Invitation to the Graveyard ~ King’s Field I Arrange Collection (Review)

Fan-made arrangement albums are popping up all over the place these days, so it’s not often that one catches my attention right from the outset. This one did just that, however, as there aren’t a whole lot of albums dedicated to Koji Endo’s King’s Field soundtrack. The one official album that does exist happened to be our soundtrack of the month back in January, so I was pleased to find that somebody out there actually liked the music enough to make an album like this.

Xacs Ishikawa and Harumi Shiina of GYRO MiX arrange six tracks from the first game, which unfortunately was the only one in the series to not make it to the States. Although I never experienced these tracks in-game, I did enjoy them on the official soundtrack album, so it was awesome to hear them redone by these guys.

Read our review of this rare tribute to the world of King’s Field after the jump.

There are six songs here totaling a little over 18 minutes of music. That’s okay though, as the original King’s Field had a fairly short soundtrack as it is, and the duo covers most of the tracks from the game. The track list and credit breakdown are as follows:

1. Harumi Shiina – “OPENING – PROLOGUE”
2. Harumi Shiina – “1F BGM – SHOP”
3. Harumi Shiina – “2F BGM”
4. Xacs Ishikawa – “4F BGM”
5. Xacs Ishikawa – “5F BGM”
6. Xacs Ishikawa – “EPILOGUE”

Shiina’s offerings tend to stay pretty true to the originals, with a solo thrown in here or there, so unless you’re familiar with the original works, you may not appreciate these ones as much. “OPENING – PROLOGUE” comes in with the same harpsichord and epic orchestral theme but with additional militaristic percussion, while the harpsichord-only “Prologue” portion features a more intricate progression. “2F BGM” is treated similarly, taking the ghostly choir and organ track and adding some heavy bass notes and string stabs that give it a sort of Hollywood action feel.

Xacs Ishikawa seems to take more liberties with his arrangements, starting with the chaotically shuffling slap bass notes and belltone arpeggios of “4F BGM.” The intro follows the original composition very closely, but soon the slap bass takes a funky turn, and eventually electronic percussion and laser-like synthesizer melodies are added, breathing new life into the piece. An energetic bassline and some impressive drum work are added to “5F BGM,” giving it a very Sakuraba-esque vibe that I was totally loving. There’s even an awesome organ segment towards the end. The final track, “EPILOGUE” features the same arpeggios from the original, but adds some rhythmic percussion and a beautiful choral voice that makes the piece feel rather melancholy. More groovy bass is added to the mix for good measure, creating a great atmosphere to close out the album.

I would have never thought anyone would release an album like this, but I’m glad GYRO MiX has. Unfortunately you’ll likely never see this around, as they only printed 50 copies for the comic market, which is a shame given the cult following of the series who would love to get their hands on this. While the album won’t blow your mind when it comes to production values, the arrangements are solid and are a rare treat for fans of the series.

King’s Field fans, are you out there? Is the doujin scene in Japan the only place we’d ever see an album like this?