Voyage ~Sans Retour~ (French: "Journey ~Without Return~) is the second album by Japanese rock band Malice Mizer, released on June 9, 1996. It is their first album with second vocalist Gackt.

Overview

Malice Mizer's singer and lyricist Tetsu left the group after a concert on December 27, 1994. After almost a year of inactivity, Malice Mizer recruited Gackt as their new vocalist and released the single "Uruwashiki Kamen no Shoutaijou" on December 10, 1995. With a new concept, the band's music became more art rock and synthpop, incorporating even stronger classical and electronic elements. Visually, they abandoned their 1980s goth look for colorful historical costumes with a gothic feel. It features an instrumental arrangement of a song from the days of the first vocalist, Tetsu. This is the first song to feature Gackt playing the piano and credited for the arrangement.

Voyage Sans Retour

Voyage was released on June 9, 1996 by guitarist Mana's own record label, Midi:Nette. The first press edition, limited to 5000 copies, came in a plastic slipcase with an additional "Visual Arts Booklet".

Voyage Sans Retour

The theme of the album is "based on the story of vampires, taking a scalpel to the human world from the vampire's point of view", which also became the concept of their live performances before their major label debut.

Voyage Sans Retour

Track listing

Except for Track 7, all the songs subtitles are only included in the lyrics sheet.

Personnel

Gackt – vocals, piano

Mana – synth guitar, sequence programming

Közi – synth guitar, sequence programming

Yu~ki – bass

Kami – drums, percussion

Takeshi Kanazawa – violin on tracks 2, 5 and 8

Mayumi Maruo – chorus, photography

"Patch" Kitaguchi – recording, mixing

Yōhei Shimada - Sound advisor, piano tuner

References

1996 albums

Malice Mizer albums