, I quite enjoy the artwork! The booklet opens to display a landscape: On one side, the object of interest is (obviously) Mana's floating figure above the red waters (shown below). One the other side is in Darkness, displaying a pair of hands on the right side whilst across it reads the album's title. To be completely honest, I can barely navigate throw this thing!
Note: I will occasionally refer to the death voice 'Shadow X' as simply 'X' for convenience
The first track, The Other Side In Blood, automatically give the album a Gothic feel as the chords of the violin play. Their sharp tones stand out as they scale up and down. The low tones in the background play gently and the melody switches over to the piano. All is quiet until everything enters again, but with an additional chorus, at 0:34. The song is merely 1 minute long, so not much is in it as we are left in silence.
The silence is then broken with quick movements of Hayato on the drums with the symphony. It's choppiness gives a hasty expression to the song. The violins play lightly in the background as baritones raise in a slower tempo. Nearly entire ensemble enters as Shadow X growls, "Like an ogre you are devouring hearts..." The tempo takes on a small ritardando, making it feel like he's almost whispering in your ear. The music raises, reaching a peak as he screams "Could you hear melody from the execution block." Thus, Seth enters the song, singing, "Tsumi to kudaketa seishin (kokoro) ga samayoi aruitemo yuresarenu omoi subete ga mune wo tsukisashite." His low voice adds to the Gothic mixture and, of course, blossoms the wonderful abyss. Every time Shadow X takes his turn, the song slows (though you can barely hear the guy). Seth's entrances sound fairly grand with the entire ensemble backing him. Every time we manage to get to the main chorus, I think of a spinning spool with it's endless thread being pulled. The guitars have a very subtle part in the song, as well. You can hear them, and you know they're there. It's almost as if they're leading the violins. The song exits the same way it began.
Dues ex Machina introduces a more industrial side on Moi dix Mois. I'm not entirely sure who yells this (though I'm sure it's X), but the first distinct thing we hear from the "quiet" voice is "Why do you smile?" In the booklet, the lyrics are all in different font sizes (mostly the ones yelled at us in sequence to the song). The words are as repetitive as the beat. The main lyrics that are stuck in my head are "You're next. In the ridicule, you'll laugh." In reality, this song only has 13 lines. Another pair of lyrics that's repeated enough to stick to you is "You will also die out in fixed machinery. These [eyes/ears], if cut out, it's [fine/silence], heaven of darkness." As the song goes on, it's obvious that the more restrained voice heard is Shadow X and the more fluid vocals are Seth's. At 2:10, there is a small interlude of orchestra playing. With the prior recording of a door being swung (opened or closed), it's almost as if you walked into the wrong room (haha!), but in all seriousness, I quite like it. It warps out, and we are returned to both the beat and the piano. The beats sound like metal being scraped against one another. The last lyric to the song is "Be terrified." The song quickly ends afterward.
Vain, another fairly repetitive song, begins to play. The keyboard sounds almost like a ladder, introducing each of the other instruments until X says "Melt down in the furnace... Crumble down". The guitars play in a "call and return" action; Mana plays a few notes, then K plays and vice-versa. The act is repeated between each of X's lines, creating a lovely circle of consistency. The lyrics in the song, along with the title, give me an image of someone who's obsessed with them self, most especially their image. The words "You don't need eyes that see everything distorted. Beautiful glass spheres suit you well," implies that this person is lying to themselves about their, from my impression, beauty. If that is all you see, you may as well be blind, so "dig them out, tear it out," and replace them with glass. That would suit you best because "You're a lie. All lies." As Seth enters, he sings "Your inside kusari-hate houkai shite-yuku (Your inside slides into decay and ends). Your surface hyoumen dake wa kagayaiteiru (You're surface... Only the surface is shining)." Shadow X enters again, saying "It's a pity you don't notice!" The song is almost like a confrontation as much as it is like a discouragement. The official final lyrics are "kick around", but as the song closes, you hear various screams of "burn down in the furnace", etc. and fades out.
