Apocalypse ~dirge of swans~
Not to be confused with Apocalypse.
Apocalypse ～dirge of swans～
Song Information
Artist: Zektbach
Composition/Arrangement: Zektbach
Lyrics/Vocals: Yu Tokiwa
BPM: 170
Length: 2:09
Genre: ORATORIO
Movie: Michael=Kerorich
First Music Game Appearance: beatmania IIDX 13 DistorteD
Other Music Game Appearances:
- REFLEC BEAT colette -Spring-
- REFLEC BEAT plus MUSIC PACK 38
- REFLEC BEAT + KONAMI MUSIC PACK 36
- ポップンリズミン Zektbachパック1
Lyrics
Game Size
Swans sing before they die Their songs resound throughout the sky And I drop a rose petal down the sea of blood and tears I keep praying Why do you feel nothing ? Why do you injured one another ? Why? Aggressive culture of despotism Why? You never win the cursed war Glory Decline Delusion Arrogance Silence Anger Silence Madness Now the fire has burnt out And what is left is built of ice This sounds like heaven I vaguely hear a moan of pain It's a solemn note
Long Version
Close your eyes,keep silent Think about the reason you are born Look inward to learn the truth You're born to develop your soul Starry sky healed their minds The blue sea wrapped them with a generous mind Yet they repeat the same mistake many times Losing their reasons,like a beast The truth is only one "As you sow,so shall you reap" Swans sing before they die Their songs resound throughout the sky And I drop a rose petal down the sea of blood and tears I keep praying Why do you feel nothing ? Why do you injured one another ? Why? Aggressive culture of despotism Why? You never win the cursed war Do not you hear god's voice ? Without defiling my beautiful world I feel myself change into something very frightening Glory Decline Delusion Arrogance Silence Anger Silence Madness Gluttony Wrath Pride Sloth Corruption Envy Lust Greed Now the fire has burnt out And what is left is built of ice This sounds like heaven I vaguely hear a moan of pain It's a solemn note |
Song Connections / Remixes
- A different arrangement of Apocalypse ～dirge of swans～, titled Apocalypse～memento mori～, appears in pop'n music 15 ADVENTURE.
- A long version of Apocalypse ～dirge of swans～, titled Apocalypse 罪狩りの聖女, appears in Zektbach's first album, The Epic of Zektbach -Ristaccia-.
- An orchestral version by Osamu Kubota, titled Apocalypse, Avec Orgue, also appears in the same album.
- A piano arrangement of Apocalypse ～dirge of swans～ by Taro Makido, titled Apocalypse -罪狩りの聖女-, appears in the The Epic of Zektbach -PIANO COLLECTION- album.
Trivia
- This song has different backgrounds, banners, jackets, or other related images. For more information, please see this page.
- Apocalypse ～dirge of swans～ marks Tomosuke Funaki's first use of his Zektbach alias in BEMANI in-game. He previously used this alias on Die Zauberflöte's song credits in the GuitarFreaks V & DrumMania V Soundtracks booklet.
- Apocalypse ～dirge of swans～'s beatmania IIDX charts were created by TOMOSUKE himself [1].
- Apocalypse ～dirge of swans～ is the only Zektbach song in beatmania IIDX with a unique video that is not produced by MAYA.
- Apocalypse ～dirge of swans～ received a new BEGINNER chart in beatmania IIDX 17 SIRIUS.
- Apocalypse ～dirge of swans～ was added to REFLEC BEAT colette -Spring- on April 24th, 2013.
- On the REFLEC BEAT series, Apocalypse ～dirge of swans～' title was initially shown simply as Apocalypse. This was fixed on May 15th, 2013.
- Apocalypse ～dirge of swans～ is unlockable in beatmania IIDX INFINITAS from October 4th, 2017, after purchasing its charts with BITs.
- The BEGINNER chart was added with the launch of beatmania IIDX INFINITAS (2020). It can be unlocked with BITs.
- As of March 13th, 2024, all its charts are playable by default.
- After being removed from the initial release of REFLEC BEAT 悠久のリフレシア, Apocalypse ～dirge of swans～ was revived on March 1st, 2018.
Song Production Information
Zektbach
~Hannes, the girl who received God's revelation and was chosen as a sin hunting executioner, suffered in despair from that heavy duty and continued to pray for absolution, but with the endless sins committed by people, her sadness and anger eventually turned to insanity, and she caused the flames of annihilation with her Apocalypse Sword.
The remains after the blazing hellfire. That's the endless ice world Cocytus.
That scene was very majestic and beautiful, that Hannes broke down crying on the hill of Megiddo~
From "The hill where the swan sings"
Hi, everyone. My name is Zektbach=Tomosukedia.
I'm commonly known as Zektbach the Catastrophe, Zektbach's destructive light.
I'm also said to be Zektbach's magic flute, or the jet black chaotic bringer, but there's no particular reason for this.
Basically, this is how the Honoré Cosmo person appeared in DistorteD.
There's probably a few people among them who're well-known.
