Bonjour!
You might already know about KAMIJO’s latest mini-album “VIOLET DAWN”, which was released on July 31st 2024. But, according to KAMIJO himself in his most recent interview with us before the start of the “The Anthem” European tour, this release is also part of Louis’ story.
Which means that we are (or rather, I am) right back into KAMIJO’s original story of Louis XVII.
A chapter that we originally didn’t plan for in our Behind the Mask-series, since it was only supposed to have 3 parts initially. Hence why the “4/3” is included in the title this time.
Regardless, the mini-album exists out of five tracks, namely “VIOLET DAWN”, “The Anthem”, “Odyssey”, “INTENSE CARESS” and “Twilight”.
With KAMIJO’s live show in Amsterdam still somewhat fresh in the back of my mind, where he already revealed “The Anthem” as one of his new songs during the live performance, I was quite looking forward to what he meant with “the release is composed with the idea of “epic intense”.”, and I can’t say that I was disappointed by this description. But we’ll go into a little more detail about this later.
The release is available in four different types, but more about that at the very end. For this review we’re limiting ourselves to the regular edition of the release, which contains only the CD with 5 tracks, but we’re also looking at the MV for “The Anthem”.
As you might know, KAMIJO makes use of a support band during his live performances, and we’re seeing some of these now familiar names on this release too. For example, HIRO plays guitar on tracks 1, 3 and 5, YUKI plays guitar on tracks 2 and 4 and IKUO and shuji play bass and drums on all tracks. The violin on track 5 is played by Crusher Kimura.
Meaning we have a rather interesting lineup for this release, don’t you think?
Last bit for the introduction, I promise. In our recent interview KAMIJO told me that this release was part of the story of Louis, but it was quite hard to find in his lyrics, since the majority of the album is the epic intensity that is KAMIJO’s more recent style. A style that he put in both music and lyrics, so this is going to be an intense one for me too. And while I had the story on his own website to reference before, that’s no longer the case now. Which means I’m fishing for information a lot more than I’d like. Everything is up to the listener’s own interpretation now.
But with that introduction out of the way, let’s have a look at “VIOLET DAWN”!
Come on my dear, let’s wake up and start this forbidden night
The mini starts off with the title track, “VIOLET DAWN”, which immediately reflects the epic intense style KAMIJO spoke of in its powerful introduction. The lyrics are mainly sung in Japanese, but there are some English words mixed in here and there.
As one would expect, the romantic aspect drips from KAMIJO’s words as he describes escorting his love interest into the cathedral, pushing them down at the altar illuminated by the moonlight. “A shimmering Violet dawn.” (This is the spelling he used in his lyrics mind you, this is not me changing writing styles for the sake of this article.) Even though it’s not described too clearly other than the words “I’m a vampire” in these lyrics, the familiar vampire influence is there, mixing with the skills of KAMIJO’s supporting musicians. There is a reason why IKUO is addressed as “the best bassist in Japan”, and KAMIJO makes great use of these abilities of his. The same can be said for HIRO, whose guitar style mixes really well with IKUO and shuji, creating an almost opera-décor for KAMIJO’s lyrics, complete with a guitar solo that doesn’t overrule, but instead draws attention to it only briefly before giving KAMIJO the center stage again.
Following is “The Anthem”, a track that was already revealed during the European tour last June. KAMIJO has described this track as “his anthem”, and he hoped that everyone would sing it with him during the tour. And based on the crowd in Amsterdam, that wish was granted. Mostly because of how easy the rhythm is to get into. More aggressive than the previous track, but still with the concept of epic intense in mind. While the first half of the song is mainly in English with some Japanese mixed in, the second half is entirely in Japanese, giving KAMIJO more space to be poetic, yet still motivates to participate as one would expect from an “anthem”.
For this track the role of guitarist is given to YUKI instead, and you can clearly hear the difference in their styles, but the center stage for the instruments is more focused on the bass and drums than it is on the guitar specifically. As expected based on the anthem-concept as well as KAMIJO’s words about this song being “his anthem” there seem to be no hidden references here, but instead a reaching hand from KAMIJO to his fans. “This voice fights to protect someone. If you have the courage, raise your arms. You can live to protect yourself. Believing in a shining future and raise your voice.”
Given how much KAMIJO cares about his fans (he shows this clearly on his social media too), this really seems like his personal anthem, don’t you think?
The MV for “The Anthem” is fairly simple in nature, but carries over the artwork for this release extremely well. Shot in an almost psychedelic style, the video shows KAMIJO and his support members in a primarily violet light as he performs his anthem. With this new décor he’s definitely pulling in more of his new modern style, but with flashes of the interior of a cathedral (in the same almost psychedelic style) he’s also not entirely letting go of his old classy style.
There’s no real story in the lyrics, so there’s not much KAMIJO can translate into a visual format here either. So unfortunately that means I can’t tell you more about it here. But, if you enjoy the song, you will enjoy the music video, it’s as simple as that. 😉
Next up is “Odyssey”, which is sung entirely in Japanese. And if you were looking for the references to KAMIJO’s original story about Louis XVII, look no further. “Odyssey” is a powerful track that still combines the overarching theme of epic intense, but does take the tempo down to a more reminiscent tempo for both the instrumentals and vocals.
