The Black Mages
The Black Mages | |
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Origin | Tokyo, Japan |
Genres |
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Years active | 2002–2010 |
Labels | Square Enix Music Keiji Kawamori Arata Hanyuda Michio Okamiya |
The Black Mages were a Japanese
The band released three studio albums. Their first was released
The Black Mages did not tour as a band, but performed several concerts to promote their album releases. For their first album they performed in
History
In 2000, Square Enix employees
The group has said they were "nervous" about forming a rock band, as they were all "middle-aged", but decided after the performance it would not be a problem. The name "The Black Mages" was chosen by an employee at Square Enix, Mr. Matsushita, and was decided to be in English because it "wouldn't stand out" in Japanese.[3] Square Enix owns the name "The Black Mages", which means while using that name the band was essentially limited to playing Final Fantasy music and original pieces rather than arranging music from other game series that were not owned by the company.[4]
In 2003, Uematsu decided the band should produce an album of Final Fantasy arrangements.
On August 7, 2010, Uematsu announced the band had formally disbanded. He did not directly state the reason for the decision, though in previous interviews he had noted the band was increasingly finding it difficult to find time to rehearse together. In an April 2011 interview he said the main reason was because The Black Mages had been formed as a "Square Enix" band, they were unable to perform arrangements of work he had composed after leaving Square Enix or to focus on original pieces.[6] Uematsu continues to play rock arrangements of his music as a part of the band the Earthbound Papas, which performed at the Distant Worlds II concert in 2010.[7] He has been joined by fellow Black Mages bandmates Michio Okamiya and Arata Hanyuda, both continuing on guitar and drums, respectively. They had also left Square Enix; Uematsu built the new band to not include any current Square Enix employees so as to avoid the trademark and licensing problems of The Black Mages.[6]
Discography
The Black Mages
The Black Mages | |
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Studio album by The Black Mages | |
Released | February 19, 2003 May 10, 2004 (re-release) |
Genre | Hard rock Progressive metal |
Length | 51:29 |
Label | DigiCube Square Enix (re-release) |
Producer | Nobuo Uematsu |
The Black Mages is an arranged soundtrack album of video game music from the Final Fantasy series of role-playing video games. The album contains a selection of musical tracks from the games, arranged and performed in a hybrid of hard rock and progressive metal by The Black Mages. All the selected tracks are "battle themes" from the games. The pieces have been described as "hard-rock" with "blazing synthesizers and guitars".[8] It was first released on February 19, 2003, by DigiCube, and subsequently re-released on May 10, 2004, by Square Enix. It spans ten tracks and covers a duration of 51:29.[8]
The album reached No. 43 on the Japan Oricon charts.[9] It was well received by critics like Andy Byus of RPGFan, who termed it "addicting" and "powerful". He criticized the overuse of synthesizer as opposed to live instruments in some tracks, and that some of the arrangements stayed too close to the original tracks, especially "Dancing Mad".[8] Tetra of Square Enix Music Online also enjoyed the album, saying "all of the members are strong musicians, and Sekito and Fukui were equally strong arrangers". His primary complaint with the album was he felt many of the songs followed the same general pattern in their arrangements.[10]
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Battle Scene" (from Final Fantasy I - "Battle") | 4:19 |
2. | "Clash on the Big Bridge" (from Final Fantasy V - "Battle on the Big Bridge") | 4:16 |
3. | "Force Your Way" (from Final Fantasy VIII - "Force Your Way") | 3:51 |
4. | "Battle, Scene II" (from Final Fantasy II - "Battle Scene 2") | 3:52 |
5. | "The Decisive Battle" (from Final Fantasy VI - "The Decisive Battle") | 4:02 |
6. | "Battle Theme" (from Final Fantasy VI - "Battle") | 3:21 |
7. | "J-E-N-O-V-A" (from Final Fantasy VII - "JENOVA") | 6:08 |
8. | "Those Who Fight Further" (from Final Fantasy VII - "Fight On!") | 4:25 |
9. | "Dancing Mad" (from Final Fantasy VI - "Dancing Mad") | 12:04 |
10. | "Fight With Seymour" (from Final Fantasy X - "Fight With Seymour") | 5:05 |
The Black Mages II: The Skies Above
The Black Mages II: The Skies Above | |
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Studio album by The Black Mages | |
Released | December 22, 2004 |
Genre | Hard rock Progressive metal |
Length | 50:56 |
Label | Universal Music Group |
