GUNVOLT CHRONICLES: LUMINOUS AVENGER IX2 SOUNDTRACK

The GUNVOLT CHRONICLES: LUMINOUS AVENGER IX2 SOUNDTRACK (白き鋼鉄のＸ（イクス）2 サウンドトラック) is an album for Gunvolt Chronicles: Luminous Avenger iX 2, containing all 40 tracks in the base game and game loop versions of Lola's songs. The soundtrack does not include the tracks of collaboration DLC characters. It comes with a 16 page booklet with notes about all the tracks, as well as some production and creator comments.
Initially, the release of an iX 2 soundtrack was uncertain. On May 23rd, 2022, Ippo Yamada tweeted that it would depend on fan requests.First tweet by Ippo Yamada about an OST The following day he thanked fans for their support, said Toshiaki Tai and Ryo Kawakami were moving, and questioned if they'll be able to make it work.Second tweet by Ippo Yamada about an OST The soundtrack release was announced on June 15th 2022.
Link to booklet translation document:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1UuYi5fgVZ0p8WDOx3KJnLvEzR_gey1SYHY20WWet_qE/edit?usp=sharing
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==Booklet Scan Gallery==
File:Laix2booklet_front_back.jpg
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File:Laix2obi_front.jpg|Obi front
File:IX2_obi_.jpg|Obi back
==Track List==
Note: Context listed in italics is speculated but unconfirmed.
(C) = Composer
(L) = Lyricist
(A) = Arranger
The III: Sound Create Unit is credited with arrangement on all tracks except A-7, A-13, A-15, A-18, B-2, B-4, B-7, and B-21.
Disc A
No.	Name 	Context 	Musicians
01 	White Steel (Luminous Avenger), Break白き鋼鉄、ブレイク 	Title screen 	Ryo Kawakami (C)
02 	After XアフターX 	Opening cutscene 	Ryo Kawakami (C)
03 	An Invisible Answer見えない答え 	Mysterious wormhole and teleporter 	Takumi Sato (C)
04 	Null - An innocent color -null～無垢の色～ 	Null's theme 	Ryo Kawakami (C)
05 	Serenity Mindセレニティマインド 	Overlooking the desert/Hard Mode stage select	Takumi Sato
06 	Foreign Steel Field異郷の鋼野 	Pillar Outskirts 	Ryo Kawakami (C)
07 	Command Prompt(命題：＞) 	Vocal song 01 	Ryo Kawakami (C)Hakofactory (L)Keishi Yonao (A)
08 	Mission Clear 2ミッションクリア２ 	Mission clear jingle 	Ryo Kawakami (C)
09 	Open Card 2オープンカード２ 	Mission results screen 	Ryo Kawakami (C)
10 	Break Timeブレイクタイム 	Base conversations 	Takumi Sato (C)
11 	Entrance Whiteエントランス・ホワイト 	Normal stage select 	Ryo Yoshinaga (C)
12 	Volcanic Rockヴォルカニックロック 	Volcano Block (Dacite's stage) 	Hiroyuki Sato (C)
13 	Love's Sanctuary愛のありか 	Vocal song 02 	Ryo Kawakami (C)Hakofactory (L)Keishi Yonao (A)
14 	Queen Bee of the Jungle密林のクィン・ビー 	Jungle Block (Vespa's stage) 	Ryo Yoshinaga (C)
15 	Ready to Go!秒読みスタートダッシュ！ 	Vocal song 03 	Ippo Yamada (C)Hakofactory (L)Keishi Yonao (A)
16 	Panic Encounterパニックエンカウンター 	VS Medium Bosses 	Ryo Kawakami (C)
17 	Optical Glowオプティカルグロウ 	Laboratory Block (Autochrome's stage) 	Yusuke Sakai (C)
18 	Curiosity = Possibility!好奇心イコール可能性！ 	Vocal song 04 	Ryo Kawakami (C)Hakofactory (L)Keishi Yonao (A)
19 	Null - Recollection -null～追想～ 	Null's backstory 	Ryo Kawakami (C)Aoi Takeda (C)
Disc B
No.	Name 	Context 	Musicians
01 	Armament Factoryアーマメントファクトリー 	Industrial Block (Brigade's stage) 	Ryo Yoshinaga (C)
02 	You're Not Aloneもうひとりじゃない 	Vocal song 05 	Ippo Yamada (C)Hakofactory (L)Keishi Yonao (A)
03 	Sleeping in the Frost and Snow眠れ霜雪の中で 	Arctic Block (Hail's stage) 	Yusuke Sakai (C)
04 	Wordplay Magicあいうえおまじない 	Vocal song 06 	Ippo Yamada (C)Hakofactory (L)Keishi Yonao (A)
05 	M・O・T・H・E・R 	Mother Computer encounter 	Ippo Yamada (C)Keishi Yonao (A)
