Tag Archives: Mythril Nazgul

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OCReMix – “Summoning of Spirits” Review

overclockedremixOverClocked Remix, Kyle Crouse & Aleah Baker bought us “Summoning of Spirits” last week, a massive collection of arrangements from the tales of series. Split into three specific sections, disc 1 and 2 are “Aselia”, 3 & 4 “Derris-Kharlan” and the bonus disc “Ratatosk”. We’ll be reviewing them all track by track. Take a seat, a drink and a few ethers – this may take a while!

Disc 1 opens with Sixto Sounds & Dhsu’s “The Unholy Wars”. A beautifully produced piano intro then bursts into a full speed attack on the senses with a fantastic electric guitar led electro-rock fest. It’s got so much energy and so much prowess, it’s hard to be impressed with this perfect rendition. It keeps very much in the vein of Tales Of… too. Hemophiliac’s and Christian Pacaud’s “Crisis Healing Salve” is a completely different plain altogether with regal harpsichords and serene string overtures leading the way. Then a lonely and empty guitar takes the lead in this sombre but fascinating rendition. djpretzel’s “The Koan of Drums” is another track that has an empty baroness to it in places despite the zooped up beats and electronic blips. Gradually the track layers up and blossoms into a really beautiful new age dance track.

Dhsu’s piano arranged “Airborne” is delightfully light and breezy with some wistful and dreamy segments. The piano playing is first class and the echoing concert production adds to its charm. “Arche Angel” from The Joker has nice militarian feel to it with constant building tension, making it a nice addition to the tracks already heard. The Joker’s “Chronometrical” uses the tick tocking clock to great effect with excellent use of synths again. There’s something undeniably joyous about this track that makes me want to celebrate it. TheDeath’s “Set Sail” is film-esque and moving by its sweeping strings and twinkling eyes. It’s kind of like listening to the day you found the best thing about life in audio. A great moment.

“Mirror Image” from Fishy and The Prophet of Mephisto turns the tables again with a lazy day turned rock arrangement. It has a slight reggae vibe to bounce to at the beginning but its soon blown away when the rocking guitars come flying at you. A great transitional piece. “Frozen Heart” from Sir NutS and USA is an airy and percussive track that takes a few listens to really appreciate the time it takes to grow and develop into its excellent second half. “Momentary” from The Joker & Kureeji Lee is a real wildcard. It has quite an abstract way about it and in doing so it makes it compelling and intriguing. Rexy’s “Gentry is a Five Letter Word” on the other hand plays its strong chords and main theme to its strengths and comes out with a cracking arrangement. Finally closing disc 1 is XMark’s desolate “Wind Dry My Tears” which features a strange electric acoustic guitar and some lovely vocal ad lib work. Adding on to the slow beat and the acoustic leads its a powerful piece to close the disc and leave you feeling like you’ve come a long way and still not finished your journey.

Hale-Bopp opens disc 2 with “Beyond Absentminded” that has some beautiful vocal work. There’s a kind of 70′s vibe to the funkiness of the track but there’s also a bit of a radiohead edge in there somewhere buried away. Sixto Sounds has the real anime madness feel tapped in with “Summoned Without Reason”. It has a real powerful drive and you’ll be rocking out to this track time and time again. Rexy returns with “Middle-Aselia Body” which while being up-tempo and soaring, has a ethereal quality to it with its slightly detuned backing arpeggios. The Joker’s “Cold Memory” continues the ethereal effect with a gentle track that again has a pinch of evil lurking in its corner. PriZm joins the foray with heavy metal arrangement “Simplified Design”. The sound is very Megadeth and the guitar work is immaculate. “Just Go” from Fishy & Nutritious is a pumped up dance track with a big beat and even bigger symphonic arrangements all around. By the time you’ve got the guitars in too, there’s no room in the speakers for anything else! It’s a full on assault – excellent stuff.

pu_freak’s “City of Vigor” is a slightly discontenting piano arrangement. The chords are unusual and so the track conveys that off kilter demonic tone perfectly. The piano playing is beautiful too. “New Technology” from OverCoat starts off with apt industrial noises and then grows out of them a great arrangement that’s both quirky and engrossing. Tepid and PriZm team up for “Horizon’s Walk” which is both intricate, beautiful and maddeningly addictive. The swirling background instruments really give this a certain edge with the acoustic guitar backing chords too.

