Hosoe Goes Indie: Impetuth Original Sound Tracks (Review)

If you’re like me, you probably had no idea what Impetuth was, but were interested in it solely based on Shinji Hosoe’s involvement. As it turns out, the game is a retro-styled indie vertical shooter with a fantasy setting that looks absolutely amazing, and as you can imagine, the soundtrack is pretty good too.

Shinji Hosoe isn’t the only composer involved, however, as Shoichiro Sakamoto actually handles the majority of the score. While I admit that Hosoe’s tracks are probably my favorite, I can’t deny that Sakmoto’s contributions are also great, and the bottom line is that neither of the two will disappoint you when you consider that this album is only $5!

Hit the jump for our review of Impetuth and to find out where you can get your hands on it for not a lot of money.

Sakamoto opens with “Impetuth (Title),” a super upbeat synth-fest with a rapid bassline and laser-like synth leads on the melody. It’s cheery and retro, but not the most memorable theme over. Fortunately, things get a whole lot better from here on out.

Hosoe’s debut is the jazz-influenced “Covered With Grass (Stage 1).” Tons of synths and belltones give the piece a distinctly electronic feel, while the thick chords in the background and live percussion lend the piece a jazzy feel. It’s definitely a powerful piece that I enjoyed a whole lot. Sakamoto quickly responds with one of my favorite tracks on the album, “Crystal Cave (Stage 2),” which sports some really cool ascending piano progressions along with a spacey synth with lots of reverb to give the listener the impression of being inside a cave. The track fits the setting dead on, and the latter half of the song, where the piano shifts to a descending progression that harmonizes perfectly with the synths is one of the highlights of the album.

“Lava of the Purgatory (Stage 3)” by Sakamoto works in rockin’ electric guitars along with a choir pad that makes for an epic experience. He then ventures into some atmosphere music with “Devil’s Gate (Stage 4),” which makes use of only a repetitive belltone melody with lots of reverb and some ominous choir pads. Shinji Hosoe comes back to tackle the final stage, “Lost Way (Stage 5),” which is my favorite track on the album. The twangy electric piano arpeggios and ethnic-sounding woodwind are just cool, and I swear that this is the same woodwind sample that Sakuraba used for his Shining the Holy Ark soundtrack. Anyway, this track is epic without even pushing the tempo or instrumentation, which I think is an awesome feat.

The remainder of the album is dedicated to boss, ending, and jingle music. The boss themes are, as you’d expect, fast-paced synth rock tracks. “Assault From The Evil World (Boss)” by Sakamoto features some nice piano work buried under the energetic synths and electric guitars, while Hosoe’s “Piece of the Castle (Last Boss)” is rather subdued, again going for the Sakuraba-esque woodwind and even his cymbal-heavy rock percussion style. The last track I’ll mention is Sakamoto’s “The End of a Tale (Ending),” which is painfully sweet and upbeat, sounding like the ending theme from a Falcom game.

While the album is less than 30 minutes in length, for $5, you can’t complain. The music that is here is awesome, and Hosoe and Sakamoto did a great job collaborating on this project. Now we just have to wait and see if the game gets an English translation… I want to play it! I highly recommend heading over to VGM World to pick this one up as soon as possible, as the first ten orders will receive an autographed copy. You won’t regret it!

Did you know anything about Impetuth before Shinji Hosoe was involved? Are you as interested as I am in playing the game?