Board 8 > [VGMC] Day 6! Fairfrozen / WotW / Carmilla / ProfProblem / Anistar / AvianAnimos

(+) Yeah! (+)

Welcome to Video Game Music Contest 15, an annual celebration of the best of the best video game music according to the voters!

Important Links:
Bracket: https://www.bracketmaker.com/tlist.cfm?tid=474630
Contest info sheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/16XAaBMDuUnQ4c5AxQNL9ZhvD7VG5kQyrXWWZxnkrn-o
Contest discussion thread: https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/8-gamefaqs-contests/79443554
Main bracket playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLT3m7iohpL0xt7lOF1eB-H4NpAaF1yAnU
Last years spreadsheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1VNrPnFRI7nJ4PqFiURBW0NWqxvXiuasoq8Sn_O169ss
VGMC total stats sheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1K1XdLWiUKB2kX99qYBgnRbLU_sCz4dvZSByKKJHCT6o
Discord: https://discord.gg/WDvMS4a

Rules:
- Listen to both songs in a given match, at least through the loop time provided (to make sure you don't skip before you've heard the whole thing!)
- Please consider the loop point listed when judging the song; if a video loops one minute 5 times, don't treat it as if it's a repetitive 5 minute song
- If it's a match between your favorite song ever and a song you despise, still LISTEN TO BOTH! Votes can and will be disqualified if there is suspicion songs are not being listened to, and you may be discounted for the rest of the contest for repeat offenses.
- No alt accounts, no rallying or begging, etc., etc.... You only get one vote! Swapping votes is alright, just make clear that you've already made a vote and are swapping.
- Make clear what your voting options are! Please keep votes separate from any comments, and use the titles given in the topic post.
- Voting in all matches is not mandatory, feel free to skip matches you do not wish to vote in.
- Vote based on the links provided, and not other sources of audio. Links are specifically chosen for best quality and the like.
- Don't discuss vote tallies in this thread, or in other threads, as they may influence votes. Likewise, please refrain from looking at the running tally before voting.

Voting Period:
- Today's matches will last 24 hours from the time of posting, or 24 hours from 10pm Eastern, whichever is the later time.
- Please note this may mean that two topics will be active at the same time!
- If you anticipate being unable to vote in a given day, please send an absentee vote to @banshiryuu or @Toxtricity, or post your absentee vote in the discussion thread!

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Match 1

One Step From Eden - Fairfrozen: Selicy's Theme
Composer: HAGANE (STEEL_PLUS)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfLubk6Hqnc
Loop Point: 2:09

NieR: Automata - Weight of the World / English Version
Composer: Keiichi Okabe

From 5 o' clock in the morning till 10 o' clock at night!

NieR: Automata - Weight of the World / English Version
Koumajou Densetsu II: Stranger's Requiem - Rose-Killing Carmilla
Mekazoo - Avian Animosity

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Weight of the World (EN)
Rose-Killing Carmilla
Avian Animosity

Weeb music appreciation day with a birb song tagging along.

Numbers here were harder to pin down so ehhh

Weight of the World [9]
Carmilla [8.5]
Fairfrozen [7.5]
Avian Animosity [7]
Anistar City [6.5]
Professional Problem [3.5]

Might as well throw out Day 1 and 2 numbers as well to catch up.

Nefertiti [leaning 7.5 for now]
The First Thing [7.5]
Collapsed Expressway [7]
National Park [6]
Heretors of Arcadia [5.5]
14.5 RftM [4]

linkage-alter [9.5]
Azure Sadness [8.5]
Soft Collision [8]
Fury Sparks [6.5]
Discovery [6.5]
Fuse Man [5]

Weight of the World / English Version
Rose-Killing Carmilla
Avian Animosity

easy day today

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Weight of the World / English Version
Professional Problem
Avian Animosity

Fairfrozen
Carmilla
Anistar

Something about the intro to this kind of bugs me in the same way that Planet Wisp does. "Peppy" is probably the best word. The rest is pretty fine though. It's no MMBN music, but I'll still play the game. Eventually.