“Riddles in the Dark” from Red Tailed Fox & Xaleph is a song that does more genres in six minutes than I care to write down. The fact that they are able to do this is no meagre achievement and the fact it all transitions so well is testament to their talents. “As Time Goes On” turns the tables as The Prophet of Mephisto gives us a lazy jazz arrangement with some excellent otherworldly vocals that are heavily processed to slide gently through time with you. “Deity” from Sir NutS takes the otherworldly ethereal sounds to the dance floor with a spacious beatathon clocking in at a massive seven minutes, its a little piece of club euphoria. Closing disc 2 is “Sweet Dreams” with a sleepy smoky jazz bar arrangement from Dhsu and Anthony Lofton that sends you quietly on your way.

summoningspiritscoverDisc 3 opens to the regal delights of Hemophiliac’s “Tales & Trials”. It’s a delightful little number that could have been drowned out by many of the other tracks if not handled properly but its not the case. The climax is rewarding to this arrangment. Christian Pacuad’s “This Fate” is one of drama and tension which does well being juxtaposed by Jazon Phantoms cutesy “Smile and Forgive”. Where one is dark and stank, the other is quietly beaming and rolling in fields of green green grass. Red Tailed Fox’s “Cafe Mantra” sits somewhere in between with some excellent sound samples of eastern instruments that bring a new dynamic to the compilation that we’ve not heard to date.

Sixto Sounds bring us back to anime rock with the excellent “Chaotic Heart” once again showcasing that Sixto Sounds are the masters of synth-rock. Usa then calms us back down from that awesome guitar action with a woodwind led “Desert Nights”. The soft production gives away into a disco diva dance track that’s glittery enough to get out your disco balls to groove to. “Strike from the Devil’s Axes” from LuIzA and CarboHydroM however is pure tales throughout. The electric guitar wails in distress and the energy pulsates throughout, it’ll leave you breathless by the end. A great rendition.

Monobrow returns to the more ambient side that’s came out during disc 3 with “Pain Withstanding” with a dark track led by organs and background pianos. JustChris takes the ambience and almost gives it a garage vibe with “Determination”. It’s all about the percussion and the strangely detuned bassline that runs throughout. It gives it an unusual sound base and makes it stand out from the crowd. “Ain’t Yo Fool” from LuIzA and Mythril Nazgul reminds me of the Atelier series with its very Japanese brass led chirpy songs. This arrangement is pure smiles in an mp3 and you can’t beat a bit of that in amongst all the heavy battle tracks! Having said that though, Christian Pacaud’s “Antegensis” is a cracking piece of arrangement. The guitar work is fantastic as is meanders from slow and wistful to dramatic and forceful and then back to poignant all over again. Finally Usa closes disc 3 with “The Fall of Iselia” which is a very classical styled piano piece that closes the disc nicely.

Disc 4 opens with “Dissillusioned Fate” which is a powerful track from Andy Jayne & PriZm and is a great opener for the final disc. “Continental Divide” is a beautiful track from Nick Tam that has a country feel to it where you could happily have it playing the background while you walk over fields across yonder. “Like a Glint” is an all out rocking arrangement from Master Hatchet. The bass lines are particular grungey on this track. Paragon continues the ultra rocking times with “Cartesian Warfare” where the guitar solo is quite simply awe inspiring. The guitars are so much to the front, you can’t hear the drums too well – so this is definitely one to mosh out to.

