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, 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, Comics, 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. Comic Books and Novelizations have been created based off of Sound Horizon's stories, and while these are not canonical, 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, some of them containing lyrical poems to accompany them. In 2001, Revo released his 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 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−.

Web Songs

 * Main Article: Web Songs

Videography
Sound Horizon Horizon Liveography

Personnel
※Revo is the only current official member of Sound Horizon, however, many artists and musicians have made repeat appearances.
 * Main Article: Sound Horizon Members

Official Websites

 * The Official Sound Horizon Website
 * The Official Mobile Site
 * The Official Korean Site
 * The Official Sound Horizon Fanclub
 * Sound Horizon Official Webshop

Exceptional Websites

 * Roman's Riddle Page (currently not functioning)
 * Iberia's Riddle Page (currently not functioning)
 * Moira's Riddle Page (currently not functioning)
 * ハロウィンと夜の物語's Release Site (used to promote the release of ハロウィンと夜の物語)
 * Sound Horizon 10th Anniversary Special Site (used to promote the release of 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）, Nein, and 9th Story Concert 『Nein』～西洋骨董屋根裏堂へようこそ～)
 * Sound Horizon Around 15th Anniversary Special Site (used to promote a Sound Horizon release coming in the Nearest Future...)

Media Mix Websites

 * Roman (used to promote the serialization of the manga Roman (ロマン))
 * 旧約Marchen (used to promote the serialization of the manga 旧約Marchen)
 * 新約Märchen (used to promote the serialization of the manga 新約Märchen)

Defunct Websites

 * Revo's Personal Blog (shut down indefinitely)
 * TOY-BE Entertainment's Sound Horizon Mobile Site (shut down after merger with Adways Entertainment)
 * Sound Horizon Merch Shop (originally used to sell promotional materials, unsold goods, and exclusive merchandise)
 * TEAM Entertainment's Promotional Sound Horizon Site (originally used to promote the release of 少年は剣を…)
 * Dreamport Promotional Page (originally used to promote the release of Dream Port)
 * Barks' Sound Horizon Page (originally hosted discography with officially licensed MV and song previews)
 * Sound Horizon's Mobile Site (originally redirected to The Official Sound Horizon Website, until being shut down in late 2013)
 * Laurant (originally used to promote and sell the Laurant fashion brand)
 * Laurant mobile (originally used to promote and sell the Laurant fashion brand)
 * KING RECORDS' Exceptional Site (originally used to promote the release of イドへ至る森へ至るイド and Märchen)
 * 「イドへ至る森へ至るイド」 アンケート実施！ (originally used as a questionnaire for customers who bought イドへ至る森へ至るイド)
 * 「Märchen」 DVD＆Blu-ray　 アンケート実施！ (originally used as a questionnaire for customers who bought 7th Story Concert 『Märchen』 ～キミが今笑っている、眩いその時代に･･･～)
 * KING RECORDS' SOUND HORIZON'S ARCHIVES (originally used to promote the u̶n̶a̶u̶t̶h̶o̶r̶i̶z̶e̶d release of Chronology「2005-2010」 and Sound Horizon LIVE DVD 『Elysion～楽園パレードへようこそ～』)
 * Revive (Exceptional site used to promote the tour Sound Horizon Live Tour 2011 -第一次领土复兴远征-, and contained an mp3 and lyrics for the song Revive, the only live only song to be released as an audio only file.)

Sound Horizon Social Media

 * @S_Horizon_info (official Twitter)
 * @slhorizon (official Facebook)
 * SoundHorizon_LinkedHorizon (official Weibo)
 * Sound Horizon (official LINE)
 * Sound Horizon (official myspace, abandoned)