Producer | Nobuo Uematsu |
The Black Mages II: The Skies Above is an arranged soundtrack album of video game music from the Final Fantasy series of role-playing video games. Like the previous album, it contains a selection of musical tracks from the games, arranged and performed in a hybrid of hard rock and progressive metal by The Black Mages. Unlike their first album, The Skies Above includes other pieces besides battle themes; the album also features songs, which were performed by Kazco Hamano, credited as "KAZCO", and Tomoaki Watanabe, or "Mr. Goo". It also includes a non-Final Fantasy track, "Blue Blast — Winning the Rainbow", an original piece that was created for Japanese K-1 fighter Takehiro Murahama. The Skies Above, as opposed to the first album, features real drums rather than sequenced drums, as the band had expanded from its original three members, none of whom played drums.[11] The line "Maybe I'm a Lion" in the track of the same name was spoken by Alexander O. Smith, a translator for Square Enix and close friend of Okamiya, one of the new members.[12] It was released on December 22, 2004, by Universal Music Group. The album spans eleven tracks, and covers a duration of 50:56.[13]
The album received mixed reviews from critics; Jesse Jones of RPGFan said that he was "simply amazed" by the album, though it was not without flaws. While terming the music overall as "excellent", he disliked the vocal arrangements in "Otherworld" and "The Skies Above", finding that the voices of the singers did not match with the songs' instrumentals.[13] Zane of Square Enix Music Online was less approving of the album, calling it "passable" and saying that the new arrangements gave "mixed results". He blamed the "intolerable vocals" and occasional poor choices in instruments as the problems with the album, concluding that the second Black Mages album was inferior to the first.[14]
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "The Rocking Grounds" (from Final Fantasy III - "Battle 1") | 3:56 |
2. | "Zeromus" (from Final Fantasy IV - "Zeromus") | 3:51 |
3. | "Vamo' Alla Flamenco" (from Final Fantasy IX - "Vamo Alla Flamenco") | 4:25 |
4. | "Hunter's Chance" (from Final Fantasy IX - "Hunter's Chance") | 4:44 |
5. | "Otherworld" (from Final Fantasy X - "Otherworld") | 3:14 |
6. | "Matoya's Cave" (from Final Fantasy I - "Matoya's Cave") | 4:44 |
7. | "The Man with the Machine Gun" (from Final Fantasy VIII - "The Man with the Machine Gun") | 4:17 |
8. | "Maybe I'm a Lion" (from Final Fantasy VIII - "Maybe I'm a Lion") | 5:34 |
9. | "Battle with the Four Fiends" (from Final Fantasy IV - "Battle with the Four Fiends") | 3:58 |
10. | "The Skies Above" (from Final Fantasy X - "To Zanarkand") | 7:18 |
11. | "Blue Blast — Winning the Rainbow" (original track) | 4:49 |
The Black Mages III: Darkness and Starlight
The Black Mages III: Darkness and Starlight | |
---|---|
Studio album by The Black Mages | |
Released | March 19, 2008 |
Genre | Hard rock Progressive metal |
Length | 60:40 |
Label | Dog Ear Records |
Producer | Nobuo Uematsu |
The Black Mages III: Darkness and Starlight is the third arranged soundtrack album of video game music from the Final Fantasy series of role-playing video games. The album contains a selection of musical tracks from the games, arranged and performed in a hybrid of hard rock and progressive metal by The Black Mages in a similar manner to their previous albums. It was released on March 19, 2008, by Uematsu's Dog Ear Records, spanning ten tracks and a duration of 60:40.[15] The Black Mages sing the chorus for the song "Darkness and Starlight", the only vocal track on the album.[16] The album has been described as being composed of a mix of "intense" symphonic metal pieces and rock opera. Like the previous album, Darkness and Starlight features an original piece, "Life ~ in memory of KEITEN ~", which was composed by Uematsu for Yoshitaka Tagawa, a boy he had met who died of leukemia.[15]
The album was well received by websites like RPGFan, which said the album was "very much worth the over three year wait" and described the tracks as "enjoyable" and "inspiring". He had few complaints with the album, only describing "Opening ~ Bombing Mission" and "Assault of the Silver Dragons" as "bland", but still worth listening to.[15] Square Enix Music Online was even more positive in its review of the album, calling it "a masterpiece" and "The Black Mages' finest effort to date", wishing only the album had been longer.[17]
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Opening ~ Bombing Mission" (from Final Fantasy VII – "Opening ~ Bombing Mission") | 4:39 |
2. | "Neo EXDEATH" (from Final Fantasy V – "The Final Battle") | 4:39 |
3. | "The Extreme" (from Final Fantasy VIII – "The Extreme") | 5:51 |