In my ranking topic, I culled a few songs from people who I couldn't find anywhere, who would definitely not see my rankings. I was pretty relieved when this song was cut, because I really didn't want to have to talk about it. I still don't, so I won't. Goodbye.

Unlike many of the others songs this contest, the intro to this one is my favorite part! The rest is what kind of falls apart. There are sections I love for just being hymmnos, and sections that sound like whatever anime music. I think the end result is that my opinion of this is about where my opinion of the best hymmnos songs were a few years ago, before I started getting into them

too much sato

good x/y music!!

i made a simple mekazoo ranking years ago when i first heard vagrant vines and checked out the rest. VV >> AA >>>>> the rest


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Fairfrozen
Professional Problem
Anistar City

closer match than i want it to be, i still don't like weight of the world vocals
carmilla tries to sound like premium gust and that's why it fails here. There are parts where it nearly pulls it off, and then the rest that just can't manage it with its weaker vocals. a problem with making it sound professional enough wow i am a comic genius. at least he got to arrange a bunch of nosurge songs presumably because of it. also i can't decide whether i like professional problem or not damn you osamu sato
anistar good

Fairfrozen: Selicy's Theme (43rd) vs Weight of the World / English Version (194th)
Rose-Killing Carmilla (144th) vs Professional Problem (200th)
Anistar City (100th) vs Avian Animosity (130th)

im a BUSY BOY this eve and i dont wanna forget so posting this now I LOVE FAIRFROZENNNNN probably favorite discovery of the contest???? well, in the contest... in noms GIVE IT A SHOT from mmx legacy collection was my fav discovery definitely and one that is higher is actually something i hadn't bothered to listen to but we'll get to that.... later..... okay bbye

Frozen
Professional
Animosity
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NieR: Automata - Weight of the World / English Version
Koumajou Densetsu II: Stranger's Requiem - Rose-Killing Carmilla
Mekazoo - Avian Animosity
---

Weight of the World (English)
Rose-Killing Carmilla
Avian Animosity

the only one Im sure Im staying on is Rose-Killing lol, I might have to revise these votes later on.

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Fairfrozen: Selicy's Theme
Professional Problem
Avian Animosity

I have extremely strong preferences on all three of these matches oh no!! This is almost 3 matches with songs I supported but the OSFE song I supported didn't get in but I like this one a lot too.
I just love the goofy weirdness of the Professional Problem so much, LSD songs are a real treat. I should probably say stuff about the other songs but I won't.

Professional Problem > Avian Animosity >/= Fairfrozen: Selicy's Theme >>> Anistar City > Rose-Killing Carmilla > Weight of the World / English Version

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Fairfrozen: Selicy's Theme
Professional Problem
Anistar City

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We get three options for the first match!!!!

Fairfrozen: Selicy's Theme
Professional Problem
Anistar City

Fairfrozen: Selicy's Theme (9.5 - 3rd place) / Weight of the World / English Version (7.4^ - 39th place)
Rose-Killing Carmilla (7.8v - 32nd place) / Professional Problem (8.3 - 25th place)
Anistar City (9.5 - 2nd place) / Avian Animosity (6.6 - 49th place)

Yeah, I'd take WotW over RKC without question.

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Fairfrozen
Carmillia
Anistar City
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Fairfrozen: Selicy's Theme
Professional Problem
Avian Animosity

Fairfrozen pretty good stuff. Easy win over the weakest version of a not so good Nier Automata song.

The English parts of RKC is bad. It's pretty decent other than that. I find myself oddly liking PP? Just enjoyable throughout. RKC annoying me enough that I'm going to vote against it. How odd.

Damn I was going to do an AC writeup but the song ended a minute ago and I've forgotten all about it. Anyway I don't like it very much. AA is much more fun. Kill me birds.

Avian Animosity > Fairfrozen: Selicy's Theme > Professional Problem > Rose-Killing Carmilla > Weight > Anistar City
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Mac Arrowny posted...

your votes contradict your description/ranking here. assuming your intended vote is professoinal problem?
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Fairfrozen: Selicy's Theme
Rose-Killing Carmilla
Anistar City

I've taken a recent liking to the music of steel plus, a composer I did not even know about until the launch of Maiden & Spell! This is very "EDM that B8 likes" but also melodic! Weight of the World is pretty good, and it's grown on me a bit (no preference for EN vs JP version really). Pretty good match here.

