- Country: USA
- Style: Progressive black metal
- Label: Nuclear Blast
- Release date: 6 May 2022
Ibaraki is the black metal project of Trivium’s Matt Heafy, and Rashomon is its debut, produced by Emperor’s Ihsahn, who also helped shape the songs. Heafy’s Trivium bandmates Alex Bent, Paolo Gregoletto and Corey Beaulieu play on it too, and the lyrics draw on Japanese mythology and folklore.
The Ihsahn fingerprint is obvious from “Kagutsuchi” onwards: shrieked verses, sudden clean passages and a lot of prog detours. “Akumu” with Behemoth’s Nergal is the nastiest thing here, “Ibaraki-Dōji” has the best riffs, and “Susanoo No Mikoto” is the grandest. “Rōnin” with Gerard Way is a strange left turn that may not land for everyone.
Too long and occasionally scattered, but this is a sincere, ambitious record rather than a vanity side project.
Best tracks:
Kagutsuchi
Ibaraki-Dōji
Akumu
Susanoo No Mikoto
Author’s rating: 7.9/10
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