4. | "Assault of the Silver Dragons" (from Final Fantasy IX – "Assault of the Silver Dragons") | 5:00 |
5. | "KURAYAMINOKUMO" (from Final Fantasy III – "This is The Last Battle") | 4:56 |
6. | "Distant Worlds" (from Final Fantasy XI – "Distant Worlds") | 7:31 |
7. | "Premonition" (from Final Fantasy VIII – "Premonition") | 5:22 |
8. | "Grand Cross" (from Final Fantasy IX – "The Final Battle") | 5:33 |
9. | "Darkness and Starlight" (from Final Fantasy VI – "Opera "Maria and Draco"") | 15:32 |
10. | "Life ~ in memory of KEITEN ~" (original track) | 1:37 |
Other appearances
In addition to their own albums, pieces from The Black Mages have appeared on several other albums. The first of these was "Flame Demon Monster Gaspard" on Dark Chronicle Premium Arrange, an album of arranged music from the video game
Year | Album | Comment |
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2004 | Dark Chronicle Premium Arrange | The album features the song "Flame Demon Monster Gaspard" performed by the band. |
2005 | Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children | The album features the song "Advent: One-Winged Angel" performed by the band with orchestration. |
2006 | More Friends: Music from Final Fantasy | The concert album features the songs "The Rocking Grounds", "Maybe I'm a Lion" and "Advent: One-Winged Angel" performed by The Black Mages with orchestra and choir joining the band on the latter. |
Final Fantasy III Original Soundtrack | The album features the song "The Final Battle -THE BLACK MAGES Ver.-" performed by the band. It would later appear on The Black Mages III: Darkness and Starlight album under the title "KURAYAMINOKUMO". |
Concerts
While The Black Mages never toured as a band, they participated in several concert events. These include promotional concerts for the release of their three albums and appearances at orchestral concerts devoted to Final Fantasy music.
Promotional concerts
The Black Mages held a concert to promote their first album on April 26, 2003, in the
For their second album, The Black Mages performed two promotional concerts. They performed all the songs from their second album, along with "The Decisive Battle", "Those Who Fight Further" and "Clash on the Big Bridge" from their first album. These concerts featured
A live concert was performed for the release of The Black Mages' third album as for their previous albums. Performed at the Yokohama Blitz in Yokohama, Japan, on August 9, 2008, the concert featured all the pieces from the album with the exception of "Life ~ in memory of KEITEN ~" and with the addition of "Maybe I'm a Lion" and "Clash on the Big Bridge".[26] A DVD recording of the show was made and released commercially in 2009, a first for the band.[26]
Other concerts
In addition to their own concerts, The Black Mages made appearances at official
The second Final Fantasy concert The Black Mages performed at was the Voices - Music from Final Fantasy concert held in Yokohama, Japan on February 18, 2006. This concert featured performances of various Final Fantasy songs. The Black Mages played "Advent: One-Winged Angel" at the end of the concert along with the Prima Vista Philharmonic Orchestra; the song was played a second time as an encore.[30] A DVD of the concert was released on June 21, 2006, and included an interview with Uematsu.[31]
On July 7, 2007, The Black Mages appeared at the Extra: Hyper Game Music Event at Shinkiba Studio Coast in Tokyo. They were the last of thirteen artists and groups to play at the six-hour event, and performed "Last Battle", "Those Who Fight Further", "Maybe I'm a Lion" and "Clash on the Big Bridge".[32] The music performed by The Black Mages did not appear on the official album for the concert.[33]
Band members
- Nobuo Uematsu – keyboards (2002–2010)
- Kenichiro Fukui – keyboards (2002–2010)
- Tsuyoshi Sekito – guitars (2002–2010)
- Keiji Kawamori – bass (2003–2010)
- Arata Hanyuda – drums (2003–2010)
- Michio Okamiya – guitars (2003–2010)
References
- ^ "Uematsu's Music". Square Enix. Archived from the original on 2009-07-23. Retrieved 2009-06-18.
- ^ VanBurkleo, Meagan (2009-05-27). "Nobuo Uematsu: The Man Behind The Music". Game Informer. Archived from the original on 2009-06-01. Retrieved 2009-06-16.
- ^ 1UP.com. Archivedfrom the original on 2006-05-26. Retrieved 2008-08-05.
- ^ North, Dale (2009-04-17). "Destructoid interview: Final Fantasy composer Nobuo Uematsu". Destructoid. Archived from the original on 2012-10-28. Retrieved 2009-04-28.
- ^ Chris (2007-12-21). "The Black Mages :: History". Square Enix Music Online. Archived from the original on 2008-09-15. Retrieved 2009-06-30.
- ^ a b Diener, Matt (April 2011). "Interview with Nobuo Uematsu on the Earthbound Papas (April 2011)". Square Enix Music Online. Archived from the original on 2013-01-20. Retrieved 2011-04-11.