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Rose-Killing Carmilla is my #1 favorite song in the WHOLE CONTEST!!! 10/10 song, maybe top 10 VGM ever actually. Man, this does just about everything that I love in music AND THAT CHANTING AAAAAA IT'S SO... DAMN.... COOL!!!! I LOVE NORIKO MITOSE!!!!! It's opponent starts out very Earthbound-esque before going full goof. It's another "quirky unique" song, but yeah this is almost certainly the least close match in all of R1.

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Very close third match here. Anistar City is very short unfortunately, but goes all in on those sweet old world vibes. AA has a lot more going on, with chiptunes mixed with electronic mixed with surfer rock. I'm not entirely sold on the fake chiptune part though.

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Weight of the World
Rose-Killing Carmilla
Anistar City

-(HAGANE music makes me very happy !!!!! i feel like every time i hear a one step from eden song i think "i like other songs from this game more than that one such as []" until i list every song in the game in a row and loop back to the first song in the list. my point is i like every song from it around the same but have an imaginary vision in my mind that i like every song more than i do. In some ways maybe this is a good thing? The music creates a memorable aesthetic vision that sticks with me, and i remember even more fondly than the actual music itself when listening. ...i DO think there are plenty of osfe songs i could get super enthusiastic excited about compared to this one. Anyways i still love this, things that are pretty safe bets i'll at least slightly like the song with me, and easy to talk about; thick chords / breakbeats / cool synth sounds / etc. but i feel like it stops right at that surface. at least there is another hagane song in the contest i really can say i undeniably love with all of my heart)-

-[the plucked string part in this song at the start is "Light" from kirby air ride played upside-down!!! love the lush dense piano harmonies...a thing i'm surprised i didn't initially notice about nier music back when i didn't like it (note: I've noticed it for years even when "i still didn't like nier music yet" but i mean at the VERY beginning i'm surprised it wasn't something that stuck out to me). There's a lot of cliches in this track but it's presented in such a dramatic way that i'm actually really into pretty much all of them. though the big break from that, the startling chord change at 1:11 makes me go YEAH!!!!!!!!! in the same way the big moment in HEAVENS DIVIDE does. I didn't vote for this song in my favorites bracket for maybe the opposite reason of osfe lol. I have an image in my mind that "nier songs that aren't specifically the ones i talk about liking" are songs that i enjoy way less than i do. maybe part of that's because enjoying music from it was a slowly acquired taste and i did not originally like it at all. but i love this song when listening to it actively way more intensely than any memory of this track would lead me to believe.]-