Taking a break, The Joker & Kureeji Lee return with a subtly tense piano arrangement entitled “Sacred Ashes”. It’s a real tension builder in the middle section with string sections really giving it some. “Altar Perception” is a collaboration from Monobrow, Protricity, AeroZ and injury in a smooth genre crossing arrangement that is both new age and and uptempo. There is a serenity in it that makes it very endearing. Rexy takes us into deep thought with the piano led arrangement “Dream Traveller”. The key to this tracks success is the fact it takes its time and therefore makes it heartfelt and heavy mouthed. It reminds me very much of the Brandish Piano Collection that I am a huge fan of. Reuben Kee keeps the ivories tinkling with “My Secret Forest” which is melodic and inviting. The over scoring of woodwind and brass over the piano is inspired and the production is perfect. This track is a personal favourite if I were to pick one and its down the tumbling rumble of the piano in places.

Returning to electronic hard edged rock is Silas with “On the Edge”. This arrangement is more grungy with its guitars and its tripping beat keeps it fresh and lively – not that with all that’s going on you could want to sleep through it. “Apogee” is from the trio of Andy Jayne, Fishy and  The Joker and is a really mammoth arrangement. Genre striding from piano to rock to goth to stadium rock to folk and conquering them all, this is a fine work of art. Christian Pacaud’s “Dark Corner” however had me a little confused with its time signatures of percussion and guitar which initially didn’t seem to match at the beginning. However as soon as the tracks off and away its in full flight and I particularly enjoyed the ending which is dark, eerie and evil!

Christian is then joined by PriZm for a twelve minute masterpiece called “Holy Judgement”. The arrangement is epic – like a space journey. The beginning can only be described as momentous. The airy keyboards give way to a classical arrangement that cranks up the tension which is quickly replaced by a fantastic electric guitar led section. The skills of the two arrangers are quite frankly clear to see and we’re only four minutes in! The track then breaks into an almost frenzy that will have you panting for more with an epic guitar solo that daring flows into a piano section before breaking out into an intricately crafted but flawlessly jaw dropping final five minutes of madness. This is undoubted an absolutely classic arrangement and one that should be commended and celebrated – just like this whole compilation. Rounding off the final full disc is Rexy with a brooding “Summonng of Spirits” which is like the equivalent of being pulled out of the pits of hell and riding the wings of the stars. From a moody opening the song opens out into a rousing arrangement that leaves you refreshed and wanting more.

The three bonus tracks are crackers too, Sixto Sounds’ “Go the Distance” has superb production values and some excellent choices of instrumentation and synths to match the excellent band work.  “No Better Time Than Now” from Nutritious and Poolgirl is an epic electro-rock arrangement that doesn’t let up from start to end and will have you singing along with it and “Standing Up” from The Joker is just beautiful… full stop.

project_talesOne thing that kept coming back to me was the fact that this whole collection was free. This collection beats a fair chunk of my bought OST’s hands down. The source material is a great inspiration of course and Motoi Sakuraba and co no doubt wrote these excellent songs to begin with. However the standard of which every single track as climbed to is nothing short of astounding. It’s no wonder games developers are turning to these artists for real soundtracks. The talent is boundless and endless and this site for one applauds every second, every minute and every note that is played in Summoning of Spirits. Inspirational.

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Whispers of the Plains – Interviews With OverClocked Remix Project Leaders!

overclockedremixYesterday saw OverClocked Remix release “Summoning of Spirits”, a massive arrangements project that spans 4 discs (plus 3 bonus tracks) covering the Namco “Tales Of…” series focusing primarily on Phantasia and Symphonia. We’ll be bring a full track by track indepth review on Monday but until then we can simply say that it’s a class effort.

Until then we have our first double interview with OverClocked ReMix’s project leaders Aleah Baker and Kyle Crouse. With their collaboration, they work feverishly behind the scenes to ensure that these massive projects are organised and released. Here’s Higher Plain Music’s interviews with them both.

What made you choose the Tales series (and more specifically Tales of Phantasia) for the latest OCRemix album?

