God Eater Burst Drama & Original Soundtrack
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Album Title: God Eater Burst Drama & Original Soundtrack |
| Record Label: Avex Trax |
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| Catalog No.: AVCD-38187 |
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| Release Date: December 22, 2010 |
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| Purchase: Buy at CDJapan |
Overview
The God Eater Burst Drama & Original Soundtrack is an album that consists of a mixture of drama tracks and new music from the God Eater Burst release. While the majority of the album is drama, there are five new themes for the game and two remixes of the original game’s themes sung by alan. If you aren’t familiar with the Japanese language, given the nature of this album, would it be wise to pick up?
Body
The album opens up with “Over the clouds -BURST mix-,” remixed by Akitaka Tohyama (aka AJURIKA). He takes the electronic original and makes it a much more intense experience with heavier beats and a more industrial sound. It’s a fantastic version and I actually prefer it over the original. I’m just sad that it’s not a full version, but just the opening cinema version. The album also features “my life -farewell arrange-,” a special version that Go Shiina arranged solely for this release. It takes the poignant ballad and transforms it into a grand orchestral interpretation that definitely gives the song much more emotion.
The rest of the music featured on the album comes from the in-game BGM heard in the game. “Time of Decision” is quite a powerful theme, combining ominous orchestration and choral work, with unexpected Celtic tones, industrial beats, and beautiful classically-oriented strings. It definitely manages to keep the same vibe heard in the original soundtrack and even throws in motifs heard from “Tearing Up the Storm” and “God and Man” from the original game. “Merciless Lord” continues the epic orchestration by fusing powerful choral work, mysterious piano, ominous electronic beats, frenetic violin passages, and a small hint of “Tearing Up the Storm” in a manner characteristic of Shiina. In the end, it’s definitely one of my favorites of the new music.
“In the sun” is a beautiful piano and violin arrangement of “God and Man.” I really like the change in tone over the original. It still manages to harbor that evocative emotion, but I think that the piano and violin help give it a more robust sound. The addition of some martial percussion and some drum pad help give some contrasting pop-militaristic vibes, but in the end it works. “Endless Voracity” is similar in effect and progression like “Time of Decision.” It’s more classically oriented in terms of sounds, but I think that the brass and choir really combine well with one another to create a very fulfilling sound.
Lastly, “Dum Spiro,” takes an unusual approach as well. The opening of theme uses ominous orchestra and choir to get a very dire sound while the “Tearing Up the Storm” motif helps tie together this theme with the motifs heard in the original soundtrack, as well as on this soundtrack. However, it transforms into an exquisite orchestral theme full of emotion as well as some Celtic influence as well. In the end, I think this is a very grand and wonderful theme.
The drama portion of the release is certainly dominant here, with the four tracks (including the bonus) having a total playtime of 52 minutes. This production is a lavish one, featuring convincing performances of the game’s voice actors, set to maturely selected music. However, it is a necessity to understand Japanese and have some affinity to the game to appreciate the intricacies of the drama, which will rule out most Western consumers. Those who read the language can also enjoy commentaries from the voice actors in the first print of the soundtrack.
Summary
In the end, the music aspect of this soundtrack is as strong, if not stronger at times, than its original soundtrack counterpart. I think Go Shiina and AJURIKA did a good job at transforming the alan vocal themes and, of course, the in-game background music is wonderful. If you understand the Japanese language, given the majority of it featured on this soundtrack, then the drama may be satisfying and, by all means, go for it. But if you don’t, be warned that the musical offerings are limited, despite their well-crafted nature.
Do you agree with the review and score? Let us know in the comments below!
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Posted on August 1, 2012 by Don Kotowski. Last modified on August 1, 2012.
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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