Songfacts®:

• The phrase "Kirisute Gomen" is of Japanese origin. It means literally, "exemption to cut down and cast aside" a member of the lower orders who has failed to show a member of the samurai military caste proper respect.
• Vocalist and guitarist Matt Heafy explained to Artist Direct why the band decided to kick off the album with such an epic track: "We've always been big fans of everything. Not comparing it to - but I think metal is the closest relative to what ancient and classical music were. The classical pieces were always about very epic things - whether it was in mythology terms or really grandiose storytelling, I think that metal in general is one of the things that stands out. We've always been big fans of stuff like that, where you can get storytelling and imagery in your head just from hearing a title or a couple of names. I think it's the same thing with this album."
• Heafy told About.com the reasoning behind the album title, Shogun. "The reason we picked that word is because when you think of a word like shogun, it sparks all this vivid imagery and storytelling, especially when you look into the definition. It's the highest ranking military general in Japanese times. We really dug it. We felt it was an appropriate name for the album."