Onmyo-Za
Maō Taiten

LA RECENSIONE

After the controversial Garyō Tensei (2005) album with its light and worryingly pop sound, in 2007 Onmyo-Za returned to the heavy metal style that has always set them apart. Maō Taiten (The Devil Walks the Earth) was the seventh studio album by Onmyo-Za, released on July 25, 2007, and the first album to reach the 13th position on the Japanese chart, to date remaining their best-selling album. The title refers to Oda Nobunaga (1534 - 1582) as a great demon who walked the earth. Nobunaga was a powerful daimyō (feudal lord) of Japan at the end of the 16th century who attempted to unify Japan during the late Sengoku period (1467 - 1568), successfully gaining control over much of Honshu. Nobunaga is considered one of the three unifiers of Japan along with his retainers Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Tokugawa Ieyasu. Post Mortem, Nobunaga was recognized for his brutal repression of certain opponents, eliminating those who refused on principle to cooperate or yield to his demands. He was killed when his retainer Akechi Mitsuhide rebelled against him at the Buddhist temple Honnō-ji. Maō (The Devil) the first track of the album, is characterized by heavy, thrash, and progressive parts; the track also features the use of growl and a vocal technique typical of Gagaku (a type of classical Japanese music that was performed at the Imperial Court of Kyoto), a technique they had already used in Maikubi from the album Mugen Hoyo (2004), which in my opinion is the best track on the record. In the track Maō there's another reference to Oda Nobunaga, with a part of the lyrics saying "Dairokuten Maō", a nickname that Oda Nobunaga gave himself in a letter to Takeda Shingen, and which means "Demon King of the Sixth Heaven". The second track Kokui no Ten'nyo, already released as a single, is inspired by a short story by writer Yamada Futaro, "The Celestial Maiden Dressed in Black", it doesn't reach the level of the first track but is characterized by a very well-executed rhythmic section and melodic choruses. Also noteworthy is Fugu Taiten (Sworn Enemies) with its furious riffs and Ōkubi a track halfway between thrash and doom. The last track Ikiru koto to mitsuketari is the most atypical of the album, an old-style hard rock, similar to Europe, if you will. The title of this song refers to a famous maxim of the Hagakure (bushidō to iu wa shinu koto to mitsuketari) "The way of the warrior is death" more literally "I have discovered that the way of the Samurai is death"

For some, this is their best work, I disagree; it definitely remains one of their best, but for me, there are at least 5-6 albums in their discography superior to this one, especially Kishibojin from 2011, which I consider their pinnacle.