Sound Horizon is a Japanese musical group, they describe themselves as a "fantasy band", led by the sound creator Revo (songwriter, composer and arranger). In order to express his fantastical stories musically, he gathers and organizes suitable vocal artists, with no restrictions on number, age, and gender of the singers and narrators. This means that there is no fixed cast except for Revo himself, and that vocalists may change dramatically from album to album.

Their music is labeled “story music”. Its main characteristic is the way stories are depicted using lots of poems, songs, narrations, sound effects, in accordance with the fantasy setting of the story. 
The music is expressed in “suite form”; each album is made as though it were a suite with an overarching story. Each song within the album is a mini story that when combined, makes up the larger story of the entire album. 
 
The concepts underlying their works question fundamental elements of human nature that have a contradictory dual aspect; they include life and death, light and shadow, love and hate, and happiness and sadness. The more one listens to the music, the more one understands its depth that is put into the lyrics, narration, and sound effects.
The setting of the album’s story is usually fantastical and loosely based on history or myths, such as Greek tragedies, Grimm’s fairy tales, etc.
 

The “stories” performed by Sound Horizon are not only auditory, but also presented as a “package” with illustrations and elaborately designed lyrics books. These elements make further interpretation possible. The illustrations by Mr. Yokoyan, who makes all of the album jackets, play an important role in expressing the fantastic worldview of Sound Horizon.

Sound Horizon gives two types of performances: “concerts” and “live tours”. 

At “concerts” held in conjunction with the release of a new album, with the concept of re-creating “story music” on the stage, the audience can enjoy a fantastic world in which “story music” is presented not only aurally, but also visually.  

The “live tours” are nation-wide tours with the name “Territorial Expansion Tour Nº. XX”. They consist of performances of a wide variety of numbers, including old music that was on an indie label and pieces by Revo himself, as well as music that is only performed live. The concept is for the entire venue to become a stage for the presentation of a “fantastical world”. One of the attractions of both types of performance is that they are set up for audience participation.
  
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