is the fourth studio album by Japanese

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

band

Mucc is a Japanese visual kei Rock music, rock band, formed in Ibaraki Prefecture in 1997. The classic line up of Tatsuro (singer), Tatsuro on vocals, Miya (musician), Miya on guitar, Yukke on bass, and Satochi on drums was solidified in 1999 foll ...

, released on September 1, 2004, by

Danger Crue Records Danger Crue Records is a Japanese visual kei independent record label located in Tokyo, Japan. It was originally the record label of the Danger Crue music office, both founded in 1981. According to D'erlanger drummer Tetsu, Danger Crue was formed ...

. A European version was released on September 12, 2005, by

Gan-Shin is an independent European rock music record label. History It was formed in 2004 in music, 2004 by Matthias Müssig, Christoph Ortner-Bach and Deville Schober. The label, actively distributes physical records in Germany, France, the United Kin ...

. The album reached number 19 on the

Oricon Albums Chart The Oricon Albums Chart is the Japanese music industry standard albums popularity chart issued daily, weekly, monthly and yearly by Oricon. Oricon originally published LP, CT, Cartridge and CD charts prior to the establishment of the Oricon A ...

Overview

Guitarist and principal songwriter Miya said that prior to ''

Zekū is the third studio album released by Japanese band Mucc on September 3, 2003. Released by Universal Gear, it is their major label debut. ''Zekū'' reached number 17 on the Oricon Albums Chart. Recording and release In 2022, guitarist and princ ...

'' (2003) and ''Kuchiki no Tō'' (2004), his lyrics were about past events and "traumas" he experienced, but with these two albums he wrote about present inner feelings within the band. Despite audiences loving the shows, he seems to regret having done this as he speculated that he drank a lot on those tours so he would not have to face what he was expressing on stage, and stated that there is one song on ''Kuchiki no Tō'' that he will no longer play.

, who released the album in Europe, reported this song to be "Kuchiki no Tō".

released ''Kuchiki no Tō Live at Roppongi'', a live album where they perform ''Kuchiki no Tō'' in its entirely, on October 31, 2004. The songs "Namonaki Yume" and "Monokuro no Keshiki" were re-recorded by the band for their 2017 self-cover album ''Koroshi no Shirabe II: This is Not Greatest Hits''.

Reception

''Kuchiki no Tō'' reached number 19 on the

.''ムックのアルバム売り上げランキング''
Retrieved May 16, 2011 ''

Kerrang! ''Kerrang!'' is a British music webzine and quarterly magazine that primarily covers rock, punk and heavy metal music. Since 2017, the magazine has been published by Wasted Talent Ltd (the same company that owns electronic music publication ...

'' included it on a list of 13 essential

Japanese rock , sometimes abbreviated to , is rock music from Japan. Influenced by American and British rock of the 1960s, the first rock bands in Japan performed what is called group sounds, with lyrics almost exclusively in English. Folk rock band Happy End ...

and

metal A metal () is a material that, when polished or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electrical resistivity and conductivity, electricity and thermal conductivity, heat relatively well. These properties are all associated wit ...

albums. Describing it as dripping with insatiable angst and menace, Jamie Cansdale wrote that "Mucc ripped their soul from their chests with their fourth outing. An unapologetically bleak tour-de-force of melancholia, ''Kuchiki no Tō'' tapped into an inner darkness, hellbent on implosion, and channelled it through Tatsurou's tragically ravishing shrieks." He also wrote that, although Mucc later reached international success with a "more optimistic outlook", they have rarely topped the emotional rollercoaster that is ''Kuchiki no Tō''. The songs "Akatsuki Yami" and "Oboreru Sakana" were covered by Sid and Gibkiy Gibkiy Gibkiy respectively, for the 2017 Mucc tribute album ''Tribute of Mucc -En-''.

Overview

Reception

Track listing

Notes

References

External links