- ^ Greening, Chris (2010-09-07). "Exclusive: The Black Mages Have Been Disbanded". Square Enix Music Online. Archived from the original on 2010-09-11. Retrieved 2010-09-07.
- ^ a b c Byus, Andy (2003-03-19). "Final Fantasy ~ The Black Mages". RPGFan. Archived from the original on 2020-11-25. Retrieved 2008-06-06.
- ^ THE BLACK MAGES (in Japanese). Oricon. Archived from the original on 2012-10-22. Retrieved 2010-06-24.
- ^ Tetra. "The Black Mages :: Review by Tetra". Square Enix Music Online. Archived from the original on 2009-06-10. Retrieved 2009-06-18.
- ^ "The Black Mages Exclusive Interview With Cocoebiz". Cocoebiz. 2005-01-22. Archived from the original on 2009-07-18. Retrieved 2009-06-16.
- ^ Smith, Alexander (2009-11-09). "GameSetInterview: 'Localization Tactics Advance - Kajiya Productions on Translating Final Fantasy'". GameSetWatch. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2009-11-16.
- ^ a b Jones, Jesse (2005-01-29). "Final Fantasy ~ The Black Mages II: The Skies Above". RPGFan. Archived from the original on 2021-04-22. Retrieved 2008-06-06.
- ^ Zane. "The Black Mages II ~The Skies Above~ :: Review by Zane". Square Enix Music Online. Archived from the original on 2009-06-10. Retrieved 2009-06-24.
- ^ a b c Castonguay, Logan (2008-03-25). "Final Fantasy ~ The Black Mages III: Darkness and Starlight". RPGFan. Archived from the original on 2020-11-25. Retrieved 2008-06-06.
- ^ Chris (2008-02-15). "New The Black Mages III Video Released". Square Enix Music Online. Archived from the original on 2008-06-11. Retrieved 2008-06-06.
- ^ Chris. "The Black Mages III ~Darkness and Starlight~ :: Review by Chris". Square Enix Music Online. Archived from the original on 2009-06-15. Retrieved 2009-06-30.
- ^ Gann, Patrick (2005-01-01). "Dark Chronicle Premium Arrange". RPGFan. Archived from the original on 2021-04-22. Retrieved 2009-06-15.
- ^ Gann, Patrick (2005-10-30). "Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children OST". RPGFan. Archived from the original on 2021-02-26. Retrieved 2008-07-28.
- ^ Gann, Patrick (2006-10-05). "Final Fantasy III OST". RPGFan. Archived from the original on 2021-04-22. Retrieved 2008-03-27.
- ^ a b "The Black Mages Live :: Concert Information". Square Enix Music Online. Archived from the original on 2008-11-20. Retrieved 2009-06-30.
- ^ "The Black Mages Live DVD :: Album Information". Square Enix Music Online. Archived from the original on 2009-08-09. Retrieved 2009-06-30.
- ^ "The Black Mages Live "Above the Sky" :: Concert Information". Square Enix Music Online. Archived from the original on 2008-11-20. Retrieved 2009-06-30.
- ^ 植松伸夫です。 (in Japanese). Square Enix. Archived from the original on 2005-11-02. Retrieved 2009-06-18.
- ^ "The Black Mages Live "Above the Sky" DVD :: Album Information". Square Enix Music Online. Archived from the original on 2009-04-22. Retrieved 2009-06-30.
- ^ a b "Dog Ear Records Blog" (in Japanese). Dog Ear Records. Archived from the original on 2017-04-23. Retrieved 2008-06-02.
- ^ "Uematsu's Music". Square Enix. Archived from the original on 2013-01-20. Retrieved 2009-06-04.
- ^ "Final Fantasy — More Friends, More Music". IGN. 2005-04-28. Archived from the original on 2008-03-28. Retrieved 2009-06-09.
- ^ Gann, Patrick (2006-04-05). "More Friends music from Final Fantasy ~Los Angeles Live 2005~". RPGFan. Archived from the original on 2020-12-02. Retrieved 2008-05-20.
- ^ "VOICES — Music from Final Fantasy". Square Enix Music Online. Archived from the original on 2013-01-20. Retrieved 2009-06-04.
- ^ "VOICES — Music from Final Fantasy DVD". Square Enix Music Online. Archived from the original on 2013-01-20. Retrieved 2009-06-07.
- ^ "Extra: Hyper Game Music Event 2007 :: Concert Information". Square Enix Music Online. Archived from the original on 2015-07-22. Retrieved 2009-06-30.
- ^ "Extra — Official Compilation :: Album Information". Square Enix Music Online. Archived from the original on 2010-01-01. Retrieved 2009-06-30.
External links