Kyle: While the games (particularly Tales of Symphonia) are quite popular and have developed a major following over the years, the music of the Tales series is extremely underrepresented in the game arrangement community. We wanted to change that, bringing attention to these games and their soundtracks, which are amazing. We narrowed the project down to Tales of Phantasia and Symphonia because they’ve both been groundbreaking games; Phantasia pushed the limits of the Super Famicom by having spectacular graphics for its time, as well as a fully-vocalized theme song and voice acting, while Symphonia propelled the Tales series to new heights in popularity. The two games are also connected in their storylines, so we decided to cover them both in Summoning of Spirits.

Aleah: The Tales series has been getting more releases and focus outside of Japan in recent years, and while its popularity is growing, it and its soundtracks haven’t had a lot of exposure, which is a shame because there’s a lot of great stuff there! Tales of Phantasia only recently got an official English release (though many experienced it earlier via an unofficial translation with some… well-remembered quotes), but when it came out on the SNES in 1995 it was pretty groundbreaking – huge for a cart, with impressive graphics and music, not to mention it had a full vocal track in its intro! As the first game of the series, with a lovely but under-represented soundtrack, we felt it deserved some recognition. While much of the series consists of stand-alone stories, Tales of Symphonia is actually the distant prequel to Phantasia, and its release almost a decade after Phantasia helped boost the series’ popularity outside of Japan.

As project directors, what are your main duties and biggest challenges in such a huge scale project?

Kyle: This project took nearly four years to complete, which is a long time, even for a project as large as this one. A lot of time was spent emailing and IMing the involved musicians, first to invite them to join the project, then to ensure that they finished their work. Luckily, many of the musicians developed a small community, providing feedback to each other on their remixes and collaborating where necessary, as well as helping out with some behind-the-scenes stuff. There were also some periods of time where the project saw almost no progress and I lost interest, and there were many times when real, non-internet life would step in the way. But we persevered and finally realized our vision!

Aleah: Personally I ended up with a lot of the artistic chores, so that was pretty time-consuming on my end. Beyond that, though, we had a lot to keep track of; which tracks were being covered, who was working on them, who was contributing what… we had to check in on various stages of progress, try to meet certain due-dates, provide feedback… it was a ton of stuff to keep tabs on, and because it took so long, everyone had to keep motivated. There was a lot of small-level organization to keep in order, even beyond the production of the music itself.

Summoning of Spirits is a huge collection. How did you get to the final collection songs you finished with?

Kyle: It wasn’t easy! Lea and I initially listened to both the Phantasia and Symphonia soundtracks in their entirety, attempting to pare down their massive tracklists into something more manageable. We took into account a number of things, such as songs played at notable moments in the games, songs that were popular amongst the fans of the series, and just songs that we wanted to hear remixes of. Battle themes and character themes in particular resonate a lot with those who’ve played these games, so we wanted to ensure that we fit in as many of those as possible. We brought down the list to about 36 songs, but over the course of 4 years, the project expanded into the 53 tracks we ended up with. A few remixers approached me with Work-In-Progress remixes of songs we hadn’t previously considered, and we liked them, so they were added to the project. We also invited a few more musicians after all of the songs had been claimed, so we gave them lists of new songs to work with. And of course Tales of Symphonia saw a sequel last year on the Wii, so we had to add in a few tracks from that game as a special bonus!

Aleah: We went through the entire soundtracks and tried to whittle our choices down – which was hard. Being that both games take place in the same world, there were a few tracks shared between the two that were pretty iconic… for example, Fighting of the Spirit, a battle track that’s hugely popular (there are tons of piano and guitar renditions on Youtube, for example – and when we first announced the project, it was literally the first track people hoped for), is featured for boss fights against various Summon Spirits in both games, so it was a given. We picked tracks that were especially memorable or unique, stuff that stands out when you’re playing the game, struggling through a particularly epic battle or experiencing a touching character moment. We looked at what was popular among the fans. Obviously we chose some personal favourites, though we tried not to be biased (for instance, a town theme I particularly like from Symphonia didn’t make the cut). Some tracks were added to the initial list because the remixers themselves were interested in covering them. Despite our efforts to condense things, the final track list ended up a bit bigger than we initially planned… which isn’t a bad thing, considering we’re covering multiple soundtracks.

