黄泉呪詞 (Beginning at the End)

First of all I have to say I was looking this album for six months and was a friend who found it for me (thnx Cuares!). But the effort was worth. This new album of the Japanese kamikazes Magane is much better and higher in quality than Mortes Saltantes. At first, the personal and Japanese atmosphere is much dense and perceptible, even if it's more melodic (but that's a fact that makes them better in this case). The Japanese atmosphere has a bigger presence in this album (as said before) and are in charge of the keyboards specially. The atmospheres are different in each song, so you can find chaotic pieces (Magatu Kaze - Blast of Grim Wind), darker themes (Kam Sali - Water: Swallowed in Black) or more "epic"(Japanese) pieces, such as Woloti - Drink to Death, Tsunami of Blood or Miwa - Worship the Most Ancient. The lyrics are still centred in the dark side of Japanese mythology, but I'd say that with a special interest in the powers of Nature -seen from the Japan's filter and myths, of course- if you read titles such as "Metal: Taste My Curse", "Water: Swallowed in Black" or "Earth: Beginning at the End". Unfortunately I couldn't find the lyrics, but you can imagine if you know something about Japanese mythology and have a good ear (except for Japanese parts, that's a field I cannot walk...). I'd say there are more parts written in English, but not as main language, it's more like an harmony between the two languages, and it's good. Yasufiko's voice is much more raw and he uses more ways of singing in this album, making it more rich in this aspect. The keyboards has more presence, specially to reproduce Japanese atmospheres and without getting the music softer and Yomituti makes a GREAT work with his drums, being these ones variated on each song, strong and fast when is required and slow and ritualistic when is needed (in some songs, both things), and so on with guitars and bass. This is just another step in their rise to the highest place of the Japanese metal scene, while they get more and more into their traditional Japanese sound, something that I pray with my blood to happen...