Apocalypse ～dirge of swans～ is an epic song created based on New Testament scriptures.
Songs with that kind of feeling actually contain my strongest melodies.
This time, I can only convey part of Zektbach's magnificent epics with everyone, and I hope you'll play and follow along with its time.
Also, if you see me in the city, please don't throw stones at me.
Yu Tokiwa
If anything, this world has nothing to do with me, who likes Buddhist statues.
TOMOSUK... oh! I mean, Zektbach! In order to answer his request, I desperately immersed myself in Apocalypse and extracted that essence.
Well, here it is.
The protagonist is a sin hunting girl. A country was about to meet its end due to their people committing too many sins.
A gray sky, and a sea with blood and tears. A girl standing alone on a dangerous cliff.
A barely surviving swan sadly cries to the sky.
Why are people so sinful?... An innocent girl suffers. Ga,,,!
The girl turns into a god of destruction,,. I also heard some scary spells.
How frightening~.
There are burning flames. I can faintly hear the agonizing groans of suffering people, but a beautiful and majestic melody plays,,.
Let's listen to this song and turn into that girl with such feelings.
At least when I was singing it, she was a sin hunting girl back then... take care of the earth☆
Video Production Information
Michael=Kerorich
To all the supposedly brave knights who challenge difficult notecharts every day, nice to meet you.
My name is Michael=Kerorich.
I'm sincerely honored to have the opportunity to meet you in such a place.
I've been invited here by the extraordinary bard Zektbach, whom I've always admired, so this time, I quickly came here with great difficulty.
Initially, I couldn't hide my slight confusion when I received such theme, but I was also once a child, as a typical youth, knocked on the library doors in frustration while challenging epics written by many famous predecessors, such as The Lord of the Rings and The Elric Saga.
Where did such worries go? I was completely fascinated by his fleeting, yet beautiful lamenting melody which appeared from his hands, and the princess' singing voice, who came from the East.
Oh, I somehow added the word "beautiful" to Zektbach's music.
It's an extremely obvious expression like "the sea is wet". How embarrassing....
I've become quite talkative, but I'd be happy if you love the poem and illustrations.
I created the spell in the song's middle section by myself on December 30th, isolating myself in a room on a high tower.
It has quite a fragrant scent, and it probably contains spells and various ideas.
Difficulty & Notecounts
beatmania IIDX difficulty rated from 1 to 12.
REFLEC BEAT to groovin'!! Upper difficulty rated from 1 to 10+, 1 to 13 in VOLZZA/VOLZZA 2, and 1 to 15 in 悠久のリフレシア.
ポップンリズミン difficulty rated from 1 to 10. (Ratings and notecounts obtained from BEMANIWiki 2nd.)
beatmania IIDX
| Game | SP Difficulty | DP Difficulty | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BEGINNER | NORMAL | HYPER | ANOTHER | LEGGENDARIA | NORMAL | HYPER | ANOTHER | LEGGENDARIA | |
| Notecounts | 121 | 510 | 921 | 1214 | - | 480 | 981 | 1270 | - |
| beatmania IIDX 13 DistorteD | - | 5 | 9 | 10 | - | 5 | 9 | 11 | - |
| beatmania IIDX 14 GOLD→16 EMPRESS | - | 5 | 9 | 10 | - | 5 | ↓8 | 11 | - |
| beatmania IIDX 17 SIRIUS→Present | 1 | 5 | 9 | 10 | - | 5 | 8 | 11 | - |
| beatmania IIDX 13 DistorteD CS | ※2 | 5 | 9 | 10 | - | 5 | 9 | 11 | - |
| beatmania IIDX 16 EMPRESS + PREMIUM BEST | ※2 | 5 | 9 | 10 | - | 5 | 8 | 11 | - |
| beatmania IIDX INFINITAS | - | 5 | 9 | 10 | - | 5 | 8 | 11 | - |
| beatmania IIDX ULTIMATE MOBILE | 1 | 5 | 9 | 10 | - | - | - | - | - |
| beatmania IIDX INFINITAS (2020) | 1 | 5 | 9 | 10 | - | 5 | 8 | 11 | - |
※ Denotes chart is different from the later BEGINNER chart (total notes: 202).
REFLEC BEAT
Old Charts
| Game | Level | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | Medium | Hard | Special | |
| Notecounts | 101 | 222 | 477 | - |
| REFLEC BEAT colette -Spring-→VOLZZA 2 | 3 | 6 | 9 | - |
| REFLEC BEAT plus | 3 | 6 | 9 | - |
| REFLEC BEAT + | 3 | 6 | 9 | - |
New Charts
| Game | Level | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | Medium | Hard | White Hard | |
| Notecounts | 225 | 504 | 760 | 1219 |
| REFLEC BEAT 悠久のリフレシア | 5 | 8 | 11 | 13 |
ポップンリズミン
| Game | Difficulties | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Normal | Hyper | EX | |
| Notecounts | 140 | 232 | 454 |
| ポップンリズミン | 2 | 5 | 9 |