06 	Solitary Space孤高宙域 	Space Block (Ace's stage) 	Ryo Kawakami (C)
07 	The New Worldつなげて新世界 	Vocal song 07 	Ryo Kawakami (C)Hakofactory (L)Keishi Yonao (A)
08 	Ready for Battle臨戦態勢 	Boss encounter 	Hiroyuki Sato (C)
09 	Gravekeepersグレイヴキーパーズ 	VS Gravekeepers 	Ippo Yamada (C)
10 	Battle Ended 2バトルエンディッド２ 	Boss defeated 	Ryo Kawakami (C)
11 	The Rising Will駆け上がる意志 	Passage to Upper Stratum and Passage to Top Floor	Ryo Kawakami (C)
12 	Null - When Resolution Fulfills -null～決意満ちる時～ 	Null's sacrifice 	Ryo Kawakami (C)
13 	Xtreme Beyondエクストリームビヨンド 	VS Ypsilon/The Creator 	Ryo Yoshinaga (C)
14 	A Void Vessel虚な器 	Teleporter Null/End-game stage select 	Takumi Sato
15 	Nostalgic Gardenノスタルジアの庭 	Hanging Gardens 	Yusuke Sakai (C)
16 	Uncontrollable Heartアンコントローラブルハート 	VS Mother 1 	Ryo Kawakami(C)Keishi Yonao (A)
17 	Anger of Mother母神の怒り 	Mother encounter 2 	Ippo Yamada(C)Keishi Yonao (A)
18 	Lost Luminasロストルミナス 	VS Mother 2 	Ippo Yamada (C)Keishi Yonao (A)
19 	The Beloved Vestiges愛しき面影 	Ending 1 	Ryo Kawakami (C)
20 	The Wind of Salvation Blows救いの風が吹く 	True ending 	Yusuke Sakai (C)
21 	Purification鎮花祭 	Vocal song 08. Hard Mode credits theme. 	Ippo Yamada (C)Hakofactory (L)Keishi Yonao (A)
==Track Notes==
Comment by Ryo Kawakami:
This game is set in a “world where machine life-forms live”. To showcase in the music, we input electric guitar everywhere, which we’d refrained from using insofar. The sound has become harder and more industrial, hope you listen to it in a high volume!
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*The White Steel Breaks
This game’s main word is a “break feeling”. So the title screen theme has been renewed, becoming more aggressive. A drum pattern that hits you, and timbale that echo over the place, a guitar reef that accompanies the image of the buzz saw, and even the explosion SFX have a “destruction” image to them.
*After X
This track plays in the scene where the narrator recounts what happened in the prequel. The melody has pieces of the theme of iX built into it. Since this scene focuses on the past, we used the tone setting of the prequel to make it for this song alone.
*An Invisible Answer
This track is used when the party bumps into something unknown like the wormhole that appeared all of a sudden. This track uses a special sound stage named “whole tone scale”. The Grave Pillar, filled with mysteries… There’s probably secrets where you least expect them to be.
*Null - An Innocent Color -
It’s the theme of Null, the girl Worker that they met in the desert. To express how pure she is and how she lacks a goal, it’s a track that feels both mechanical and transparent. The melody line has a neutral composition that feels like it could be either a major key or a minor key.
*Serenity Mind
It’s a track that feels a tad serious, and it plays during many scenes of this alternate world. Times when they’re being rational, or when sparkling motivation comes in… It’s all mighty track that can used in either case, and I kept it as an useful treasure when thinking of how to design each scene
*Foreign Steel Plains
The Pillar surroundings BGM. Uses the ambience of a desolate desert as a basis, yet it also wants to give a feeling of advancing through this odd world without fearing anything; I wanted to make a positive and brave melody. By the way, Mr. Tai is the one who comes up with the names for the tracks. He requested that “it’s the 1st stage, give it an iX feeling”; then I suggested using the name “steel plains” instead of simply “plains” as a title. And he agreed. As expected! 
