''Elements'' is the second

extended play An extended play (EP) is a Sound recording and reproduction, musical recording that contains more tracks than a Single (music), single but fewer than an album. Contemporary EPs generally contain up to eight tracks and have a playing time of 1 ...

by Japanese

metal A metal () is a material that, when polished or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electrical resistivity and conductivity, electricity and thermal conductivity, heat relatively well. These properties are all associated wit ...

band

Ave Mujica Ave Mujica is a Japanese all-female Heavy metal music, metal band that is part of Bushiroad's ''BanG Dream!'' media franchise. Formed in 2023, the group's members portray fictional characters in the project's anime series and mobile game ''BanG ...

. It was released on October 2, 2024, via Bushiroad Music. The EP features five tracks with a total playing time of 21 minutes and 46 seconds. The work managed to chart in the official Japanese Albums Chart published by

Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics Statistics (from German language, German: ', "description of a State (polity), state, a country") is the discipline that ...

Background and release

On July 7, 2024, it was announced that an EP was set to be released in October the same year entitled ''Elements''. The information was made public on the same day of the band's second live concert titled "Quaerere Lumina". The EP was officially released on October 2, the same year. The lyrics were written by Diggy-MO', a former member of the Japanese hip hop group Soul'd Out. ''Elements'' was recorded at Mech Studio, Sound City,

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

and at Supa Love Studio Tokyo while mixing took place at Fennel Studio in

Shibuya is a Special wards of Tokyo, special ward in Tokyo, Japan. A major commercial center, Shibuya houses one of the busiest railway stations in the world, Shibuya Station. As of January 1, 2024, Shibuya Ward has an estimated population of 230,60 ...

, Tokyo. The EP was produced by Koki Ogata. Mastering engineer was Hiromichi "Tucky" Takiguchi who mastered the EP at his own mastering studio.

: ''Elements'', JAN/ISBN: 4562494358129, Catalog Number: BRMM-10836, 2024 (Japanese) ''Elements'' was released in a regular and a limited version. The latter featured a

blu-ray Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of high-defin ...

disc containing the group's second concert "Quaerere Lumina" in its entirely.

Reception

Katarina McGinn of '' Dead Rhetoric'' reviewed the EP and wrote that ''Elements'' became a massive springboard to ensnare both, the ''

BanG Dream! ''BanG Dream!'', also known as , is a Japanese music media franchise owned by Bushiroad. Created by Bushiroad president Takaaki Kidani in January 2015 with original story by Kō Nakamura, the project began as a manga before ex ...

'' community as well as certain parts of the heavy metal crowd. McGinn further stated the music blurs the line between

beauty Beauty is commonly described as a feature of objects that makes them pleasure, pleasurable to perceive. Such objects include landscapes, sunsets, humans and works of art. Beauty, art and taste are the main subjects of aesthetics, one of the fie ...

and melancholy, with plenty of guitar fireworks and riffage that's augmented by synths instead of being overshadowed by them. She added that the timing of a musical release could not be better given the fact that an anime series revolving around the band is set to air in the beginning of 2025. She prognosed that the group may spread like wildfire and ''Elements'' would back up that claim.

Commercial performance

''Elements'' sold more than 6.900 physical copies in its first week after release resulting the EP charting on fifth place in the official Albums Charts published by

. By the end of October 2024, the EP had sold more than 9.700 physical copies in Japan alone. In the '' Hot Albums'' Charts published by ''

Billboard Japan ''Billboard Japan'' is a sister organization of the U.S.-based music magazine '' Billboard''. It is operated by the Japanese Osaka-based company Hanshin Contents Link (a subsidiary of Hanshin Electric Railway), holding an exclusive licence fr ...

'', ''Elements'' peaked at no. 7 and stayed in the charts for four weeks.

Track listing

Credits and personnel

Adapted from the EP liner notes and the

Videogame Music Database A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

Charts

References

{{BanG Dream Japanese-language EPs Ave Mujica albums 2024 EPs 2020s concept albums