Did you allow the artists complete free range on their arrangements or were there certain rules applied that they had to follow?

Aleah: The games themselves cover a wide range of styles, and for such a huge album I think variety is necessary, so we largely let everyone do what they wanted. Of course there was a lot of feedback and discussion with the works-in-progress, so we could see the direction a particular track was taking, but we didn’t want to limit anyone. These guys brought a huge range of talent and ability to the table; if a particular track appealed to them and they could see it working in a certain style, we weren’t going to stifle them.

Kyle: We did not have any limitations on the vision of the remixers. They were allowed free reign with their arrangements, and as such we ended up with a very diverse range of music. We invited musicians based on the quality of their previous work, like, “Oh, what if (insert artist here) remixed this? Imagine how awesome that would be!” So we wanted them to have freedom to do what they liked.

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Are there arrangements that stick out as particular favourites for you both?

Kyle: There are so many, it’s hard to list just a few. Right off the bat, anything by Sixto Sounds (Juan Medrano) is a huge standout for me personally. The Unholy Wars in particular is exactly what Lea and I envisioned as the opening track to the project, and the others from him are no less than awesome. The collaboration of LuIzA (Luiza Carvalho) and CarboHydroM (Christophe Blondel) on Strike of the Devil’s Axes is also one that I love. TheDeath (Javier González Garcés) took the original Hydropolis theme from Phantasia and turned it into something truly grand and epic, and it’s quite a standout, I think. Altar Perception from Monobrow (Katie Kinkel), Protricity (Ari Asulin), AeroZ (Sebastian Freij) and injury (Starla) came together very well. The meshing of the organic cello and vocal harmonies with the electronic synths and percussion makes the track a highlight for me.

Aleah: I know it’d be a cop-out to say “all of them!” …but I really do enjoy the album as a whole. There’s not a single track I haven’t listened to countless times. But if you’re going to force me to pick a few examples… oh boy. Sixto Sounds and Dshu really kick things off with The Unholy Wars – Fighting of the Spirit was important to the project, and not only does the project start with it, it ends with Rexy’s softer Summoning of Spirits version, so it’s as well-represented as we’d hoped. Nick Tam’s Continental Divide takes an already pretty track and makes it magical, corny as that sounds, with some lovely woodwinds. Frozen Heart by Sir NutS and Usa features crisp piano over subtly energetic trance. Strike of the Devil’s Axes, LuIzA and CarboHydroM’s collaborative take on Symphonia’s popular Fatalize, is sure to knock some socks off. Rexy’s Gentry Is a Five Letter Word takes a nice but hectic town theme and makes it into something fun and delightful, like going to a fair. Horizon’s Walk by Tepid and PriZm has such a cool tone to it. Reuben Kee, who very sadly passed away in 2007, left us with the hauntingly beautiful My Secret Forest.

For budding artists looking to join in for future projects, what kind of advice would you give?

Aleah: Be aware of what you’re getting into! It’s easy to want to get involved with something you love, but make sure you know that it could be a very involved task and that you’re ready to give it the time and devotion needed. Don’t be afraid of criticism; working with others can really help you bring out the best of your ability, or take things in directions you hadn’t considered before.

Kyle: Don’t be afraid of criticism. Take it and work with it, and you can mould your works into something great. And respond to the project director’s emails! They hate it when you don’t do that!

I remember back when OCRemix was a small site back at the beginning, now its a bustling community releasing soundtracks for computer games! What’s your secret to success?

