Those Who Fight - The Fall of Bahamut EP

Day 7

Artist: Those Who Fight
Album: The Fall of Bahamut
Label: N/A (Independently Released)
Year: 2012
Genre: Rock Opera/Video Game Metal

For fans of: The Black Mages, Final Fantasy, Trans-Siberian Orchestra

Those Who Fight was a short-lived video game metal supergroup of sorts consisting of Amanda Lepre from Descendants of Erdrick and Mike Willard from Armcannon along with four others hiding behind pseudonyms such as Diablos and Atomos according to the back of the disc's cardboard sleeve. A conceptual release, The Fall of Bahamut expands on the framework from bits of Nobuo Uematsu's iconic scores to the beloved Final Fantasy RPG series by giving them a similar full on rock band treatment to Uematsu's own group The Black Mages, and going a step further by penning and performing thematically fittingly lyrics to three of the four tracks.

"State of the World" opens the album with a gritty, instrumental hard rock take on Final Fantasy VII's "Bombing Mission" that sets the stage for the rest of the EP perfectly, while the second track "Walking in the Dark" slows things down with newly written lyrics to the opera Maria and Draco from Final Fantasy VI. I won't spoil the other two tracks on this short release, but they're every bit as good as the first half. Being from such a relatively niche corner of the music world, this one's a bit tougher to find; but the tracks are still streaming over at group's Bandcamp page, and physical discs appear to still be available for those who prefer their media in a tangible form. Check it out at the link below.

Find it on: Bandcamp