-{savior of dramatic vocals}-

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-(i said this and maybe wish i'd been more assertive---this might just be me or weird imaginary thoughts because i haven't made a careful comparison; am pretty sure the lower quality version of this track (the one used when this was in long ago), is WAAY better mixed. just lower quality. This track has so much SNESMD16 style sidechain/limiter/compression stuff going on that i find a huge distraction from ability to enjoy it as much as i would otherwise. would much rather listen to the lower quality version from before (though it might actually be doing the same thing and just sounds less punishing when everything is lower quality somehow?). even with that said, knowing that Murayama is the same person as Yanagi, this actually explains a good deal...a lot of Murayama's falcom songs have a similar non-deliberate sounding wavering-volume limiter thing going on that almost feels like amateur. which is a shame because he's an amazing composer in every other way to me, and stuff like this is a big dealbreaker to me at times. It doesn't totally ruin this song for me, but i wish it was different.
~~~~~
1:10/3:24 is SO GOOD AHHHH. that constant 16ths synth on that cool sound makes me so happy : ))))) and the vocals are so gusty and fun!! NORIKO MITOSE!!! I KNOW WHO YOU ARE. YOU ARE ON A LOT OF MY FAVORITE AR TOONELICO sONG% i like the hi- hat in this song for some reason, when i listen to it i think about "that high hat part" synth bits like the rotating panning on the harpisochord like sequence at 2:10....that's what makes it good, gives it this driving energy even while calm. oh yeah this song is in odd time a lot who cares odd time is boring and stupid <NO ITS NOT YOU ARE LYING JAMES> ok)-

-[I like Osamu Sato, and respect Collen's unusual favorites a lot, but i'm kinda sad i haven't liked the lsd dream emulator picks this year or last all that much. maybe part of that is the ones being picked grid themselves a lot in a way my favorite osamu sato stuff doesn't? though honestly around 1:20 the piano bit "feels" like Tong-Nou Theme (which is my 6th favorite song ever) but it somehow doesn't strike me nearly as much. movement is more simple and plainly chromatic? the phrasing is like TOO FAST or something. It feels weird to criticize weird music because i love weird; but not this exact incarnation as much, again, just like fax factory...sad. Honestly, I think the LSD Dream Emulator songs i'd be the most into are the actual loops in low quality that would not actually do well in a contest setting at all hahaha. i know there's some others i'm waaay more into, not off the top of my head by name
~~~~~
ok i am being TOO NEGATIVE ABOVE about a song i actually think is very cool. so i am only going to say positive things about this song from this point on. I LOVE that choir sound it is so goofy and cool and old fake souding. I love the metallic clanks in this intro part they are so much like gigantic shmup fish. The intro is really my favorite part, it's also ambiguous about where the beat and tempo are, partially because of the slow attack of the choir, but also because of the drums being so stuttery in a way that isn't easy to grasp grid alignment with. cool how contrasting the much more clear quarter/8th/16th section feel immediately after is, it's almost necessary for the intriguing ambiguity of that intro to sink in on its significance. THere are so many cool sounds in this song. I love how 2:47 piano reminds me of my SIXTH FAVORITE SONG EVER (TOng Nou Theme) because it is by the same composer ha ha.]-

-{lol was he on drug when make the son}-

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-(Anistar City stood out overwhelmingly to me when I first heard it. i'm one of the (many) people who thinks xy's ost was a noticeable step down from gen 5 (it doesn't help i have a lot negative to say about the game itself compared to every other mainline pokemon by far), but this is one of the many gems from the game that steps in the face of the dominantly grey atmosphere this game has to me. This song is bright and shiny! It's beautiful, the instrumentation choice is stunning ITS JUST LIKE UNTAMED HEART. IT HAS weird timed pianoo delay echoes OMG. ITs exactly the type of big glass case emotion song jewelry box tourmanline i want in my ear holes. when this game came out i liked this song, but these days i'm even more into this type of music, so i REALLY like this song now. I OLOVE DELAY ECHOES cool chord changes Minako Adachi is so good at town themes and is probably the unconfirmed composer of all my favorite "pretty songs" in gen 8 please nominate celtic wild area theme next year or something maybe. these percussive sounds are so cool. the fading in strings, like i'm just listing every single instrument in this song, it's perfection to me)-

-[my favorite part of this song is the intro pretty handily. It's nice and spooky and has the primary focus on the coolest synth sounds that are in the song. i was probably too hostile about mekazoo music in the past because i was mad at electro swing for being [none of the things i liked about jazz or edm, simultaneously, while supposedly being both at the same time] but idk i've warmed up to it these days and it's probably because spinel is my favorite steven universe character and her theme song is the coolest electroswing song ever. this isn't even that genre really but it's fun it reminds me of songs i like that ARE and has a dark cartoony energy i dig just like spinel]-

-{bird pokemon}-
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Weight of the World / English Version
Professional Problem
Avian Animosity

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Fairfrozen: Selicy's Theme
Rose-Killing Carmilla
Anistar City

One Step From Eden - Okay this is EXTREMELY in my face, almost a little too busy for my tastes, but...
NieR:Robutts - Not the FFXIV or Chaos Language version/10. Automata does not lend itself well to a 90s-esque piano ballad, especially not this singer. I love most Nier music, and this is... just not it.

