The Battle Between Light and Darkness
To start off, I can almost guarantee you that anyone reading this has never heard of this composer. His name is Pratanallis and has a very small following, which is insane because of the quality of his work. He is based in Japan and that itself has its cons, especially for his popularity and recognition, these types of songs would not make it into Western countries on the sole basis that they are sung in Japanese. Pratanallis has been working in the music industry since 2006, making and assisting in several music projects. The genre that he specializes in is symphonic metal/rock and melodic music. The guitar solos in these songs are actually insane and I can’t get enough of them. I really wanted to showcase one of his works to another audience, one that would probably never have heard of him if it wasn’t for this post. In 2019, he released his album, “Holy Fragments” (Album Link if you want to listen along) https://open.spotify.com/album/5eLCKpiL4o7oMVrgLQka3Z?si=4eKdjlp9QcqcB4O0P406Fg&dl_branch=1.
Now, unlike most songs that you would probably hear, this whole album tells a story, and it isn’t about love like most songs are, it is about a journey. There are 11 songs in the album and all of the songs in it contribute to tell this story. In the read more section of this post, Here are the translation to each song if you’d like to listen and be able to understand what they’re saying. Either way, you can still feel the energy from the singers and tempo of the music. Now, imagine you’re sleeping and you wake up from a dream. That’s basically how the first song, Crimson Moonlight goes. It has no vocals and it is made to create the feeling that you’re in a tranquil state of mind. Every song after this is where the fun begins though.
In the second song, Menina Eris, the tempo and vibe immediately change. In terms of the story, you have been woken up from the dream to a sudden realization. That realization being that you are trapped in an isolated world where darkness rains over you. You get a glimpse of an angel, but she strays away and now you are all alone. You are stuck in this lost world and have no idea where to go.
This is where I will point out two characters throughout the album. The first one is called Sphillia, and in this case she is the angel and savior throughout the album. She tries to save you from the darkness that spreads throughout the world.
On the other hand, there is Mare, whos name translates, according to Wikipedia as a, “malicious entity in Germanic and Slavic folklore that rides on people's chests while they sleep, bringing on nightmares”. Similarly, that’s exactly what she’s doing throughout the story of the album. She may look cute in the picture, but she certainly doesn’t want to do anything cute.
In the next song, Déjà Vu, the fast rock tempo continues and is consistent throughout the track. The story behind this song is the continuation of a loss of hope, where you see the old world you once lived in, but it’s trapped in darkness. The déjà vu you have is from the world you once knew, except it has been completely changed. You stray even farther from the exit and continue in this isolated world.
Now, for my favorite song in the album. This is also the most popular song based off of Spotify streams, Braking Down (not a typo). This is where Sphillia, the angel and Mare, the evil, are shown and they leave you indecisive on what route you want to take. To fight for good or evil. The next song, Compassion, is similar to the last one where you are not yet ready to choose what to do. The melody feels as if the vocals are Sphillia and the instrumental part of the song is Mare, both very distinct melodies, one rough, and one calm and soothing.
After Compassion, follows the only other song without vocals, Fragment of Tears, This song feels as though you are crying throughout this world you were put in. The melody is made from a pipe organ, which gives it an eerie medieval vibe. Upon ending, the song translates to Justynusty instantly, which changes the tempo back to 100 immediately. This song is where the action commences. Where Sphillia and Mare start to battle each other for control of the world. In this song they are referred to as White and Black wings. Towards the beginning of the song are the lyrics,
“A deep darkness laughs scornfully tainted by your deceit and it’s reach corrupts everything it is out to tear it all apart”.
This refers to Mare trying to control the world and corrupt everything. Sphillia eventually emerges and starts to try and stop the evil. She eventually puts and end to the madness and peace is restored.
“Vanquishing the darkness as they flutter the white wings spread out with a singing voice that makes the skies tremble raining down a light of bliss as the beast that consumes the light is born engulfing the land in darkness”.
The next song of the album is With You. Sphillia has beaten Mare and now the world is at peace once again. The tempo is slow and calming throughout. The white wings prevail over the black wings.
Right after With You, just like in a movie, Mare is back in the next song, Girl’s Seraph. Out of all of the songs, while listening to the album, this is the one that got me confused and intrigued. The song started off calm, until a few seconds in. The melody was the roughest out of all the songs in the album and the bpm was probably well over 200. The first set of lyrics in the song are,
“Now, angel of the eight day time to flap those black-stained wings embrace the deep darkness grant us benevolence, Seraph Maiden.”
The darkness, Mare, is back. She comes back even stronger and ready to attack you and Sphillia. The song continues with the rough melody signifying that they are battling each other. What ultimately destroys the evil is a combination of the sun and Sphillia, they both combine together to destroy all of the darkness Mare has spread throughout the world. The world is saved once again.
Following this chain of events is Holy Fragments. This is the point where you realize that everything that just happened was all a dream. You wake up and start to feel upset that you can’t continue helping the world alongside the angel, so you just dismiss it and try to feel joyful over the memories you made in that dream. To conclude the album, My Happiness is played. The meaning behind this song is that you feel happy and grateful over the life you have. The tempo of this song feels like you could be in a flower field. The piano and violin help make this a calming and emotional song. This world that does not have evil or darkness, you simply feel free and contempt about your surroundings. No darkness engulfs you, there is light all around you.
Before actually taking an in depth listen to this album, I only knew two songs and of course I didn’t look up the translation. Upon actually listening to the album from start to finish, I have a much greater appreciation for Pratanallis. His beautiful melodies and storytelling throughout the album captivated me all the way through. With only ~2,000 streams on Spotify, I am very sad that he doesn’t have a bigger audience.
The symphonic instruments used in the album along with the fast tempos really got me into the songs. Even without knowing what the lyrics mean, you can still feel when the song is about something rough and scary or when happiness is attained. I know a lot of people won’t like this genre of music, but if you like rock and metal, I highly recommend checking out his other albums if you enjoyed this one. I hope to have opened your eyes to some music you might not have heard of before :)