*Mission Clear 2
This stage clear jingle is from the prequel but distorted in an effective way when it ends, becoming a new arrangement. By the way, I forgot to write about it on the prequel track notes, but all of the BGMs, songs and singles of the game’s soundtrack share a BPM=150 value. A nuzlocke play for those who make music comes to the Xtreme…
*Open Card 2
The results screen BGM. We use the card system for this game, too. Since I wanted to inherit singles and system related things I purposely made a rearrangement of the prequel’s track. Let’s add “2” to the track while we’re at it, too!
*Break Time
The BGM used during base conversations. Seeing how they’re all energetically chatting despite being sent to another world, it makes you feel at ease. The music is fully pop for this track. The image is “a fun otherworldly lifestyle”
*Entrance White
The menu BGM of the base. Since this time the base is in the quiet entrance hall of the Grave Pillar, I strived to transmit the image of a quiet place where there’s no-one else, I wanted it to be felt in the echo too. The clean tone guitar with an effect placed on it is something I personally wanted to incorporate.
*Volcanic Rock
It’s the BGM of the Volcano Block and the theme of Dacite, too. A twisting rhythm, that feels like magma blowing out. It progresses in a harsh way, as if it was about to erupt. But there I incorporate a cool and dry melody, based on the image of the boss of the stage. It combines heat and coolness, and I struggled to combine these opposite concepts in this track.
*Queen Bee of the Jungle
It’s the track of the Jungle Block and Vespa’s theme. A dense tree jungle and waterfalls, the mighty and wilderness of nature are manifested. The melody has many notes, in the image of the prideful Vespa who talks in quick succession. There’s actually a little connection between this track and “Optical Glow”.
*Panic Encounter
It rings out during scenes where characters run into trouble or when battling mid-bosses or when battling foes in a row. It’s a BGM of a sudden change. It’s always a theme to build up music from the riff alone without having to rely on the melody, but changing the guitar’s tone made it very easy to make indeed. A bass and an aggressive guitar reef. I love it.
*Optical Glow
It’s the Lab Block track and Autochrome’s theme. This sharp tune which feels like lines of light overlapping matches the image of the laser gimmicks and the boss that flies at high speeds. I used the motif of his sister Vespa during the hook of the song, making it a very technical track.
*Null - Recollection -
It’s the track that plays when Null explains her origins. “Not having a purpose” should be something very harsh and beyond imagination for the inhabitants of this world… I used the tones of a synthesizer, playing piano and violin backwards to make a sad and lonely track.
*Armament Factory
It’s the track of the Factory Block and Brigade's theme. It’s a really hard tune, but melodies that use short iterative phrases contain the image of a light and quick boss. Fits the image of a factory that’s constantly making weapons non-stop.
*Sleeping in the Frost and Snow
It’s the track of the Arctic Block and Hail’s theme. It’s a severe tune which makes you think of blowing blizzards, but the melody itself is softly, kind and sleepy as an atmosphere. You can feel the taste of getting lost in the snowy mountains by listening to it. That part where the rhythm suddenly stops during the middle of the track is because it depicts the image of the “Time Freezer” (Cryo-Flash).
*M·O·T·H·E·R
It’s the theme of the Mother Computer that controls the Grave Pillar. It’s a tune with composure and dignity, with pipe organs and choir echoing. The synthetizer’s iterative phase beat brings a mechanical feeling to the frontlines; I did take special care of the balance here. There’s 4 tracks related to “Mother”, and Mr. (Keishi) Yonao took part in the arrangement of these. I will explain why in another note.
*Solitary Space
It’s the track of the Space Block and Slug’s theme. The queerness of “space” existing within the tower, and the image of a stoic and silent boss combine here. The cool A Melody tone that feels like a shadow, the meager Japanese music sound scale were added there taking into account his Ninja-like design. The change of rhythm of the B melody, depicting agility, is my favorite part.
*Ready for Battle
The usual track showing the tension before a battle begins. The drums are the key here. I made use of the rests in music and pacing while also striving for a subdued rhythm pattern as if both are gradually keeping each other in check.
*Gravekeepers
It’s the battle track when you fight each Boss Worker in each Block. Since they are “Gravekeepers”, I added bell sounds to give an image of a requiem. I aimed to make a heavy sound making that made us of low tone music, creating pressure worth of these strong foes.
*Battle Ended 2
It’s the jingle that rings out when you beat a boss. This is also a new arrangement. I tried using a technique in which I inserted signal noise but I was nervous whether bug reports of “the sound is broken” would come in or not (they didn’t, thankfully enough)
*The Rising Will
It’s the BGM of the corridors that climb up towards the upper floors of the tower. I thought of Acura’s strong resolution as he headed upwards while making the track. I assumed it matched with the situation going on, that he was trying to rescue Kohaku, who’d been abducted… But because of that rising purple magma there’s no time to sit down and listen to it! 
