The Blue Fire soundtrack, composed by Ariel Contreras-Esquivel, came out shortly after and is available digitally, and on this lovely limited vinyl release via Mango Mage Records, with a couple of exclusive bonus tracks.
The album comes in a beautifully-printed gatefold sleeve with glossy accents. The 17 tracks are split across two records, pressed on what is billed as Penumbra Black Ice with Multicolour Splatter vinyl, which looks really, really good.
The crowning glory though is the included art book. It combines original illustrations and game screenshots with some background information on the music, an interesting interview with Contreras-Esquivel and even some sheet music for the main melodies.
The album itself starts with The Fallen Kingdom, the main title theme, with soprano vocals and muted strings and woodwinds lending a gentle air. A Warrior Awakens carries on the melody and expands it, the tempo gradually increasing to suggest the main character rousing himself to begin the journey.
The album itself starts with The Fallen Kingdom, the main title theme, with soprano vocals and muted strings and woodwinds lending a gentle air. A Warrior Awakens carries on the melody and expands it, the tempo gradually increasing to suggest the main character rousing himself to begin the journey.
This practice of carrying a melody through multiple songs gives a real sense of continuity and is really reminiscent of Nobuo Uematsu’s work in the Final Fantasy games; there’s even an excellent battle theme, Shadow Ambush, which could slot neatly into any Squaresoft RPG from back in the day.
The evolving music works well with the structure of the game – each of the main areas in the game starts with a simply presented melody, gradually becoming more complex to reflect the different phases of each area until you reach one of the three Shadow Lords.
Your ultimate goal is the Queen of Darkness, and the final boss theme, The Shadow Queen, is as frantic and evocative as you would imagine. That’s not to say that the boss themes are the main draw though, as everything in here is lushly presented and fitting with the images on screen right from the start – the childlike The Hidden Village absolutely fits with the Zelda-esque atmosphere of the Onops’ village early in the game.
SUMMARY
Altogether, this is a gorgeous release, where the apparent care that has gone into the composition has been matched by the luxurious feel of the package overall. If you’re a fan of the game and a vinyl collector, this should really be on your list. And if vinyl isn’t your thing, just give it a listen online – this is the best soundtrack release I’ve heard in a while.
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