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StreamingSoundtracks.com - Castlevania, Symphony Of The Night - Michiru Yamane
| Album Information |
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Album
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Castlevania, Symphony Of The Night |
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Artist
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Michiru Yamane |
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Year
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1997 |
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Genre
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Game |
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Rating
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 |
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ASIN
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B00004RCCD |
Hint: Hover over buttons and album/artist name next to the cover for more info.
| Reviewers Rating |
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1 review done for this album. |
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| A Vampire Hunter's Delight |
| By: |
FoxMcLeod64 |
| Date: |
26 Oct 2009 |
| Rating: |
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Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, originally released in 1997 for the Sony Playstation, is recognized as one of the best games in the series to date. The game is a prime example of the ‘Metriodvania’ style of gameplay design which allows players to choose their own path of exploration through areas of the game in a side-scrolling 2-D setting. SotN told the story of Alucard, the son of Dracula, who takes it upon himself to rid the world of Dracula’s evil forever. The game contains everything a Castlevania game should; an awesome hero, terrific boss encounters, and every distinctive horror genre specific element all rolled into one game. The soundtrack composed by Michiru Yamane is a thrill to listen to throughout the entire game as he successfully combines various musical styles to set the appropriate atmosphere while exploring the domain of Dracula.
The music from this game traverses across many different musical styles, genres, and instrumentations. The first four tracks of the album and game gives listeners a good idea for what kind of musical experience they are in for as it opens with the dark orchestral track of Transformation No. 1 (track title translations vary from source to source), the heavy rock track in the Prologue, a dramatic sweeping orchestral theme that nicely frames any battle against Dracula called Illusionary Dance, and finally with another gothic orchestral track to set up the storyline. The tracks then proceed to flow its many varied styles such as:
Wood Carving Partita – Baroque/Classic styled piece featuring the harpsichord.
Gates of Spirits – a suspense horror track.
Requiem of the Gods – a mournful choir piece with pipe organ accompaniment.
Pearl Dance Song (or Dance of Pales) – an orchestral piano waltz.
Awakened Soul (or Wandering Ghosts) – a jazzy, Latin styled guitar piece.
Young Nobleman of Sadness (or Tragic Prince) – a duet between rock guitar and a full orchestra.
The last track listed, Young Nobleman of Sadness, deserves a review of its own. The track truly earns the adjective of epic. It starts with a big orchestral flourish, slight pause, and then proceeds to rock out with heavy distorted rock guitar. Both the theme of the guitar and the theme from the orchestral strings hauntingly recall familiar tunes for Castlevania fans. Even though the track as the obvious video game loop point at the end, it is not at all in any way off putting as those heavy guitar power chords never get old.
If the album as any weak points, it only comes at the very end with the album’s final track, “I Am the Wind” performed by Cynthia Harrel. This soft pop song comes seemingly out of nowhere as the game’s credits roll. It is overly cheesy, and the lyrics hardly fit any of the game’s characters. There are parts of the song where the lead singer combined with the backup vocals that sound pleasing to the ear even if this genre seems to clash with the rest of the album. I do not know if this track is either the product of a localization choice replacing the Japanese song that was there, or if the song is an English translation. I tend to think it might be the later.
Overall, Castlevania: SotN is a wonderful video game soundtrack. It more than satisfactory performs its function as mood setting for its medium. It is a delightfully fiendish album that can easily be played from start to finish. The album seems to fly by with its total running time of 1:08:30. It provides pleasant background music for settings even outside of the game. Just try popping this in the stereo next time there is a Halloween costume party and watch the results.
2 of 2 found this review helpful
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