Atelier: Mana-Khemia -Alchemists of Al-Revis- Original Soundtrack (US Edition)

manakhemiaus Album Title:
Mana-Khemia -Alchemists of Al-Revis- Original Soundtrack (US Edition)
Record Label:
NIS America
Catalog No.:
N/A
Release Date:
March 31, 2008
Purchase:
Buy Used Copy

Overview

After the successful alchemy series Atelier Iris concluded its third game, the Gust development team moved to continue the line of alchemy games, however, instead of creating a fourth game in the series, they created a new IP with a similar approach in terms of alchemy, but in a school setting. The successful soundtracks of the Atelier series set high precedents for this one and, after the absence of Daisuke Achiwa from Atelier Iris 3: Grand Fantasm, the duo of Ken Nakagawa and Daisuke Achiwa were reunited for this project. Is it a successful recipe or does it leave a bad taste in the listener’s mouth? The following review touches upon some of the pieces highlighted in this promotional album that was released with the US version of the game. The track names do not exactly correspond with those from the Japanese soundtrack.

Body

The mixture of styles found on the Gust Sound Team soundtracks is pretty astounding. You’ll come across playful pieces, rock based pieces, and even some Celtic based pieces throughout most of them. In addition, vocals play a big part in the music as well, although not nearly as much as the Ar tonelico series. The opening, “Run for Your Life,” was composed by Ken Nakagawa and featured a rock-based J-pop style. The melody is extremely catchy and encompasses a lot of what makes the Gust Sound Team so popular. The combination of strings, rock-based elements, and bits of electronica really help to make Haruka Shimotsuki, reprising her vocal role from Atelier Iris 3: Grand Fantasm, shine. She does a fantastic job matching the music with the energy of her voice.

There are also a few other vocal pieces on the soundtrack as well. It’s a soft composition that just oozes emotion. The instrumentation is rather simplistic, consisting mainly of strings, acoustic guitar, piano accompaniment, and some more playful tuned percussion. Her voice accompanies the music quite nicely and she seems to bring a nice balance to the piece. Her other performance, “Hey,” is rock-based and equivalent to “Hey” on the Japanese soundtrack. It’s full of energy and almost has a surfer rock feel to it. The instrumentation is rather straightforward. There are some synth bits, but the meat of the piece focuses on the electric guitar riffs and melody. I don’t really enjoy her voice as much as in “Sirius” but it does complement the music fairly decently.

The last vocal theme featured on this promotional album is the final battle theme, “Stigmata,” and features Noriko Mitose. This name may be familiar to those who have heard the Chrono Cross Original Soundtrack, as she is the vocalist featured in that game. The final battle focuses on rock elements with piano and orchestral highlights throughout. It boasts a pretty catchy melody and develops quite nicely. Mitose really helps bring the melody to the forefront. Her voice can be a bit piercing time, but it fits with the music and the addition of her chanting in the background adds a bit of contrast to the piece. It’s not nearly the best final battle theme that the Gust Sound Team has created, but it does feature some nice piano and electric guitar solos.

There are a plethora of other battle themes found on the promotional album as well. The normal battle theme, “Splendid Force,” is a very nice mixture of rock and woodwind instruments. While the majority of the melody focuses on the flute, there are some nice rock melody interludes as well. The additions of some brass highlights add a bit of dynamics to the piece. It’s a very upbeat playful battle theme, but it fits the style of the game very nicely. The boss theme, however, focuses on that hard-rock feel. “The Menace” features a nice combination of electric guitar in both the melody, providing a powerful, motivating force in which to do battle, with a fantastic riff-based accompaniment. The duel electric guitar lines in the melody, in addition to the solo, help make this a favorite on the album!

There are also quite a few other battle themes on the album. Unfortunately, as I’m still playing the game, I’m not entire sure in what role they are used. “Hallucinate Bell” is one such battle theme. It features a nice combination of orchestral instrumentation, rock, and organ, creating a very diverse soundscape full of motivation. The use of organ as the main melodic pusher, alternating with the orchestral aspect of the composition, creates a very evil, yet heroic, atmosphere. The piano used in the bridge also helps craft an air of heroism. Ultimately, this is one of the best battle themes on the soundtrack, and well worth listening to. “Grasshopper” is a very playful battle theme as well. Full of bubbly synth and a nice percussion beat, it is perhaps one of the most cheerful sounding of all battle themes. There are also some soft synthesized vocals thrown into the mix, as well as piano, to give it a bit more development. It’s a very nice piece of music, but as a battle theme, it doesn’t motivate me as much as some of the others.

Similar in style to “The Menace” would be “Disruptor”. It features a heavy focus on electric guitar “noodling” and is the main impetus in the melody, aside from the occasional synth leads. It has a great melody and tons of energy, but it’s one I don’t come back to often. Fortunately, there is a shimmering gem towards the end of the soundtrack in terms of battle themes, and that is “Nefertiti”. In perhaps what is one of the catchiest intros, Achiwa utilizes piano to introduce the main melodic motif in this album. From there, it moves onto a fantastic rock based piece that is full of energy.

In addition to the battle and vocal themes, there is the normal area and event themes featured on this album. “Wailing in the Rain” is a melancholy and somber piano and violin piece. It helps to generate a lot of emotion and just has a very calm demeanor about it. It’s a real beauty on the second part of the soundtrack. The violin is easily the most emotional instrument in the composition, but without the piano, I don’t think it would be nearly as effective. Unfortunately, they skip over a lot of the gems found on the full soundtrack. The others featured vary in style and are quite enjoyable, however. It’s a shame some of the better themes were replaced with some of the weaker pieces, but alas, it’s a promotional album. You don’t want to give them the best of everything!

Summary

As this came with the US version of the game, you’d be hard-pressed to find it anywhere else. If you do stumble upon it on eBay, I’d hesitate from buying it. The full soundtrack features all of these themes, plus even better ones in some cases. I’d save your money for the full soundtrack and get that. It’d be a better investment in the long run.

Atelier: Mana-Khemia -Alchemists of Al-Revis- Original Soundtrack (US Edition) Don Kotowski

Do you agree with the review and score? Let us know in the comments below!

3


Posted on August 1, 2012 by Don Kotowski. Last modified on January 22, 2016.


About the Author

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.



Comments are closed.

Back to Top ↑
  • Categories

  • Archives

  • Recent Posts

  • Recent Comments

  • Recommended Sites

  • Join Our Community

    Like on FacebookFollow on TwitterSubscribe on RSS






WP Twitter Auto Publish Powered By : XYZScripts.com