There’s more to Academy Award-Winning Filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki than his directorial chops would lead you to believe. What you may not know about the man who brought you My Neighbor Totoro, Howl’s Moving Castle and Spirited Away is that he has routinely contributed lyrics to many of the beautifully-orchestrated songs in his films.

You’ve got to wonder if he ever thought they’d be used like this.

From out of the twisted ether of European and Japanese Death Metal comes Imaginary Flying Machines, a musical project that combines the most recognizable themes from the films of Hayao Miyazakai and Studio Ghibli with pure, unadulterated rock ‘n’ roll fury. The result is a 12-track cover album called Princess Ghibli released by Media Factory’s Overlap Records in Japan and Coroner Records for the rest of the world.

Coroner Records isn’t exactly forthcoming with information about this project; not to mention the label itself. What I have determined is that just about every artist they represent is part of the Imaginary Flying Machines collaboration.

Is the head of Coroner Records an otaku with a trust fund hell-bent on taking over the world with Death Metal covers of anime tracks? The world (and I) need to know. I’ll do my best to find out right after I’ve finished listening to the Death Metal cover version of the My Neighbor Totoro theme for the 50th time today.

Want a listen for yourself? The most recent episode of Japanator Radio’s got four tracks from Princess Ghibli in the artist spotlight.