Princess Ghibli
2011, Coroner Records
On the one hand, you’ve got the films of Studio Ghibli, arguably some of the most beloved films in all of cinema. Gorgeous artwork and animation, compelling mythologies, and well-drawn (npi) characters aside, I’m convinced that one of the reasons for Studio Ghibli’s success is their soundtracks, many of them composed by Joe Hisaishi, whose exotic melodies and sweeping arrangements are the very definition of inimitable.
On the other hand, you have the Italian metal label Coroner Records, home to artists including Blood Stain Child, Destrage, Breach The Void, and Disarmonia Mundi.
On the surface, these two things have nothing in common, and any attempt to bring them together would be like combining matter and antimatter, i.e., mutual annihilation. And yet, the universe is a strange, strange place and sometimes, these combinations work out in ways that no one could have ever foreseen. Which brings us to Princess Ghibli, where Imaginary Flying Machines—a collaborative project featuring Disarmonia Mundi, Blood Stain Child, Destrage, Living Corpse, and Neroargento, as well as various vocalists—turns in death metal covers of some of the most beloved songs in the Studio Ghibli catalog.