Fairy Fencer F -Advent Dark Force- Original Soundtrack
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Album Title: Fairy Fencer F -Advent Dark Force- Original Soundtrack |
| Record Label: ZIZZ Studio |
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| Catalog No.: ZSCM-15635 |
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| Release Date: December 4, 2015 |
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| Purchase: Buy at CDJapan |
Overview
The fairy fencer f ADVENT DARK FORCE Original Soundtrack accompanies the PS4 game release. Although it is a new game in the series, a portion of the original fairy fencer f was included for those who might not have played the first game. The music featured on the soundtrack, composed by ZIZZ Studio, Kenji Kaneko of Compile Heart, and the Earthbound Papas, features a wide array of sounds. Is it a fitting successor to the first game’s music?
Body
The album opens up with the contributions of the Earthbound Papas. The “fairy fencer f ADVENT DARK FORCE Main Theme,” composed by Nobuo Uematsu and arranged by Tsutomu Narita, is a beautiful strings and woodwind led piece with a romantic feeling, some wonderful brass harmonies, and sometimes adventurous in tone. It’s an excellent follow-up to the first game’s main theme. “Within the Echoing Spacetime,” composed by Uematsu and arranged by Yoshitaka Hirota, the classic Uematsu style of melody comes to the forefront in this synth rock piece that also features some orchestral elements and some excellent lead guitar moments as well. It’s one of the highlights on the album. Another tune arranged by Yoshitaka Hirota is Michio Okamiya’s “Seeking the Furies,” another synth rock piece but one that is much more intense melodically speaking and also features some excellent guitar work. Yoshitaka Hirota also composes a piece for himself titled “Evil Quickening.” It’s a foreboding orchestral theme with some great percussion and bass work. The melody itself is also excellent, showcasing some sinister tones mixed with a bit of regal sections, primarily in the B section of the piece, which features organ and strings as its primary driving force. Chihiro Fujioka also offers two contributions to the soundtrack. The first, “The Cradle of the Goddess and the Evil God” is a haunting piece featuring boy’s choir and some ominous strings as well. There is also a sense of regal tone in this piece and an overwhelming sense of dread is felt, with the vocal work accentuating the feeling. His other contribution, “Adventure’s Locus” is an orchestral theme full of upbeat and adventurous tones. As the piece progresses, the addition of a choir gives the piece a bit of a darker tone, but the end result is still quite enjoyable.
Kenji Kaneko offers four new compositions for the soundtrack. “Dark Moonlight” features a blend of rock and gritty electronic tones mixed with guitar and strings to create a mysterious and ominous sound while “Entrance to the Depth” utilizes Asian instrumentation and intricate rhythms with a touch of Middle Eastern flair to craft a very catchy melody and sound. “Requiem of the Devil” features male chanting mixed with eerie instrumentation and percussion to create a moody atmosphere. The addition of female chanting adds to the eeriness of the piece while the addition of some gritty electronic tones help give the piece some more edge. Lastly, “Whisper of the Evil” blends fast tempos with female choral notes, male chanting, harp, orchestra, and militaristic percussion to create a sinister atmosphere, but I feel it’s not as engaging as his other tunes.
The rest of the soundtrack features contributions from a plethora of ZIZZ STUDIO members. Toshimichi Isoe provides some slight tweaks to “All Our Might Tonight” and “Full Contact” from the first game, with the former being more slightly more electronically oriented in its bass line and the latter featuring some more pronounced rock accompaniment. Toshiki Katoh offers three tunes with “Septerion Club,” “Bright Moving Town,” and “Dark Wine Factory.” The former features some light electronic elements in the accompaniment, but the haunting vocals, violin, and excellent melody help propel this slightly somber tune. “Bright Moving Town” features an upbeat woodwind melody, but does sound a bit trope-y. Lastly, “Dark Wine Factory” gives off a sense of espionage thanks to its smokey atmosphere, beautiful melody, and violin sections. Kaori Tsutsui’s “Abyss” is more atmospheric in approach, utilizing strings, ethereal vocals, and distorted electronic synth to craft a moody piece, but one that doesn’t really stand out. Her other theme, “Refreshing Wind” is an adventurous orchestral tune with an uplifting melody. Hiromi Itou’s “Encounter” gives of a synth rock battle feel and gives me some very 80s rock vibes as well. “Gunners” by Syntaro Jimbo is a distorted synth meets rock tune and is quite chaotic and unfortunately, a bit muddy sounding and forgettable. Lastly, Yoh Ohyama offers two themes. His first, “Afternoon of Rest” is a bright and bubbly electronic piece with a decent melody. His other theme, “Yes, the Miracle Is Here,” closes out the soundtrack. The opening vocal performance is a bit off putting at first, in its a capella nature, but the overall performance improves with backing instrumentation. The melody is quite nice and the ballad approach is fairly standard.
Summary
In the end, I think that the fairy fencer f ADVENT DARK FORCE Original Soundtrack is fairly enjoyable. While not every tune manages to stand out or succeed, the majority of the music featured on the soundtrack is quite enjoyable. Fans of the first game’s soundtrack will most likely enjoy the new music for the PS4 release and fans of the Earthbound Papas might enjoy their contributions as well.
Do you agree with the review and score? Let us know in the comments below!
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Posted on December 18, 2015 by Don Kotowski. Last modified on January 13, 2016.
About the Author
Don Kotowski Currently residing in Philadelphia. I spend my days working in vaccine characterization and dedicate some of my spare time in the evening to the vast world of video game music, both reviewing soundtracks as well as maintaining relationships with composers overseas in Europe and in Japan.
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