*Null - When Resolution Fulfills -
The track of the scene where Null finds her “role”. I put the focus on “resolution” and “decision” rather than sadness, and purposely made it with a strong tune. Parts like these are what make the tracks of Null and Ypsilon hard to make. It took a lot of trial and error before I reached the shape I wanted to create. Thanks to the patient programmers who helped me with this task.
*Xtreme Beyond
The track of the battles against Ypsilon. He looks similar to Acura yet he’s not him at the same time. I borrowed the chord progression and building of his battle theme in GV1, and then added a new melody overlapping it. I think that the result was a track that was similar to the original music, yet it’s got Ypsilon’s own powerful and straight impulse to it.
*A Void Vessel
It’s a track that expresses a feeling of loss after a sad happening. It’s built from weak abstract sounds, as if you had a big gaping hole in your heart. It plays during the menu screen of the second half of the story, yet… It’s indeed a harsh thing to see.
*Nostalgic Garden
It’s the track of the paradise spreading on the top floor of the Grave Pillar. The main role is held by a sequence pattern that feels like blooming flowers; I put a lot of attention during mixing to achieve that. The blurry contour drum part with a deep reverberation is the image of the surface when seen from here. It’s not only beauty, it has a feeling of fleetingness and abnormality poured on it too.
*Uncontrollable Heart
The track of the 1st battle against the last boss. When I read the script for that part, I decided to use an arrangement of “Positive Girl” (Kohaku’s theme). You don’t want to fight yet you’re forced to. The harsh feeling that comes with it. And the harsh feelings of Mother, who “wants to put an end to all”. The melody is the same as the original track, but I think I did recreate it as a track with a feeling of sadness from which you can feel both things.
*Mother’s Anger
Mother finally appears. Anger at her broken down state, it shows her heart’s state, filled with desperation. Adding a piano that plays a dissonance on her theme reflects how her anger makes her lose her rationality.
*Lost Luminas
The track of the 2nd battle against the last boss. The reason I asked Mr. (Keishi) Yonao to perform the arrangements of the tracks related to Mother is because this one existed. I thought that both the melody and the tone had to be as close as possible to the original or else it wouldn’t be convincing enough to express her true shape. When working on it, we referred to the orders given to us about this track. “As if it was a great angel”, “as if it was piercing through”. And so we aimed to make an impressive and speedy track. We used a lot of guitar since it’s the sound that represents this alien world. The melody from the track “M.O.T.H.E.R” is also inserted in a way that it doesn’t feel out of place.
*The Beloved Vestiges
Acura & his allies have learned what Mother really felt like. I made a melody with sadness and love, imagining those indistinguishable feelings. It matches the speed in which the story progresses, at first being intermittent and a quiet feeling of recollection, and then a feeling of love slowly expands; that’s how this track is built like.
*The Wind of Salvation Blows
The group sees how the two souls climb high on the skies. It’s the track of that sad and yet beautiful scene. The 2 sequence patterns whose phrases exchange and jump out are a further evolved shape of the track of the Aerial Gardens. Guess you can say it’s the image of souls trapped in Paradise finally being freed… The road to the end of the story must be harsh but please do your best, ladies and gentlemen.
==Production Notes==
Comment by Ippo Yamada:
Unexpected. This is how you all must've felt regarding this game's release. We in the sound room had the same feeling, too.
Fall, 2019. Shortly after the making of the prequel was over, planning for this game began. But afterward, and when 2020 began, we were making the drama CDs of the 1st game and holding the "Lola Location" concerts; not only that, it was the promotion campaign of the PS4 version of the "Striker Pack" and we were making and filming our very first external location music video while chilling from the weather. Among other things.
During the 1st half of 2020, we were working on "Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon 2" and "Azure Striker Gunvolt 3".
We were taking the lead with the PS4 "SP", held the "Lumen Virtual Live 2020" in May, and building up to announce in June that "GV3" was in the making. We recorded "Memoria of 'He'" during the spring and we were ready. Most of the 2nd half of 2020 involved working on "GV3", and we released "Butterfly's Journey" by the end of the year. We were in a GV focused work, hoping to release it during 2021. That was when the decision to rethink "GV3" came in and suddenly work on this game, "iX 2", began.
