Overview

Saitama Saisyu Heiki, known for his work on Lost Child, is back to arrange music, mainly battle themes, from Atelier Iris: Eternal Mana 2. Entitled Atelier Iris Eternal Mana 2 Arranged Tracks - Red Lucifer Rising, it features a strong rock focus, but is it really worth picking up? Although the approaches are similar, it doesn't quite compare with its predecessor in terms of quality.

Body

Although a lot of the album is disappointing, there are some highlights. The soundtrack opens up with S.S.H.'s take on "Red Lucifer Rising". For the most part, this theme is much edgier, something much of this album also shares. It still opens with the "Bonds" theme on piano, but Heiki also decided to add some choir as well. It's a particularly nice touch. In addition to a keyboard solo, Heiki also throws in some sick guitar solos as well.

"Carmine," one of my favorite battle themes, is pretty much similar to the original. It has a more prominent electronica vibe going, but doesn't really go anywhere until the awesome piano and guitar solos — two of each — near the end. That's pretty much a lot of this album, to be truthful. Edgier versions of the original that keep to the original pretty closely are what you'll find. It's no remarkable feat in terms of innovation, but I do enjoy it personally.

There are also some Ver. 0 tracks that differ slightly from the other arrangements on the same theme. The are usually weaker prototype versions of the main arrangements. As with the predecessor, they mainly lack Toshinori Hiramatsu's elaborate guitar solos in favour of more commonplace passages.

Summary

In the end, Atelier Iris Eternal Mana 2 Arranged Tracks - Red Lucifer Rising is an album full of awesome solos, in guitar and keyboard form. The arrangements themselves stick rather closely to the original, albeit with an edgier sound and plenty of solos. In the end, it's up to you if you want to buy it. If you are pleased with the originals and aren't too keen on solos, I'd avoid it, but if you like solos, and lots of them, you might want to pick it up. In the end, I picked it up because I enjoy solos, although the first arrange album, despite the similar approach, is much more enjoyable.