Touhouvania 2 - I never thought I'd be interested in this series ever and then I went ahead and nominated one from Scarlet Symphony that basically ripped off Divine Bloodlines and put a new coat of paint on it. But then you get to THIS game and THIS style of lyrics and we hit Ew Weeb Shit Skip zone.
LSD: Congratulations on becoming my first anti-vote of the competition. It's a brave/interesting track, but it doesn't please me in the slightest. Am I too vanilla? Perhaps.

Pokemon XY Poor Zygarde: An actual good song in a soundtrack largely filled with concentrated Normal-type "meh." Bells will usually get me in a better mood right off the bat, providing they're done right, and this was, very much so.
I can't help but read this as Mecha Kazoo - Okay, let's go. First listen through, and I'm getting Mega Man vibes crossed with a dungeon and then oh dear there's a dubstep drop and we go from Avian to Human animosity. The rest of the track makes up for this mistake, though, going to a high tempo thing, followed by some Metroid-esque drone of dread?

This 3rd match was difficult for me, but XY did nothing during it to offend, unlike... wubbing. Blech.

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linkage-alter
Twelfth Chapter ~ In the Sky
Obstacle
Untamed Heart
--- 5. Anistar City ---
Collapsed Expressway
--- 7. Rose-Killing Carmilla ---
The First Thing
Soaring Through Azure Sadness
Planet Wisp (Act 1)
--- 11. Weight of the World / English Version ---
Out of Tartarus
Impossible Worlds
Dear Dragon (Theme of Sweet Breaker)
Labyrinth VI - The Vengeful God in the Dark Ocean Abyss
Discovery
Class::CIEL_N_PROTECTA;
Soft Collision
Foregone Destruction
It's Dangerous to Go Alone
--- 21. Fairfrozen: Selicy's Theme ---
Heartless Being
The Heritors of Arcadia
Track 7
National Park
The Rain Formerly Known As Purple
--- 27. Professional Problem ---
--- 28. Avian Animosity ---
Ryoshima Coast
Level 6 - Face Shrine
Roar of the Jungle Dragon
Fuse Man Stage
Nekozamurai no Gyakushuu
Reach for the Moon, Immortal Smoke
Nefertiti (Ver.MMXI)
Fury Sparks

a lot of songs today i find difficult to consistently evaluate, so these newly introduced tracks could slide around my ranking a lot. the only ones i'm really confident in their positions are anistar and carmilla
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Fairfrozen: Selicy's Theme
Rose-Killing Carmilla
Anistar City

Fairfrozen: Selicy's Theme
Rose-Killing Carmilla
Anistar City

Weight of the World / English Version
Rose-Killing Carmilla
Avian Animosity

Interesting match this time since all three rounds had some really nice songs (barring that LSD emu song I guess, I like wacky music and experimental sound design but that specific flavour of wacky sound design just isn't my thing) but at the same time, each round had a song that was clearly way better than the other.

Fairfrozen: Selicy's Theme
Professional Problem
Avian Animosity

yup

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Weight of the World / English Version
Rose-Killing Carmilla
Avian Animosity

I sat through Professional Problem, and did not enjoy it. I want my time back. Avian Animosity was the stand-out today.

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Weight of the World / English Version
Rose-Killing Carmilla
Avian Animosity

---

Weight of the World / English Version
Professional Problem
Anistar City

Fairfrozen: Selicy's Theme
Rose-Killing Carmilla
Avian Animosity
---

Weight of the World
Professional Problem
Avian Animosity

Weight of the World / English Version
Rose-Killing Carmilla
Avian Animosity

Only the first match is even contested.

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Weight of the World / English Version
Rose-Killing Carmilla
Avian Animosity

One Step From Eden - Fairfrozen: Selicy's Theme
Koumajou Densetsu II: Stranger's Requiem - Rose-Killing Carmilla
Mekazoo - Avian Animosity

only the first match is not even particularly close
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Fairfrozen: Selicy's Theme
Rose-Killing Carmilla
Anistar City

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Weight of the World / English Version
Rose-Killing Carmilla
Avian Animosity

Today is too damn hard. Going against my favorites bracket twice and backstabbing one of my own supports (PP) in the process.

