Matthew Kiichi Heafy’s Ibaraki Releases New Song “RŌNIN” Feat. Gerard Way + Ihsahn

Trivium singer and guitarist Matthew Kiichi Heafy has shared another song from Rashomon, the long-awaited and much-anticipated album from his IBARAKI project, whose debut album will be released on May 6th via Nuclear Blast. The new single “Rōnin” featuring guest vocals by Gerard Way (My Chemical Romance) and guest solo by Ihsahn (Emperor).

In a press release, Kiichi shares : “‘A rōnin is a masterless warrior,” shares Kiichi. “The final two full compositions on Rashōmon see a significant shift musically. The album as a whole — with the exception of the intro and outro — is actually presented in chronological order of earliest written to latter-most. The actual guitar and bass tracks are a time-capsule of sorts in that their parts — on the final album — is actually from the year they were tracked.”

He continues, “One can begin to see the shifts as the years went on for the writing of the album. ‘Kagutsuchi’/’Ibaraki-doji’ being written and tracked in 2010/2011, all the way up to ‘Rōnin’/’Susanoo No Mikoto’ being written and tracked in 2016/2017.”

As for his collaboration with Way, Kiichi shares, “Gerard Way has been a long-time inspiration for me — like Ihsahn and Nergal — I have looked to Gerard as a constant source of motivation to be creative. While Gerard and I may be from different genres than where Ibaraki and black metal stem from — outsiders of sorts — the spirit and intent of our performances is what unites our passion for pushing boundaries.”

Rashomon is currently available for pre-order here.