Sound Horizon

Profile

Sound Horizon （サウンドホライズン） is a group of Japanese artists who are supervised by the band's creator Revo (lyricist, composer, arranger). Often abbreviated as SH or サンホラ (SanHora), Sound Horizon’s main goal is to express fantasy stories with music. Each member is selected for whatever album or story they're needed in. There can be any number of narrators and vocalists, and they can be of any gender, sexuality, or ethnicity. By using lyrics, melodies, narration, sound effects, and visuals, Sound Horizon presents a whole new world for the listener to explore. Their job can be summed up as "story music" but their reach goes far beyond this. Each song is compiled into albums or singles, linking them together with overarching stories, themes, and concepts. The base of any SH album asks the observer various questions that relate to the human experience; Life and death, love and hatred, joy and sorrow, all concepts that become more and more deep and profound with every listen.

The reach of the stories created by Revo doesn't just end with sound. Lives, novels, mangas, and even the CD packaging play a vital role in one's interpretation of his stories. Stage performances provide a whole new way to experience the world of Sound Horizon. There are various types of concerts held by SH. "Story Concerts" are held whenever a new Story CD Album is released and are intended to reenact Revo's "Story Music" in a staged performance. Another type of concert is the "Great Territorial Expansion" live tours (See Sound Horizon Kingdom). During the concert, the entire venue (and sometimes, the entire city) is transformed into a physical addition to a fictitious "kingdom" to further bring audience members closer to the music and each other. Because of this Sound Horizon has become an all-encompassing experience; something that combines various mediums of art to provide a completely unique interaction between the listener and Revo's work. Mangas and novelizations have been created based off of Sound Horizon's stories. While these are not canonical (though all interpretations are valid), they provide different interpretations for Revo's worlds (See Media Mix). All of the CD art for Sound Horizon has been illustrated by Yokoyan, who paints a vivid and essential element in helping guide the listener through the fantastical world of SH. For more info, see Sound Horizon Glossary

History

Sound Horizon first began as a website in the mid-90’s entitled “Sound-Horizon”. Published under the pseudonym “G.Revo”. Revo released original songs and covers of JRPG and video game soundtracks with some of them containing lyrical poems to accompany them.

In 2001, Revo released 1st Story CD “Chronicle” at Yoyokan’s booth during the 61st Comic Market doujin circle. SH continued to release doujin albums until 2004 with the release of “Elysion −楽園への前奏曲−” marking their Major Debut. This album was released under Bellwood Records and contained music from their doujin albums as well as two songs to be featured later on “Elysion ～楽園幻想物語組曲～”. When “少年は剣を…”, the band’s first Maxi Single, was released a musical shift was apparent. Fans call everything before 少年は剣を… as “The First Era”, and everything following that as “The Second Era”. This is because the band’s lead vocalist Aramary departed from the band in 2005, being replaced with KAORI, REMI, YUUKI, and RIKKI. The band continued to release Story CDs and Singles with their 2006 5th Story CD “Roman” being released under KING RECORDS. Revo continued releasing Sound Horizon CDs under KING RECORDS until 2013 with the release of “ハロウィンと夜の物語” , their fourth single, under the label Pony Canyon. In 2014, various releases were announced to celebrate Sound Horizon's 10th commercial release anniversary, including Sound Horizon Treasured Blu-ray & DVD 『The Assorted Horizons』, いずれ滅びゆく星の煌めき（ヴァニシング·スターライト）, and various manga adaptations and novelizations of their works. The 10th Anniversary celebration was extended into 2015 with Nein and 9th Story Concert 『Nein』～西洋骨董屋根裏堂へようこそ～ finalizing the celebration releases. For their 15th Anniversary a special website was created and the Around 15th Anniversary project was announced. On May 22nd, 2020 the production of remastered UHQCDs was announced for all 11 studio albums releases since Elysion −楽園への前奏曲−.

Discography

Web Songs

Main Article: Web Songs

Doujin Releases


Chronicle December 30th, 2001 Self-Published	Thanatos August 11th, 2002 Self-Published	Lost December 20th, 2002 Self-Published


Pico Magic May 4th, 2003 Self-Published	Pico Magic Reloaded August 17th, 2003 Self-Published	Chronicle 2nd March 19th, 2004 Self-Published

Major Releases


Elysion −楽園への前奏曲− October 27th, 2004 Bellwood Records	Elysion ～楽園幻想物語組曲～ April 14th, 2005 Bellwood Records	少年は剣を･･･ October 4th, 2006 TEAM Entertainment


Roman November 22nd, 2006 KING RECORDS	聖戦のイベリア August 1st, 2007 KING RECORDS	Moira September 3rd, 2008 KING RECORDS


イドへ至る森へ至るイド June 16th, 2010 KING RECORDS	Märchen December 15th, 2010 KING RECORDS	Chronology「2005-2010」 April 13th, 2012 KING RECORDS


ハロウィンと夜の物語 October 9th, 2013 PONY CANYON	いずれ滅びゆく星の煌めき（ヴァニシング·スターライト） October 1st, 2014 PONY CANYON	Nein April 22nd, 2015 PONY CANYON


マーベラス小宇宙（仮） April 22nd, 2015 PONY CANYON	絵馬に願ひを！ January 13th, 2021 PONY CANYON	Rinne Near Future

Videography

Sound Horizon Horizon Liveography


LIVE DVD 『Elysion ～楽園パレードへようこそ～』 March 7th, 2006 Bellwood Records	Concert Tour 2006-2007 『Roman ～僕達が繋がる物語～』 April 25th, 2007 KING RECORDS	［Triumph］～第二次領土拡大遠征の軌跡～ February 8th, 2008 RAP PRODUCTS


6th Story Concert 『Moira』～其れでも、お征きなさい仔等よ～ LIVE DVD March 25th, 2009 KING RECORDS	第三次領土拡大遠征凱旋記念『国王生誕祭』 2009.6.26/6.27 December 9th, 2009 KING RECORDS	5th Anniversary Movie 『Across The Horizon』 March 24th, 2010 KING RECORDS


7th Story Concert 『Märchen』～キミが今笑っている、眩いその時代に･･･ July 27th, 2011 KING RECORDS	Treasured Blu-ray & DVD 『The Assorted Horizons』 June 18th, 2014 PONY CANYON	9th Story Concert 『Nein』～西洋骨董屋根裏堂へようこそ～ January 20th, 2016 PONY CANYON

Live-only Songs

Main Article: Live-only songs

Featured on


ぱすてるキッチン～ブルーベルへようこそっ！～ Original Soundtrack October 3rd, 2003 GIGA	Winter Mix 2003 December 28th, 2003 TORANOANA Self-Published	らずべりー Original Soundtrack August 27th, 2004 GIGA	ねとらん者 THE MOVIE #1 ネットのすみでブログと叫ぶ ED LiNK November 24th, 2004 SOFTBANK Publishing	･･･for rest May 17th, 2006 Bellwood Records