Gates of Hades - Romaji and Translation

Here we have the last song of the Grimoire album! The song has also been featured in the Fragment CD with the same lyrics (Track 3). I think this song describes the fall of darkness of the hermit. She gets lured into the darkness and is offered a forbidden red fruit. The forbidden red fruit might be the fruit from the Bible, or a pomegranate. I think the second one is more likely. Why a Pomegrenate? Well, because this song is called Gates of Hades. Hades is the Greek God of the dead and also a synonym for the underworld.

One day, Hades wanted a wife and raided a girl, Persephone, who happened to be the daughter of the goddess Demeter (of harvest). Demeter desperately wanted her daughter back, Zeus (the king of the gods) agreed, on the condition that her daughter shouldn't have eaten anything in the underworld. Unluckily, the girl had already eaten one pit of a pomegranate and thus she couldn't come back to the earth permanently. A deal was closed then, in the spring and summer Persephone would live on the earth, her mom happy and all crops / flowers / plants would grow well. In the autumn and winter, Persephone would have to go back to her husband, Hades, in the underworld and her mother would be so sad that the crops don't grow.

I'd like to think this song is a twist on the story of Persephone and Hades. The girl wanders into the territory of death herself because she went into the labyrinth. Then she eats a fruit and becomes unable to return to the normal world. As a puppeteer, she lures more people into the dark and thus becomes the "god of nothingness".

This composition is truly nice, both Hato and Yuki's voice fit the song, their voices are both very haunting, which perfectly fits this song. I like how Noël decided to use a Harpsichord-like instrument at the beginning and then it transitions into an electrical organ with layers of chants. The drums in the chorus and post chorus are also great, they remind me of Ariabl'eyes a little haha.

Translation:

視界に暗く広がる「死」の領域に踏み込む
虚無の神秘に魅せられて　禁じられし赤い果実を

shikai ni kuraku hirogaru 「shi」 no ryouiki ni fumikomu
kyomu no shinpi ni miserarete kinjirareshi akai kajitsu wo

I step into the territory of "death" as my vision fades to black
Entranced by the mystery of nothingness, the forbidden red fruit...

“飲み込む”

"nomikomu"

"I swallow it"

忘却の霧の中で　亡者の影が揺らめく
虚無の瘴気に侵され　白い肌に風が伝う

boukyaku no kiri no naka de mouja no kage ga yurameku
kyomu no shouki ni okasare shiroi hada ni kaze ga tsutau

Inside the fog of oblivion, the shadows of the dead flicker
Invaded by the miasma of nothingness, as if the wind follows my white skin

朽ち果てた土と混ざり合い　綺麗に咲く花
光は届かず　闇に回帰するだけ・・・

kuchihateta tsuchi to mazariai kirei ni saku hana
hikari wa todokazu yami ni kaiki suru dake...

A beautifully blooming flower mingles with the rotten soil
Light is unable to reach, it can only turn to darkness...

冷たい指を掲げて　闇夜に軌跡を描く
洗礼されし呪文は　神への祈りに変わる
彷徨い堕ちた亡者は　裁きの炎に焼かれ
響く崩壊の序曲が知らせる　永遠のEclipse

tsumetai yubi wo kakagete yamiyo ni kiseki wo egaku
senrei sareshi jumon wa kami he no inori ni kawaru
samayoi ochita mouja wa sabaki no honoo ni yakare
hibiku houkai no yokyoku ga shiraseru towa no Eclipse

I raise my cold finger and draw trails in the dark night
A baptised incantation turns into a prayer towards God
The dead, who wander and have fallen, will burn in the flames of judgement
The reverberating "Overture of Destruction" warns them for an "Eternal eclipse"

凍て付いた水に縛られて　綺麗に咲く花
光は届かず　闇に回帰するだけ

itetsuita mizu ni shibararete kirei ni saku hana
hikari wa todokazu yami ni kaiki suru dake

A beautifully blooming flower, tied by frozen water
Light is unable to reach, it can only turn to darkness...

冷たい指を掲げて　闇夜に軌跡を描く
洗礼されし呪文は　神への祈りに変わる
彷徨い堕ちた亡者は　裁きの炎に焼かれ
滅びを誘う私は　虚無に愛されし「神」になる

tsumetai yubi wo kakagete yamiyo ni kiseki wo egaku
senrei sareshi jumon wa kami he no inori ni kawaru
samayoi ochita mouja wa sabaki no honoo ni yakare
horobi wo izanau watashi wa kyomu ni aisareshi 「kami」ni naru

I raise my cold finger and draw trails in the dark night
A baptised incantation turns into a prayer towards God
The dead, who wander and have fallen, will burn in the flames of judgement
I, who has been invited to ruin, became a "God", only loved by nothingness. 


Translation notes:
-    A beautifully blooming flower mingles with the rotten soil and A beautifully blooming flower, tied by frozen water, are basically saying the same. A beautiful girl falls into darkness and gets converted by the dark powers into a distorted god.