Gotta give it to Weight of the World, though, it's not too often that I'm touched by a ballad from a game I haven't played

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Fairfrozen
Professional Problem
Anistar City

Fairfrozen: Selicy's Theme
Professional Problem
Avian Animosity

professional problem fans stay winning!!! also wow avian animosity kicked tf in like i was not expecting that

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Fairfrozen: Selicy's Theme
Professional Problem
Anistar City
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Weight of the World / English Version
Professional Problem
Avian Animosity

---

Fairfrozen: Selicy's Theme
Professional Problem
Avian Animosity

---

Fairfrozen: Selicy's Theme
Rose-Killing Carmilla
Anistar City

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Fairfrozen: Selicy's Theme
Professional Problem
Avian Animosity

Weight of the World / English Version
Rose-Killing Carmilla
Avian Animosity

NieR: Automata - Weight of the World / English Version
Koumajou Densetsu II: Stranger's Requiem - Rose-Killing Carmilla
Mekazoo - Avian Animosity

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NieR: Automata - Weight of the World / English Version (Japanese version way better)
LSD: Dream Emulator - Professional Problem
Mekazoo - Avian Animosity

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Weight of the World / English Version
Professional Problem
Avian Animosity

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Fairfrozen: Selicy's Theme
Rose-Killing Carmilla
Anistar City

Fairfrozen always struck me as maybe the most immediately catchy track on the OSFE soundtrack, almost candy-like in its appeal. The instruments shine and snap, like fresh ice. This is among the most straight-up fun tracks I've heard of HAGANE's, while still carrying a lot of that classic HAGANE flair-- it reminds me of his interlude-ideal album, maybe Usual in particular (though the title track really feels like an OSFE track as well).

Weight of the World: now in ENGLISH. There's been some discussion about what version is preferred overall; I think they all cut in slightly different ways, and I like this one well enough not to say I'd definitively prefer a different one. A number of the parts that hit me hardest are actually the instrumental breaks, anyway! I love the way the strings quietly carry emotion at 2:00, for example, and their more overt appearance at 3:47. This is just a well-executed ballad through and through. NieR series (and Drakengard) end-of-game vocal tracks do this really well, I think-- they're often straightforward but win me over with how pretty and evocative they feel.

One thing that immediately bugs me about Carmilla is that it feels loud the whole way, even during the parts that seem like they'd be quiet, and it's distracting enough to detract from my enjoyment of the track! It kills the feeling of dynamic variation within the track, like everything's trying to shout over each other. That aside, the way this track introduces itself is really neat-- Noriko Mitose singing a high-energy track in 11/8, brings back SPHILIA memories-- and the repeating synth (when I can hear it) playing in the verse is cool too. I don't dig the chorus as much-- it feels strangely constrained in composition and range. It's a track I have more mixed feelings about than I'd initially expect, whose lasting impression on me doesn't match the first one.

Professional Problem goes for an overtly strange and disorienting feel, and a somewhat frantic one. I can appreciate that aspect of it, but what strikes me is that my own feeling stays fairly neutral throughout. I think there's a couple of reasons for that-- the drums enforce a certain control that feels counter to the strangeness of it, and that a lot of the strangeness is evoked only by sounds and textures within that structure. There are moments like 1:04 that seem to want to break out of that, but not fully.

Amidst a set of tracks brimming with energy and sheer volume, Anistar City feels like almost a balm. It's not the most extensive composition, and its expression of 'timekeeper city!!' is not exactly subtle, but it nails its sense of calm and slight mystery. I especially like the section that starts at 0:35. It really hits a certain "jrpg town theme" vibe that appeals to me.

Avian Animosity's intro is very cool-- it's my favourite part of the track, really. It's got a sinister vibe and I love the main synth and the filters on the percussion. I don't mind the track once its Animosity gets up close and personal-- it's got a pretty infectious energy that I can bob along to-- but I find myself always recalling that intro before anything else.