Review: The Black Mages III: Darkness & Starlight (ALBUM)

After making a name for themselves with their first two albums, The Black Mages are back. With them they bring 10 new tracks, most of which are arrangements of classic Final Fantasy tunes, including a 15 minute rock version of the 'Mario & Draco Opera" from Final Fantasy VI. So here's a track by track review for fans of the Mages, because, niche audience or no, I know you're out there!

Opening - Bombing Mission (Final Fantasy VII)

One of the most famous pieces from the series finally comes with a Black Mages album, and it is promising right from the start. Beautiful synths play the quite opening before the main theme kicks in, and there is a pretty special moment where it does, the drums and guitars coming in do incredible justice to that memorable moment.

The Bombing Mission part plays well too at the start. Although the piano sound is a little dry, the rhythm guitar compensates well. The melody kicks in with the Hammond organ and all seems well; until the solo's start. Messy at best, these solo's are treading a thin line between "not great" and "unpleasant to listen" to, so prepare yourself well. From there things pick up a little bit, but nothing else is really memorable and the rest of the track is an irrelevance.

6/10

Neo EXDEATH (Final Fantasy V)

Most people on this board won't be familiar with Final Fantasy V, which immediately puts EXDEATH in a bit of a precarious position, as nostalgia value is so important in these pieces. Luckily however, the Mages have put together a really good arrangement here, and even listeners without the experience of the original will thoroughly enjoy.

Just beyond the opening the main motif plays, which is simple yet memorable - anyone familiar with "Force Your Way" from Final Fantasy VIII (and The Black Mages I) will recognize the style. But even past that, this piece will keep listeners on there toes as bouncy organ parts pop up here and there to break up the main line, and the solos are crisply performed and interesting as they follow a surprising, but pleasantly so, chord progression.

8/10

The Extreme (Final Fantasy VIII)

Fans have been calling for this one for a long time, and it's finally here! The anticipation builds as the familiar and almost unchanged piano and guitar part plays....and fans of the original piece will almost be fooled into thinking they are listening to it. Before the rhythm guitar kicks in in a moment I can only describe as "Hell yeah, I'm drowning in a sea of awesomeness and win".

Unfotunatlely...a few seconds afterwards the main melody kicks in and it's being played by a string synth. Whilst the lead guitar does pick it up a few phrases along, those first few bars of the melody were begging for a bit of force behind them, and when the lead finally does come in the modulation and balance are a bit wrong and it doesn't overwhelm as the original extreme did so well. And from then on the whole track feels more bland and empty than it should, and whilst the ending solo is pretty strong and it certainly isn't a bad piece, The Extreme certainly disappoints.

6/10

Assault of the Silver Dragons (Final Fantasy IX)

This track is a tale of two halves. The first half is...reasonable. A bit synth heavy, with the lead guitar really suffering. The first organ part works well, but then you just want the guitar to come in and finish off the section, but it doesn't. And this happens for a repeat or so. Following this is another big but rather boring part, where thankfully the guitar does come in at appropriate times to give the listener something interesting to listen to, but this whole first half feels rather unstructured and there are some really dodgy synth effects used at times.

But from 3:40 onwards (OK I lied, this is about three quarters in) is brilliant. Perfect balance of all the instruments the mages have available, and although a bit repetitive octave switches and a solo near the end keep the ensemble interesting. So much do I love this last minute or so I'm tempted to reuse or at least paraphrase my earlier "sea of awesomeness" remark.

7/10 - First three quarters earned a 4 but the end is just THAT good!

KURAYAMINOKUMO (Final Fantasy III)

No doubt you read that at least twice with a few stutters before you could pronounce it, and from the sounds of the opening 30 seconds this track seemed to be having the same problem. It was boring and seemed to be going nowhere.

But luck intervened and kicked in with a pretty exhilarating track with an awesome melody that the lead guitar really works well with, as there's plenty of room for subtle variations that weren't risked in "The Extreme". From 3:14 listeners are treated to a pretty powerful new melody, that changes some of the rules from earlier in the piece and is a joy to listen to, before a brief return to the original motif for a satisfying climax.

