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Old Jan 24, 2016, 08:53 AM
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layzee layzee is offline
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S.S.H. has recently provided some background info (more than one year later the release date) about his "Forgotten Ruins" album. The general gist is as follows:

Quote:
It was sometime in 2002 in when he first thought about making an original album. Due to being busy and due to being unsure of what the final product should look like (he had some thoughts about it being a proper full album but he decided on a mini album), progress was delayed for as long as a decade, until the album's actual release in 2014.

He may call it an "original album" but one could view it as an arranged soundtrack that arranges the music of a hypothetical 8-bit generation game (e.g. Nintendo Famicom). An '80s/'90s-style "Super Arrange Version" album, if you will, using the original sound source of an 8-bit game. To express that vision, he provides a chiptune version of the first track of the album "Room Guarder" on his Soundcloud account.

Furthermore, this isn't just an 8-bit game, it's an 8-bit game with 3D dungeons. If someone decides to make this hypothetical game a reality, he hopes for the game to have a cyberpunk theme (I'm guessing he has Digital Devil Story: Megami Tensei I & II for Nintendo Famicom in mind). To enrich your listening of the album, he provides the following annotations:

Room Guarder [Battle 1]
The Secret Underground Passage [Dungeon BGM1]
Jumble of Wheat And Tares [SHOP]
Burial Chamber [Dungeon BGM2]
Ninja vs Vampire [Battle 2]

http://www.ssh.ne.jp/index.php/archives/703
While I'm at it, I might as well give my opinion on the album.

The album begins with a battle theme - "Room Guarder". It follows what seems to be the now standard S.S.H. formula of a keyboard/synth melody played once or twice, before the same (more or less) melody is played using the guitar. The song takes a breather at about 2:30 with a nice bass section.

Apart from the short intro in the dungeon theme "The Secret Underground Passage", this is straight metal bliss the whole way, akin to 玉座の間 (Throne Room theme) from the Koihime Musou fighting game. In other words, guitars every second. My favourite and most played track.

In the middle we have "Jumble of Wheat And Tares". If your local supermarket played this kind of music, I'd go shopping more often! Admittedly, this is my least played track, not that I'm saying there's anything wrong with the song, it's just a different style compared to the rest. Speaking of which, I know this song style has a name but my music terminology/theory is not good enough to figure it out. When I listen to the song, my mind conjures up cowboys and horses, get the gist?

The second dungeon theme "Burial Chamber" is the most electronic/techno of the lot. In the first half it sort of meanders a bit and takes a bit of time to get going. Then the main guitar enters at 2:45 to remind you that this is also a heavy metal song. Third time's the charm as the guitar joins the keyboard to play the main melody.

To round off the album, we have another straight metal song with "Ninja vs Vampire" the second "battle theme" with the combatants being probably the aforementioned. I'm guessing the shamisen-ish sounding instrument represents the Ninja but what about the Vampire? Is it that instrument in the first few seconds? It might be just me but it sounds almost exactly like the same instrument used in the boss theme of 2004 PS2 game Gainground (Medieval era "giant armoured knight" boss - extra game mode AKA unofficial track title "Knight of Thunder"). Anyway, highlight of this track are the six "wailing" notes. You'll know it when you hear it.

The last five "Main Melody Ver" track seems to be "karaoke" or "instrumental" versions with the main melody removed. If you have the skill, perhaps you can play the main part?

Overall, this album is an easy 5/5. If you're a fan of S.S.H. then it's a no-brainer - you will like/love the album. If you're a fan of heavy metal, then I would find it hard to believe if you didn't at least like it.

Can his next album "Click & Metal" live up to expectations? Stay tuned.

Last edited by layzee; Jan 24, 2016 at 09:05 AM.
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Old May 16, 2016, 12:31 AM
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layzee layzee is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by layzee View Post
In other news, S.S.H. has provided some background info (more than one year later the release date) about his "Forgotten Ruins" album.
Quote:
He may call it an "original album" but one could view it as an arranged soundtrack that arranges the music of a hypothetical 8-bit generation game (e.g. Nintendo Famicom). An '80s/'90s-style "Super Arrange Version" album, if you will, using the original sound source of an 8-bit game.

...

Furthermore, this isn't just an 8-bit game, it's an 8-bit game with 3D dungeons. If someone decides to make this hypothetical game a reality, he hopes for the game to have a cyberpunk theme (I'm guessing he has Digital Devil Story: Megami Tensei I & II for Nintendo Famicom in mind).
Just for fun, I thought I'd go ahead and turn this concept into a reality... sort of. The results are as shown below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIqNciUlioE

I would keep the sound effects in except it shares a sound channel with another instrument.
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