The word “odyssey” itself is another way to say “journey”, and that’s exactly what this song does. It takes you on a (rather quick and summarized) journey through the story of Louis without addressing any of the events that took place on “Symphony of The Vampire”, “Sang” or “OSCAR” directly. KAMIJO’s relationship with Louis is a bit odd from an outsider point of view, since occasionally he speaks as Louis, but he also speaks to Louis as himself. This track seems to be of the latter variety, and thus more melodic and sympathetic in style. “Your voice pierced my heart. Even now, locked away, it has not changed. Forever and ever. The journey of chasing the illusion continues.”, followed by “History does not change, even if I know it. Some day, surely, surely.”. While working on the first three parts of Behind the Mask I slowly started to get the impression that Louis’ story was coming to an end, but perhaps KAMIJO has more in store for him based on these lyrics? Only time will tell!
Track four is “INTENSE CARESS”, which also has the shortest lyrics of the entire release. Starting off with a slow introduction that perfectly blends with the ending of the previous track before picking up the more epic intense style again with a slightly faster rhythm. KAMIJO invades our territory, giving our ears some intense caress with his voice.
The style of this track is significantly different than the rest of the album both in lyrics and music, making it the least favorite track on the release for me personally – but this might not be the same for you. It’s still one of his heavier, yet subtle tracks that leaves more than enough room for headbanging if you’re inclined to do so!
Closing the mini is “Twilight”, which is the exact opposite of its predecessor in terms of lyrics. KAMIJO’s poetic style returns in the longest lyrics on this release, adding another song to his long list of love songs. With an upbeat rhythm that tones down the epic intense concept only slightly to match more with what one would expect the twilight time of the day to sound like, KAMIJO tells a story of memories, walking through the town they spent together in the changing seasons. Passing by a flower shop and noticing your favorite lilies are not there, he lovingly wonders if someone is sending you a bouquet of them that’s so big they can’t hold it every day.
In the lyrics he might be alone, and later it becomes apparent why – as there are lilies laid out on your grave, and he believes that you’ll meet again someday as you watch over him from the sky. Like I said, KAMIJO’s lyrics are often loving and poetic, but also extremely emotional. In his previous releases he has also been really good in transferring the emotion he puts in his lyrics, even through a language barrier, which mixes very well with his neoclassical and symphonic styles – both for his love songs and for his more aggressive songs where the metal influence is stronger than on tracks like “Twilight”. Despite its emotional content, this song serves as a perfect ending for this release with its softer, melodic style and more friendly vocal style, without entirely straying away from the epic intense that we’ve heard throughout the rest of the album.
Conclusion
Much like KAMIJO’s previous releases in this series, he delivers what he promised. And even though he merely promised us two words (“epic intense”), he absolutely kept his word. “VIOLET DAWN” keeps its concept from start to end, and gives KAMIJO his own anthem to boot.
I’m personally quite glad to see him incorporate more of himself in this release rather than focusing on a concept he has been working on and adding on to for years. Don’t get me wrong, I can only applaud him for what he has done with the history of Louis XVII for his own original universe, but much like any other concept, there is a time where it becomes hard to continue to build on to it. Shortly after I finished writing part two (“Sang”) of this series, KAMIJO rebranded his website, removing all of the reference material he had on there for years. A decision I can completely understand, since KAMIJO’s vision seems to have changed as well.
While I hope we’ll see more of Louis in the future, I am still very glad to see more of KAMIJO in this release, and if you enjoy his more metal-type of style “VIOLET DAWN” is absolutely the mini-album for you! And even if you don’t, it’s still a release you can get into quite easily, since it’s not composed from a metal starting point. KAMIJO has incorporated rock and even pop into his works, and his signature style absolutely returns in this release as well.
This release is available for streaming via Spotify, but if you’d rather have a physical copy of (one of) the CDs then we’ve got you covered too. We’ve listed all of the information you need below:
 SASCD-131L // ¥8,000 |  SASCD-131S // ¥3,500 |  SASCD-131N // ¥2,500 |  SASCD-131A // ¥2,500 |
02. The Anthem 03. Odyssey 04. INTENSE CARESS 05. Twilight 01. Visual Rock Identity -The Anthem- (excerpts) 02. Documentary 01. Instrumental disc | 02. The Anthem 03. Odyssey 04. INTENSE CARESS 05. Twilight 01. The Anthem (MV) 02. The Anthem (making) | 02. The Anthem 03. Odyssey 04. INTENSE CARESS 05. Twilight | 02. The Anthem 03. Odyssey 04. INTENSE CARESS 05. Twilight |
2024.07.31 Shop: CDJapan | 2024.07.31 Shop: CDJapan | 2024.07.31 Shop: CDJapan | 2024.07.31 Shop: CDJapan |
雪 (Yuki) is the owner and driving force behind Arlequin.
She originally started the project in 2009 as a photographer under the name of Arlequin Photography, but developed an interest in journalism and translation ever since. Because of these interests interviews and reviews were added to the project, until it eventually hit the limits as a "photographer" in 2021, and Arlequin Magazine was added to the mix.
雪 (Yuki) is a native Dutch speaker with a graphic design degree, which means she is also the main person behind Arlequin Creations.
After all these years she is still the main person who does interviews the interviews and live photos that you see on Arlequin, but also a large chunk of the reviews and behind-the-scenes work and communication goes through her.
She speaks Dutch and English on a native level, but also understands Japanese and German.