9/10

Distant Worlds (Final Fantasy XI)

A forewarning: don't take the change of pace as a red herring, because the relaxing sounds of Distant Worlds' opening certainly isn't leading into a typical Black Mages rock out.

But it is executed with a great deal of care. Piano, pan pipes and the acoustic guitar all have a go at various melodies, and all perform admirably. The transitions are simple but elegant, and the whole piece is relaxing but with enough variety to be thoroughly enjoyable to listen to and even pretty memorable. The electric lead does come in for the climax, but without changing the pace of the piece and it works surprisingly well with the traditionally calmer instruments it surrounds. In fact whilst it may not be my personal favourite, Distant Worlds is very hard to fault.

9/10

Premonition (Final Fantasy VIII)

What is there to say about Premonition? It is...what could be expected from an arrangement of this piece! It's well done without ever being out of this world, and whilst there are a couple of iffy synth moments where I can't identify the sound that was used, the guitar parts completely make up for it. A good addition to the album if not a classic.But by the way, this is a kick ass track to Audiosurf to.

7/10

Grand Cross (Final Fantasy IX)

The opening part is a direct audio rip from Final Fantasy IX, and it's something to sit through for the sake of establishing the piece in the way the original did rather than really listen to. But fear not, it certainly picks up once the arrangement starts. The drums and rhythm guitar throughout are top notch, and there are a couple of classic moments from the original that translate really well to the rock stage.

The solo's aren't the best though. The guitar sounds a little muffled and the organ isn't entirely appropriate, but on the whole this is a really enjoyable track and whenever it sticks to the source material it does a really good job.

8/10

Darkness and Starlight (Final Fantasy VI)

Let's get a couple of things out of the way. If you have never played through the opera scene in Final Fantasy VI, or if you don't speak Japanese, or if 15 minutes of opera singers is too much WHATEVER the context - then you are going to struggle with Darkness and Starlight.

The track jumps quite obviously from scene to scene. There are alot of mood changes which generally fall into one of three categories: haunting, catchy, or touching. In most tracks this would ruin the experience, but with 15 minutes to play with nothing really moves on too quickly. The worst part of the track are the spoken sections which introduce the scenario. The voice is soft and emotional, and in English would have been fine. But the language barrier is a real problem here.

Which leads me onto the next biggest problem: Maria. The vocalist here really over sings the part, which called for a much lighter voice and against the backdrop of a really thought out arrangement this is a real shame.

But, in spite of these things, I thoroughly enjoyed Darkness and Starlight, despite not being particularly familiar with the source material myself. But it is a very acquired taste and I hold few delusions that most laymen listeners will have the same experience. If you have an open mind about such things, I recommend giving this a go, but those who like their music a "certain way" should pass. This is unlikely to fit into your niche.

7/10

LIFE: In Memory of Keiten

A few years ago Nobuo Uematsu composed a short piano piece, "LIFE", for a fan suffering from Leukemia. Her name was Yoshitaka, and she became very special to Uematsu-san before recently passing away. Thus, Uematsu-san decided to include that piece on this album, and added dedication to the title.

The piece itself is under two minutes, but two very emotional minutes. The piano part is always interesting, and the player masters the subtle use of expression. As one would expect from Uematsu, there is a very prominent and memorable melody, which varies slightly to keep the piece interesting but never really changes.

Simple but elegant, time flies when listening and the 1:20 seconds will feel quite a bit shorter. The piece is over far too quickly, but even if it wasn't intentional, the symbolic effect of this is quite overpowering when you come to understand it.

Emotional, beautiful, and a touching piece to accompany a touching story, this is my personal favourite of the album.

10/10
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So, how does the album fare as a whole? What I've noticed in the previous Black Mages albums is that alot of truly memorable arrangements stand out from the bunch, and create an album which is greater than the sum of its parts. Unfortunately, the reverse is true here. Whilst there are no pieces that are "bad", there are alot of disappointments and alot of niggling issues here and there that will disrupt the experience, which when listening to music is nearly always a big negative. As a result, whilst each individual track is generally strong, the album as a whole is a let down.

Overall: 6/10