自業自得 · Jigō Jitoku
You Reap What You Sow
A World invites Judgement, and gets it.
A metal opera mixtape inspired by the Mary’s Blood song 女神の裁き~Death Queen’s March~
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Synopsis · あらすじ
自業自得
Jigō Jitoku : what a society sows, it reaps.
A World that works for some, increasingly inhabited by people beholden to demons. A call to action, a last righteous battle. A battle that threatens the Order and is mercilessly quashed. Now the World works for fewer and fewer, until there is nothing left to lose for the many. A demon's playground is born, and the inevitable final straw beckons the Judge. A sentence is passed and carried out. A return to nature as it were. The Judge laments what once was.
Japanese rock and metal as a soundtrack to a story inspired by the Mary’s Blood song 女神の裁き~Death Queen’s March~.
Bands · バンド
- 陰陽座 (Onmyo-Za)
- 人間椅子 (Ningen Isu)
- Mary’s Blood
- LOVEBITES
- 聖飢魔II (SEIKIMA-II)
- DIR EN GREY
- Unlucky Morpheus
* Names link to MusicBrainz.
Tracklist · トラックリスト
Runtime ≈ 58:37 (11 tracks )
Curator Notes · キュレーターノート
The first time I saw Mary’s Blood play 女神の裁き~Death Queen’s March~ on blu-ray I wanted a Metal Opera from them. This sit imagines one: three Mary’s Blood cuts (action, march, lament), never back-to-back, in theatrical Japanese heavy and power metal. 陰陽座「地獄」opens below opera volume; In the Rain closes the night. Listen in order. If nothing clicks, the opera isn’t yours.
Why these cuts
- 01 · 陰陽座 — 地獄
Softest 陰陽座 studio cut that still belongs in an opera — near-lullaby, 3:45. Opens below metal volume so Act I can rise as a gain and tempo change, not more of the same hush.
- 02 · 人間椅子 — 踊る一寸法師
First high-gain of the sit. 人間椅子 doom-hard rock, 6:29 — thicker low end, slower gait than 地獄. Puts a body under the lullaby so the hour has a floor before power metal arrives.
- 03 · Mary’s Blood — Counter Strike
First Mary’s Blood, first power-metal tempo. Mid-fast twin guitar after the 人間椅子 grind — the sit’s first sprint. Spine cut #1; cannot follow with another Mary’s Blood or the three clump.
- 04 · LOVEBITES — Thunder Vengeance
Faster and brighter than Counter Strike. LOVEBITES as Act I peak — more double-kick, higher vocal, no 人間椅子 weight. Caps the rise. Act II has to clamp or the opera has no drop.
- 05 · 聖飢魔II — 蝋人形の館
Opens Act II. 聖飢魔II theatrical hard rock, 4:04, mid-tempo. After two power-metal sprints the sit needs a groove and a sneer, not a third twin-guitar chorus.
- 06 · DIR EN GREY — 凌辱の雨
First extreme vocal. DIR EN GREY, same runtime as 蝋人形の館 but harsher attack, less pageantry. The drop after the theatrical clamp — cannot follow with another scream cut or Act II becomes a pit.
- 07 · 陰陽座 — 百の鬼が夜を行く
Back to 陰陽座, but 5:52 procession — folk-metal march, more sections than 地獄. After the grind we need enclosure and air, not another DIR EN GREY room. Oni as arrangement, not a scream.
- 08 · Unlucky Morpheus — Opfer
Technical/symphonic power metal, 5:34. Faster and more ornate than 百の鬼. Last straw as virtuosity before the Judge — a different band so Act II doesn’t end on a second 陰陽座 suite.
- 09 · Mary’s Blood — 女神の裁き~Death Queen’s March~
Spine in the middle of the opera, not the opener. 6:08 theatrical march — Mary’s Blood at full weight. Act III starts here so the verdict is a tempo and arrangement change after Opfer, not another virtuoso cut.
- 10 · 人間椅子 — 羅生門
Longest cut, 7:03. 人間椅子 doom-hard after the march — mass, not another power-metal chorus. A punch this long cannot close; the sit still needs a dissolve.
- 11 · Mary’s Blood — In the Rain
Third and last Mary’s Blood. Ballad, 5:23 — lower energy, sustain, no scream climax. Bookend to 地獄: hush in, lament out. Closes the spine in a different register than Counter Strike or the march.
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