ReMix:Secret of Mana "An Angel's Wish for the Forest" 3:24

By AeroZ

Arranging the music of 3 songs...

"A Wish...", "Fear of the Heavens", "What the Forest Taught Me"

Primary Game: Secret of Mana (Square , 1993, SNES), music by Hiroki Kikuta

Posted 2016-01-21, evaluated by djpretzel


Well, we're supposed to be getting two feet of snow tomorrow here in the DC area, so that's going to be a lot of shoveling & Netflix bingeing & what not, but it's all good, because we've got this beautiful new string-centric, multi-source Secret of Mana rock arrangement from AeroZ (Sebastian Freij) to keep us warm, featuring live bass & a percolating, haunting accompaniment:

"I'm trying to learn to play the bass and this was a project I wanted to do to challenge myself. The bass was performed live with recorded video. Hope you enjoy it!"

Very cool integration of multiple themes to complete passages, bass sounds wonderful, and the accompaniment is dynamic & interesting while still leaving plenty of room for the strings. Larry Oji lays down an on-point analysis:

"Zeratul's beautiful 'Ice Crystal Fields Forever' was the ReMix that put Hiroki Kikuta's "A Wish..." on the map for me as a VGM fan, so it's wonderful to hear Seb bring coverage of this source back to OCR after nearly a near-15-year drought. :-) Besides the gentle, relaxing treatment of "A Wish..." (are those Seb vocals I'm hearing?!?), the tradeoffs between "What the Forest Taught Me" and "Fear of the Heavens/Angel's Fear" from 1:32-2:04 fit very comfortably in the middle of the arrangement as well. I will say, for this being a project to test Seb's bass skills, I thought he performed well, and was actually surprised to hear that bass work mixed so quietly into the track; the bass writing and performance were solid, so I would have loved for it to be more present in the background and showcase more of the interplay. Other than that minor point, I'm a sucker for all of AeroZ's material; Seven Songs for Seventh Saga remains a masterwork I'd put on par with any professional VGM arrangement album, and a very important milestone for OCR, but it's great to have Seb continuing to contribute his signature brand of acoustic/electronic synergy. I hope Kikuta-san, an OCR fan in his own right, will enjoy this one! :-D"

This is all true; great to see more Secret of Mana, especially of some lesser-arranged selections, and of course Sebastian is a force of nature, with each new mix adding to an arsenal of emotive performances and creative, engaging arrangements. It's awesome to see him expanding his repertoire to include the bass, and this ReMix serves as a convincing & expressive first outing on OCR, hopefully the first of many!

djpretzel

Discussion

Latest 9 comments/reviews; view the complete thread or post your own.
avatar
Crulex
on 2018-06-11 01:41:10

MMmmm, those strings sure are tasty surrounded by those harmony-bringing vocalizations and percussion. Definitely an easy to listen to track that, while not completely slow and chill, has a nice relaxing tone to it all, making it perfect to having playing while concentrating on something else in my opinion. The sources are meshed in well together and all in all, the mix just sounds finely executed. Not bad at all.

avatar
Chromarin
on 2016-07-26 15:50:28

A good Secret of Mana piece is always a joy, and this is a very good one! All the sources are really well woven together, the mood is simply wonderful!

Thank you so much, for making this @AeroZ!

avatar
DimeTower
on 2016-01-29 23:11:57

One of my favorite original tracks, which might make you think I'm predisposed to a positive review, but I came in slightly worried and doubtful about how the description would bear out in the sound. I needn't have worried; damn, this song is well done! The interplay of the bass and melody is really impressive if you take the time to listen to it, and this is obviously done by someone with an appreciation for Secret of Mana in general, as the tune is handled reverently but also brought to fun new places. Serious kudos to the artist, particularly since it's the first(?!) time with a new instrument (you would never know it if you weren't told it). I will be checking your website and other work!

avatar
Odai
on 2016-01-22 08:45:39

Wonderful. Those oriental strings against the pseudosynthetic background really work! Personal preference would suggest a bit more variety in the main percussion, that's just me though. Brilliant use of harmony and well executed use of the source material. A great homage to great music from a great game. Kudos.

avatar
Geoffrey Taucer
on 2016-01-22 00:54:24

Ooooh, this is gorgeous!

avatar
nitrozsz
on 2016-01-21 19:48:35

This is a pretty nice, and mellow arrangement. Definitely suitable for those down time periods. The production here is great, and I think 3 1/2 minutes is a good length for what this track offers. The only thing I could have done without was the sort of high pitched synth sounds you hear at the very beginning, and lingers throughout. It struck me as a contrast to how the rest of the track was produced, and not a very good one. It isn't a deal breaker for me though, as that calm mood is still carried throughout the entire track. Nice work.

avatar
theArtist-youdontknow
on 2016-01-21 18:19:39

Were in **** has this remix been all my life!!??? :-D
Simply amazing!! I agree with RoeTaKa. This could have gone a bit longer, but DAMN for the length it definitely satisfies my craving for a good Secret of Mana remix!! WELL DONE!

avatar
RoeTaKa
on 2016-01-21 18:16:34

This is terrific, I love the groove and the emotion from the cello and vocal together. 2:04 onwards just feels really great, with little things that keep it interesting like at 2:26 with that almost delayed effect to the cello there. This could've easily gone on for as long as 6 minutes for me.

avatar
Liontamer
on 2016-01-21 13:16:28

What did you think? Post your opinion of this ReMix.

Sources Arranged (3 Songs)


Primary Game:
Secret of Mana (Square , 1993, SNES)
Music by Hiroki Kikuta
Songs:
"A Wish..."
"Fear of the Heavens"
"What the Forest Taught Me"

Tags (9)


Genre:
Classical,Rock
Mood:
Chill
Instrumentation:
Cello,Electronic,Strings,Synth
Additional:
Production > Live Instruments
Time > 4/4 Time Signature

File Information


Name:
Secret_of_Mana_An_Angel's_Wish_for_the_Forest_OC_ReMix.mp3
Size:
5,564,616 bytes
MD5:
180022db7cd84ea7bf939cc865d281b1
Bitrate:
214Kbps
Duration:
3:24

Promotion

8-bit Jazz Heroes - Press Start
View All

Latest Albums

View All

Latest ReMixes