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VOl. 2 from the Black Mages is a strong follow up to their debut album. While lacking some of the pizaz of the first, they make up for it in their variety of rendition and sound. With the start of "Rocking Grounds", the album pulls you in, and wraps you in the truly seminal sound unique to Nobuo. We find an unexpected take on track three, or Flamenco, with some very nice flamenco, and carry through with the pulse pounding "Otherworld", and the also pleasantly surprising pairing of a female vocalist; a great contrast to the fierce and unrelenting fury of the original. Sadly, I found "Man with the Machine Gun" to be a disappointing take on one of Nobuo's classics. The intro is usually the strongest point of the song and I was unimpressed with the drum's take on it. But, we still carry on strong through the anthemesque "Maybe I'm a Lion" which successfully combines the prowess of classical music, with the wrath of Metal, mingled it seems, with a little bit of Jazz and Blues improvisation. And we round out their tour de force with the grand finale of "Skies Above" and "Blue Blast- Winning the Rainbow". It must be said with "Skies Above", it blew me away. How often can one blend the bravado and power of an Operatic voice with the viscereal qualities of slamming guitars and drums? Nobuo of course, never disappoints. The combination bring a yin yang of melodic force rarely seen in popular music. I wouldn't mind listening to an arrangement of "Carmen" this way. Ultimately, The Black Mages have once again crossed boundaries of Musical Genres like Evel Kenevel on a Motorcycle. It's Progressive Rock, it's Classical, and it's of course all from a video game. A thing us Westerners still can't seem to get past. This is definitely a must have. Buy it!Read full review
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