Board 8 > [VGMC] d20: Kaine Salv v Hoi AGA lvl 5; Jena Anderson v Giratina; plus rematch!

(+) Yeah! (+)

Kaine ~ Salvation
Battle! Giratina
To the Distant Sky

Hoi AGA - Level 5: Main Theme
Pokemon Platinum - Battle! Giratina
Skygunner - To the Distant Sky

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Level 5: Main Theme
Jena Anderson
Zadok

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Kaine ~ Salvation
Jena Anderson
To the Distant Sky

-Even though I fall on the Escape side of the 'which Kaine track is better' debate, Salvation still has the same progression and melody (one of my favourites from the NieR soundtrack), albeit in a calmer form. Emi Evans does heavy lifting here, with her slightly breathy vocals adding a sort of ethereal, almost otherwordly feel while singing lyrics that she wrote with direction that's briefly described as 'Gaelic-sounding but not actually Gaelic'. (I like this better than, say, the fake French in Grandma.) The Kaine melody is one of the most positive and hopeful in the soundtrack, and I really feel it in the song.
-I like how the opening of level 5 main theme feels like the interior of the most destructive, chaotic popcorn maker known to man. This track has its moments but my impression of it is a bit mixed-- not very invested in the melody, and the time signature changes feel a bit clunky. I like the sharpness of the high percussion throughout (especially at 1:09-- also the most rhythmically interesting part of the track), like they're the musical representation of those ball bearings shooting through the background of the video picture.

-Pretty straight-on take of the 'epic chanting orchestral & electric guitar' boss track. These can be pretty feast or famine in terms of how much I enjoy them-- I like this one overall, though. Every time the voice at 0:05 kicks in my immediate thought is 'whoa it's kokkAI' (not just the melody-- the tone of the voice seems similar as well, and what the heck I just played kokkai to compare and it's in exactly the same key!). Though it dives into predictability (and speed-metal drumming) a bit frequently, there are parts like 1:04 which I think are pretty cool. Part of me thinks 'this is kinda shallow' but this doesn't bother me as much here as it might for some other tracks.
-This track is hugely disorienting, like you're spinning through some bizarre null space, and that's exactly what it intends to do. Fast dissonant synth runs up and down, sharp right-to-left-to-right panning of instruments, this really gives you the business. I think this is very cool and appreciate the effectiveness of its approach, even if I don't enjoy listening to the track as much as I like its concept and approach.

-I don't think I remarked on this match the last time it ran. very 90s anime ED feel. straightforward as it is I like it, though I could do without that laboured instrumental bridge section. the intro is nice and the vocals are pleasant. I very specifically like the chord at 0:35. I think that kind of progression is something I heard in many anime songs past, and there's a nostalgia to it.
-filtered intro, always a fun time. I don't think this is bad but it's a track that I find hard to keep in mind. that's strange to me because that primary repeating melodic figure feels like it's designed to stick! I think part of the issue revolves around some of the electric guitar solo stuff, which I don't especially care for.

Kaine ~ Salvation [8.1] < Level 5: Main Theme [8.4]
Jena Anderson [8.9] < Battle! Giratina [9.2]
To the Distant Sky [6.2] < Zadok [7.1]

Kaine salvation more like 6/8 that's actually 3/4 wow weird piano accents (this is fake) (i think the language is fake too? that's cool) (1:00 is good)
Intro from "video games" and then becomes "boss theme " at 0:23. pretty nice though..i like the lead and the way it does too many notes

SINGS AN EPIC CHOIR AND STRING ORCHESTRA SONG FOR VICTORY. DONT YOU THINK THIS COULD BE IN A RHYTHM GAME..constant 8ths and shifting rhythms i can see charts in my brain oh wow it's the same length too ahaha
battles giratina more like what the fr*ck is happening i love you song that is all konran konshin konfusion with the dppt electric guitar strings and flute

i overrated zadok but its still gooder
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aaaaaaa no time for write ups gotta vote fast

Level 5: Main Theme
Jena Anderson
Zadok


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Nier - Kaine ~ Salvation
Astral Chain - Jena Anderson
Skygunner - To the Distant Sky

MATCH 1

With all the fast-paced stuff in this contest, what better time to talk about a soft, emotional song than now? Kaine ~ Salvation's probably my favorite song in the whole Nier and Drakengard series! I love piano songs like this, and this song's such a great example of one. The melody and chords here are amazing and truly make me feel something inside. And on top of that, you have great vocals from Emi Evans. Her inflections in this song are just perfect, like how the notes slide upwards at 1:06 and 1:19-1:21. It's kind of funny how much I praise some of the high-intensity boss themes from Drakengard 3 because I also love the softer, more emotional stuff like this song and Song of the Ancients ~ Devola in Nier (as well as other similar songs from Nier Automata like City Ruins). I can't stress enough how much this reflects the type of sadder songs I love listening to. I've seen some people mention that they prefer Kaine ~ Escape, but I honestly can't even listen to that song because it takes away everything I love about Salvation lol.

I can't help but laugh at the intro to Level 5: Main Theme because it sounds so silly to me. Just about as silly as the epilepsy-inducing level it plays in. The rest of the song is actually not bad at all! 0:23-0:38 is actually pretty neat with the chords and their rhythm. 1:36-1:49 feels pretty Follin in its composition. Melodically, it's reminiscent of some of the Follin songs I've listened to in the past and it's also got that slightly prog rock inspiration with the 7/8 time to boot. I imagine the draw for many regarding this song is that intro, but it's actually the opposite for me.

MATCH 2

This is sort of like Who Am I from last year but way more appealing to me! I like the melody in the intro's chanting, and the vocals underneath that sound nice as well. Then you have all these other instruments like guitars, strings, and horns coming in for a really rich sound. I swear, I must've listened to another song when I looked this up previously as it was discussed because I don't remember it sounding this good at all!

[Posting early to be on time, will complete soon]