Folk group celebrate RPG tradition with new cover album
Materia Collective have released the eponymous debut album of the folk group The Travelers. Led by VGMO alumnus Josh Barron and Seattle Video Game Orchestra founder Masha Lepire, The Travelers are an ensemble of veteran arrangers and acoustic instrumentalists from the fan arrangement community.
They write European folk arrangements in a range of styles, including based on Celtic, Welsh, Spanish, French, and Slavic traditions. They promise that “for those who love Yasunori Mitsuda’s Millennial Fair and his Xenogears CREID album you will be treated to something that embraces the source yet presents something fresh in a live acoustic setting.”
Their debut album, available for 7 USD through Bandcamp, celebrates RPG tradition across 15 tracks. Expect folk interpretations of Final Fantasy, Chrono, Mana, Dark Cloud, Shadow Hearts, and Bravely franchises, culminating in an arrangement of Xenosaga Episode I‘s “Last Battle”. Along the way, there’s also an original composition from Barron himself.
For those wanting more from the band, they also released a three-track EP Winterhearth in time for Christmas last year.
Posted on January 29, 2017 by Chris Greening. Last modified on January 29, 2017.
About the Author
Chris Greening I've contributed to websites related to game audio since 2002. In this time, I've reviewed over a thousand albums and interviewed hundreds of musicians across the world. As the founder and webmaster of VGMO -Video Game Music Online-, I hope to create a cutting-edge, journalistic resource for all those soundtrack enthusiasts out there. In the process, I would love to further cultivate my passion for music, writing, and generally building things. Please enjoy the site and don't hesitate to say hello!
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Wow, what a great tribute to a bunch of great games!