By Joseph Walter
You may recall (but probably won't) that I did a "Weekly Soundcheck" for a game called Wizardry: Tale of the Forsaken Land, where I couldn't shut up about how unnecessarily spectacular its music was.
Well, I recently found out that another entry from the so-called "renaissance" of the Wizardry series, Wizardry: Labyrinth of Lost Souls, has made its way to Steam... and I can't play it because of having a Mac. Worse yet, I was hoping to at least listen to some of its music so I could see if it lived up to The Forsaken Land, but, alas, I couldn't seem to find any of its music.
Well, except this:
The lively, rock beat is full of energy, the choral backing gives it some drama, but it's the inclusion of the more gentle elements, like the piano and violin, that make this so spectacular.
And then :40 hits.
Good God.
The wailing guitar solo. The intense chanting. The joyful chanting. The intense joyful chanting.
My mind nearly exploded when listening to this for the first time. For a series (and genre) that tends to lean towards the grim and macabre, hearing this upbeat theme (again, joyful choir!!!) was totally unexpected. The coolest part, though, is that it still manages to be an extremely effective battle theme, with the right amount of intensity, heroism, danger and thoughtfulness that make these songs worth hearing for hours and hours while lost in a grid-based map in which you can't travel faster than a snail.
.... but seriously, the aggressively joyful chanting. Wow. That's it. That's all I have to say. Done.