The piano of "Deflower" floats in gently. The soft tunes slowly gain more power behind them and later are distorted as you hear the words, "I wish.... Killed sorrow... Ruin, pain... I'm killed.." The songs full melody plays with a heavy, metallic sound. A chorus sings, leading us to the keyboard that plays both sides of the harmony. The ballad is slow and easy to follow as Seth articulates every other syllable when he sings, "Kiri fukai chijou no sei ni omoku no shikakaru (Sadness with no horizon lies heavy upon the earth)". The main chorus, however, is difficult to follow as Seth's voice is recorded about two or three times over, so what he sang and the translation is below (it is beautiful, in any case). Each time, the chorus is introduced with a metallic scrape, almost as if in a vortex or parallel world. Every time I listen to this song, I think of a night under the full moon. It is a night perfect for "sin". The piano is one of the main themes n this song as is scales in complex tones to follow the ever changing melody. The keyboard continues to play through to the end and fades out as Seth sings the final verse, "Aa, mirai wa anata to (ah, in the future I'll be with you). "
Romaji:
sou mirai wa watashi no kibou zetsubou.English:
kono yo no hate ni saku hana subete o shitteiru.
aa mirai wa watashi to tomo ni yume o misete.
It is thus, the future my hope, my despair
The flowers that bloom at the end of this world know all
Ah, in the future, let's create an enchanting dream
"Unmoved" begins with the slowly building volume of the organ. Seth introduces himself by slowly singing the first verse of the main chorus,"Anata wa kizukanai ubawareta kokoro o. Kyozou to iu na no sekai e ochite samayoe-"--he is then cut off by the sound of a guitar. It's notes are short and quick, switching of to the rhythm. The continue to play, despite the drums and other instruments demanding attention. Mana and K play their game of "call and return" once again, over and over, until Shadow X enters with his low, gruff growls (even though they continue to play). "Nothing can be seen with the rotten deathly head," he says, "Crooked desire can't show the future. Leave yourself to pity music of burying a foolish man (dunce)
." He continues to scream at us, then exiting after repeating "May you rest in peace!" twice. The song changes, the chorus enters, and Seth gets another chance to successfully sing the main chorus, "Anata wa kizukanai ubawareta kokoro o. Kyozou to iu na no sekai e ochite samayoeba. (The heart was deprived of the truth you do not notice, which wandered and fell into the world of illusion [un]named)." He continues with triumph, only to nearly be cut off again by the guitars' familiar game. The call and return sequence is one way to recognize this song. Shadow X repeats his prior lines; however, Seth's lines have changed. Only the melody's notes stay in the same rolling, choppy pattern. The song softens, leaving only the drums and the organ as Seth sings "Kyoei wa minikuku hibiwareta kagami. Naze motomenai~" The song cuts off after the final play of "call and return".
The final track, "The Other Side Of The Door" is a bit difficult to describe. it begins with very hollow, deep tones, the leading us off to the industrial side to the EP once more. It's almost like all of the songs coming together into this instrumental. The keyboard plays it's gentle, constant tune, and voices whisper incoherently in the background. The baritones play along side the violins, creating an image of horror as ghoulish noises emit. The sound of creaking doors is heard in the midst of the severity of the music, only for the last thing we hear to be the gentle keyboards' tune,
I'm sure that by now ever Moi dix Mois fan has heard this EP more than ten times over, but what about the new fans that add to the ever growing fan-base? Anyone who knows Juka, needs to know Seth, so buy this extended play! If it's possible, buy the limited edition and call it an album. The album creates very dark images, but they aren't unpleasant. They're all very familiar, like an aristocrat's ball at midnight or even simple shadows. If you listen to the instrumentals of each song, you can catch certain things in the tracks that you couldn't hear before (thanks to the distraction of Shadow X and Seth). Is it too late for me to say "you should buy this"?
(P.S. If you want the limited edition, you're going to have to google that!)
Sources: -scape- the artists of MALICE MIZER (sorry, kids, the lyrics are a bit blurred in my booklet...)
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