Search - The Black Mages :: The Black Mages: Final Fantasy

Who would've known that Black Mages like rock music?

J-Man | 03/03/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Words cannot describe how ecstatic I was to hear that Uematsu was going to release an arrange album of various Final Fantasy battle themes redone in heavy metal. "Official" metal or rock arrange albums have an incredible track record. Konami's "Battle Perfect Selection" series was the first crusade into metal arrangement of video game music. Since those five CDs were released in 1993-1995, only F-Zero X Guitar Arrange has been nearly as good. The Black Mages puts an end to the drought.



Almost every song has a synth lead, with guitar playing rhythm in the background, eventually emerging to do a solo or to switch places with the synth. "Battle Scene I" is a good example of this. The guitar is not used ineffectively, however. At about 3'09", the guitar re-enters after a short interlude, and kicks back into the chorus, with the guitar joining the bass in the background rumblings, adding a whole new dimension to the song. Brilliant.



As you may have noticed, I said "almost" every song was synth led. "Force Your Way" is a prime example of an exception. There is a short, synthy opening, but after that two guitars (as opposed to the one featured in most other songs) take over. From 1'25" to about 2'25" there is nothing but chaos. Guitar solo, synth solo, guitar solo. It's truly crazy. After that, the song enters a slower part, and eventually ends where it began.



The last song I should mention is "Dancing Mad", a 12 minute epic. A lot of people have felt disappointed with this arrangement. Some say the synth sample quality is too low, others complain that the guitar barely plays for five minutes. While both points are true, I still love this song. It's easily the best arrangement I've heard of the theme. It's a lot heavier than the original, and although it's not so guitar heavy, it still sounds distinctly rock-ish.



The rest of the album is just as good as the songs mentioned above. Tracks like "Those Who Fight Further" ("Still More Fighting") were just itching to have a real guitar thrown into the mix, while others will have you saying, "Wow, I never imagined the song could sound like this." On another note, this CD is very loud. If you keep your speakers set at a certain loudness all the time, I'm pretty sure you'll have to turn them down. It's easily the loudest CD I own.



In whole, this album is nothing short of brilliant. A fair warning: It is not going to be everyones cup of tea. However, it's a soundtrack that every Final Fantasy fan who even mildly likes rock music should have"

One of my favorite Final Fantasy albums

Xelius | NY, USA | 08/11/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"If you love the music of Final Fantasy, especially the battle music, then you will love this album. Being a musician myself, I always wished I could do something akin to this album: get a bunch of my friends together and play rock-band arranged versions of Final Fantasy music (video game music, in general). Geeky, I know. Anyway, the arrangements are excellent and the recordings are really high quality. If for no other reason, this album is worth it for "Dancing Mad", the final battle music from Final Fantasy VI (III in the US). A great album that I definitely recommend."

Final Fantasy battle themes like you have never heard before

Robin Fordham | NJ United States | 06/26/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I have always loved playing Final Fantasy games and the music has consistently been of a very high standard. Nobuo Uematsu just so happens to like Rock music and has his own Rock Band called The Black Mages.



The tracks on this CD are excellent. Some of the themes I had not heard before as they were from older Final Fantasy games that I have not yet played, but I did recognize a lot of them. The guitars sound great and often trade solos back and forth between the keyboards.



"Clash on the Big Bridge" and "Those Who Fight Further" are my favorites. The riff on "...Big Bridge" is very powerful and the bridge section is very uplifting. "Those Who Fight..." is one of my favorite tracks from FFVII and has a fantastic main riff. I also love the organ/keyboard playing on both of these tracks and how they work well with the heavy distorted guitars.



With rock and metal being my favorite music genre, due to the fact that I play guitar, I could really appreciate the fantastic musicianship. This CD is a must for anyone who loves hard rock music and has listened to any of Nobuo's work. Even if you have not heard of all the tracks in their original form, you will still love this CD. The tracks that you have heard however, will really stand out and it will make you wish that The Black Mages will be used on future Final Fantasy Soundtracks!!!"