Music Reviews

• Game Music, Reviews

  BRA★BRA FINAL FANTASY VII BRASS de BRAVO (Review)

  June 8, 2018 | Harry Gill | 1 Comment Share this BRA★BRA FINAL FANTASY VII BRASS de BRAVO (Review)

  

  Since 2015, Nobuo Uematsu has been heavily involved in the recently incepted FINAL FANTASY BRASS de BRAVO concert. Just recently, news has it that the music to the FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE will be supervised by the man himself and performed by the same orchestra for this album (the Siena Wind Orchestra, a professional brass band that represents Japan).
  So, in many ways, this album could be a taste of things to come – or even the newly recorded music itself?

  In any case, I’d best get into the details!
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• Game Music, Indie Music, Reviews

  SHADOWRUN: HONG KONG VINYL (REVIEW)

  May 9, 2018 | Ryan Paquet | Comments Off on SHADOWRUN: HONG KONG VINYL (REVIEW) Share this SHADOWRUN: HONG KONG VINYL (REVIEW)

  

  We recently reviewed Jon Everist’s soundtrack to Shadowrun: DRAGONFALL on Vinyl LP which you can read here if you missed it. The composer also provided OSV with a review copy of their Shadowrun: HONG KONG Vinyl LP. I first experienced this soundtrack back in 2015 and declared it a must listen, it also led me to choose Jon Everist as my pick for composer of year.

  Listening to the soundtrack on vinyl for me was a new way to experience a soundtrack I fell in love with years ago. Read on for my full review of the double vinyl album, which includes a detailed look at the album art and packaging.

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• Game Music, Indie Music, Reviews

  SHADOWRUN: DRAGONFALL VINYL (REVIEW)

  April 9, 2018 | Ryan Paquet | 1 Comment Share this SHADOWRUN: DRAGONFALL VINYL (REVIEW)

  

  On February 26, 2018, Black Screen Records released the soundtracks to Shadowrun: Dragonfall, and Shadowrun: Hong Kong on 180g Vinyl LP. Jon Everist composed the scores and graciously supplied OSV with signed review copies of both albums and their respective art prints. This week’s review focuses on Shadowrun: Dragonfall, and my full review of Shadowrun: Hong Kong is on the way.

  Over the past few years the release of video game soundtracks on vinyl has blossomed, and some have been more disappointing the others. I am very happy to report that this release does not disappoint. Read on for my full review of the album, which includes a look at the album art and packaging as it’s an essential part of the experience.

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• Game Music, Reviews

  Abatron Original Soundtrack (Review) + Giveaway

  September 7, 2017 | Brenna Wilkes | 6 Comments Share this Abatron Original Soundtrack (Review) + Giveaway

  

  For those who fawn over the soundtrack crafted for the newest iteration of DOOM, composed by Mick Gordon, you might want to take a look at a new indie game with a soundtrack composed to sound quite a bit like the industrial vibe of the DOOM and Prey soundtracks.

  Abatron, an action strategy shooter game in early access on Steam that styles itself as “galactic dominance with controlled combat” is very much akin to that of DOOM. The graphics and aesthetics certainly give a hard nod to the sci-fi horror-like imagery and feel of DOOM, though with a bit more of a technological spin to it. Abatron’s music is also a nod to the former, with both an oldschool and new feel to it. The game’s composer, Nils “NeonInsect” Sinatsch, had some very clearcut ideas in mind when he composed the game’s music.

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• Featured, Game Music, Indie Music, Reviews

  Steel Samurai’s self-titled Second EP (Review)

  August 17, 2017 | Shawn Sackenheim | Comments Off on Steel Samurai’s self-titled Second EP (Review) Share this Steel Samurai’s self-titled Second EP (Review)

  

  Steel Samurai has been kicking around the Baltimore, Maryland scene since late 2013, making appearances at MAGFest and Bit Gen while contributing their brand of rock to an array of game music compilations. They specialize in power-rocking “the most ancient, unused and obscure video game compositions” and their second, self-titled EP definitely holds true to that mission statement.

  Released on July 29th, Steel Samurai is a short EP but it rocks all the way through and covers a lot of rarely-revisited source material. The theme of the band’s namesake — the fictional TV hero from the also-fictional world of Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney — opens things up with a powerful rendition of the traditional Japanese-style tune from the DS game. But track two is what really pulled me into this album.

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• Featured, Game Music, Indie Music, Reviews

  The Sound of Spellcraft: Mages of Mystralia The Original Soundtrack (Review)

  June 24, 2017 | Ryan Paquet | Comments Off on The Sound of Spellcraft: Mages of Mystralia The Original Soundtrack (Review) Share this The Sound of Spellcraft: Mages of Mystralia The Original Soundtrack (Review)

  

  I have been listening to the Mages of Mystralia Original Soundtrack for almost a month now.  The music was composed by Antoine Vachon who we profiled on Original Sound Version back in 2015. At that time the Montreal based composer has scored the music for some short films and mini games. In the spring of 2015 he released three preview tracks for Mages of Mystralia which resulted in the soundtrack making my most anticipated scores of 2017 list. The full soundtrack was released with the game on May 18, 2017 and you can read on for my full review of the score.

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• Anime, Featured, Reviews

  Turn Up The Dark: TV ANIMATION BERSERK OST (Review)

  April 25, 2017 | Ryan Paquet | Comments Off on Turn Up The Dark: TV ANIMATION BERSERK OST (Review) Share this Turn Up The Dark: TV ANIMATION BERSERK OST (Review)

  

  The new Berserk TV series aired its first season last year to mixed reviews due to its use of a cell shaded 3D animation technique. In all of the reviews I came across, none had much to say about the music in the series. I have seen the original low budget Berserk anime TV series, the three Golden Age Arc films, played the Dreamcast game and read the manga up to volume 36. I am very familiar with the musical history of the series and actually passed on buying the scores to the trilogy of films by Shiro Sagisu.

  However after watching Berserk last year, and listening to the music as it played in the series made this an album I could not pass up. Read on for my thoughts on the latest Berserk musical experience.

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