That won't do. We can't change our schedules so suddenly! Late 2020 to early 2021 involved recording the planned for Lumen songs as well as working on Lola's new songs. After going through the making of "Blaster Master Zero 3" and the "hell" that voice recording for the "trilogy" was, we were in early summer and that's when we merged together to start earnestly working on this game. We made the music video recording during the summer and eventually made the surprise announcement in fall, 2021.
The OST for this game began production in late 2020. (Ryo) Kawakami strived to work on both this and the Lumen songs too. Half a year later, he was joined by (Aoi) Takeda, (Ryo) Yoshinaga, (Yusuke) Sakai. When summer was almost over, (Takumi) Sato and (Hiroyuki) Sato thus the full sound team worked on the project by then. Lola's songs involved lyrics made by HakoFactory and arrangement by Keishi Yonao.
Thanks to the live performances and the drama CDs, the concept for her songs had been pretty much set in stone so song making progressed at quite a speedy pace.
This game, made through these hardships, has the "iX" sound atmosphere at its axis while adding the world of desert and machines as the motif. It builds harder music while, at the same time, using the setting of the pseudo-recreation of environments within the Grave Pillar, making the stage tracks be very colorful melodies too. Enjoy this soundtrack which has become more powerful and more colorful.
==Creator's Comment==
Comment by iX2 director and scenario writer Toshiaki Tai.
Late 2020. It’d been about half a year since “GV3” was announced. I was working on the game’s plot, UI and other stuff in a slow and methodical way. The CEO suddenly patted my shoulders and asked “Why don’t you make a sequel to iX?”. And thus work on this game began. Huh? Make a new, similar 2D Action game before “3”, which was in the making? I can do it!
But at the core of the matter there was a big issue. It couldn’t be “too similar”. Gunvolt is an ongoing series, under intense development. If you’re going to make something in parallel, then conflicts must be avoided. The main series had a thing going on. That was Director Tsuda, who’d been saying “let’s develop the games taking into account “only” boys of 5th elementary (9-11 years old)”, and that’s how the previous two main games were made. So that they’d have a strong impact in the hearts of boys who are still growing, and which would remain there, even after becoming adults; an exciting game with a thematic world building… guess that’s how you can define them. The iX games, on the other hand, are aimed for big adults.
My concept for them was “fill them to the extreme” with a charm resembling that of a late 90s arcade game and know-how, and so I was very maniacal in how I developed them. They often told me that “iX sure was flashy in presentation”, but that was a result of improvement on specs of the compatible hardware, and I personally aim for smart and calm expressions. You might be able to see the comparison better once you play “Gv3” on the same hardware.
Making a new-gen game. Making classical games. Since we’re doing simultaneous things, why not do both at once? That was the stance. Well, while it is a spin-out (independent) yet both series can be considered something that contemplates the past and future of each, two sides of the same coin, even.
Well. Making began but we’d already reached the “apeX of 2D action” in the previous game and done all we wanted to do. Thus we had to tackle this game from another direction, yet… The end result is that we couldn’t repurpose anything from the prequel and had to start from scratch.
While switching to a new development engine. All was a start from zero. I felt anxious on the inside as I gave out the orders… But once it began to take shape, that anxiety was no more than unnecessary concern, and thanks to the efforts from the team we did really “break through the limits”! Things I’d given up at the start of planning were re-incorporated before I knew it, and it led to the birth of a game that overcame my predictions. I’m the type who doesn’t replay his own games often but this is a game I often play when I have time, pulling the Switch from my pockets to play it occasionally.
I suggest giving yourself a challenge when you want to play it casually like “heal only once in a mission” or “only use OD abilities”, coming up with your own rules. I made limitations very loose on normal mode so I hope you try out many types of game-play. Or when you want a more stoic challenge, I suggest hard mode. The coins you build up for the panels(?) melt once after the other, a feeling of tingling whenever it stretches or warps. Achieving the ending is a feeling of satisfaction never felt before, the type you want to brag about to your friends. If you felt this classical charm which is becoming lost in the current day, I’d be very happy.
And we mustn’t forget all the BGM that decorate this game. Given how it’s set in another world, I changed the direction of the music too. Many sounds ring out at once during the game, so I don’t think you’ll be paying detailed attention to it either but each one is a great track on its own!
Hope this BGM lets you realize a new charm of this game.
==References==
*Inti Direct product page
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Category:Soundtracks
Category:Luminous Avenger iX 2