Kyle: Well, I have no official affiliation with OverClocked ReMix other than bringing Summoning of Spirits together, but I think their success is easily attributed to their dedication to quality. OCR has gotten a fair bit of criticism in the past, with its integration of a judges panel and a rigorous set of standards, but I think that is what has helped make OCR maintain and grow over the last 10 years. Video game music itself has also seen a boom in popularity recently, with game cover bands like The Megas and Powerglove becoming a staple in the underground music scene, so that certainly doesn’t hurt either.

Aleah: Not speaking in an official capacity, but I think part of it comes down to the increasing acceptance of video games themselves as an art form, in terms of art, music, storytelling and overall presentation. I remember when I was a kid, I’d hold a tape recorder up to the TV while playing games – I never imagined there’d be huge communities such as OCR devoted to game music, not to mention entire orchestral concerts! I think the remixing community as a whole helps contribute to that acceptance, helps push the medium as an art form, and in turn more people get involved.

summoningspiritscoverAre there any projects or artists you’d love to tackle in future projects?

Aleah: After this, I think I’m all project’d-out… for the time being, at least. I’d love to see the work of Yoko Shimomura, especially the Legend of Mana soundtrack, get more love! I’d also like to improve my own (meager) musical ability in the future.

Kyle: Well, Summoning of Spirits, although taking a very long time, was a good experience for me. I’ve thrown around a few ideas for projects that would be a bit smaller and featuring games close to my heart, like an F-Zero or Metal Slug arrangement, but if those come to fruition it will be far into the future. In the meantime, I’ll be looking at helping some struggling OverClocked ReMix projects like Around The World gain their footing and help them out.

What are the things you personally look out for in a good remix?

Aleah: I’m pretty easy going with my musical tastes. I’m pretty impressed when an artist can make a particular melody easily recognizable in an entirely new, different style. It’s like taking something familiar but getting an alternate perspective on it.

Kyle: I’m not much of a musician, so mostly just whether a song is enjoyable or not is good enough for me. I’m not a big stickler for remixes having to be major deviations from the source material (but I I don’t mind if they are), or if something is slightly off with, say, a sound sample or recording quality. I tried to keep a better sense of the OverClocked standards while working on Summoning of Spirits, but I don’t keep my personal bar that high, normally.

Who compiled the lovely intricate artwork the release?

Aleah: I did, thank you. Though because the project was so long in development, some of it’s a wee bit dated, I guess… oh well! I hope people enjoy it. A lot of the design was inspired by the games themselves… there’s a lot of fancy gold scrollwork, and many characters in Symphonia wear gems in such settings, so I tried to incorperate that into the visuals.

Kyle: She is extremely talented, which is one of the reasons why I asked her to work on this project with me and to create the artwork. OA (Andrew Luers) put together the final website design, but the graphical work was all Lea.

What do you do to relax once a hard days OverClocking is done?

Aleah: Video games, of course! I also like reading, drawing, photography, but there’s nothing quite like, say, arranging virtual furniture or mowing down hoards of the undead in a convertible while wielding a frying pan. And, of course, someone has to help that sword-carrying teen save the world from disaster, right? I like a lot of different genres, and while I don’t mind turn-based RPGs for the most part, the Tales series’ battle system is a lot of fun with a lot of interesting nuance. It plays almost like a fighting game, only there’s a ton of stuff going on at once and a lot of underlying strategy. It can get pretty intense!

Kyle: Play video games, what else? I’m more of an action-oriented gamer, so I’m a big player of the action-MMORPG City of Heroes, which I’ve logged countless hours into over the past several years. I also love racing game series, namely Gran Turismo, F-Zero, and Daytona USA, and classic platformers and shooters like Metal Slug, Mega Man, and Sonic games, and although I’m pretty terrible at them, fighting games like Guilty Gear are awesome. I actually am not a big fan of most Japanese RPGs (although I love their soundtracks), which might be a bit surprising considering the Tales series is one, but I usually dislike the battle system or some game mechanic, and they can be slow. The Tales series breaks those conventions with great gameplay and a battle system that works more like a fighting game, which is good enough for me!

You can download Summoning of Spirits for free at OverClocked Remix