Overview

Disgaea: Hour of Darkness was the first in a line of tactical RPGs by Nippon Ichi Software. Dedicated to the journey of the Lord of the Netherworld Laharl trying to retrieve his throne, the game was a strange combination of dark settings and light undertones. Composed by Tenpei Sato of La Pucelle and the Marl Kingdom series, the technologically commanded score was created to enhance what the graphics depicted about the mood, settings, and events of the game. Sato ensured the soundtrack was jam-packed with vocal and instrumental highlights such that it was also a stand-alone success. It's time to take a closer look into this fascinating score...

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The vocal themes are definitely the best part of the soundtrack. "Lord Laharl's Hymn" introduces the castle of the undisputed Overlord of the Netherworld, the main character Laharl, with a magnificent concoction of devilish female vocals and jubilant jazz instrumentals. With its peculiar blend of haunting and fun material, it brings back memories of Danny Elfman's "This is Halloween", but is also true to Sato's own musicality. It sustains its 4:52 playtime well, incorporating some stunningly lyrical instrumental sections without losing its fluidity or atmosphere. Unfortunately, "Lord Laharl's Hymn (Instrumental)" is one of the few disappointing tracks on the soundtrack; it loses the atmosphere and integrity of the original with novelty synth vocals and thin accompaniment. The "Etna Boogie" blends a temptress' vocals with big band jazz. It's explicit in its execution, featuring risqué lyrics like "Tonight a dangerous lady has made you her target... She'll enchant all men". An excellently done composition, whether you find it alluring or not. In "Red Moon", strong imagery is created by the exquisite layering of a Japanese children's choir.

Another classic is "Aah, My Magnificent Life", where a tenor Italian opera singer dazzles listeners with a powerful performance against quasi-orchestral accompaniment. Though parodic in places, this theme is integral to the character and diversity of the game and soundtrack and convincing in its execution from composer and vocalist alike. "Tragic Marionette" evokes the imagery of a lament sung by a lonely girl in a musical. Yayoi Yura perfectly captures her despair with her rendition of the simple melody, hardly comforted by the fragile accompaniment and wails from the accordion. Opening the second disc, "Oh Comrade" is a very surprising composition given it blends western and rock instrumentals with Sato's own vocals; what could have been a shallow derivative creation is actually very elaborate and unusual, not to mention exceptionally catchy. Like most of Sato's Nippon Ichi soundtracks before it, the soundtrack wraps up with a long conventional vocal theme used for the good ending of the game. "Flower of Happiness" is a light catchy theme given a dance-like feel through vocalist Sakurako Matsuura's youthful performance.

Sato sets the tone of the adventure excellently with the instrumental tracks. "Whisper of the Netherworld" is almost certainly inspired by the introduction to the Edward Scissorhands soundtrack; it is an elegant melancholic waltz featuring fantastical woodwind-focused orchestrated hauntingly supported by female choirs and celesta motifs, also given a disturbing orgel arrangement at the end of the soundtrack. "The Great Dark Race", "Portrait of the Netherworld", and "Fancy Ball" maintain the Halloweenish theme with instantly charming darkly orchestrated marches. With "Footsteps of a Mischievious Demon", Sato fantastically portrays sneaking with an assembly of whimsical phrases and hilarious percussion solos, while in the Arabian-inspired "Great Wilder" Sato offers a welcome if intimidating reprise from La Pucelle. On the other side of emotional spectrum, "The Sad Angel" haunts with a combination of lush choral, piano, cello, and violin. "Demon Descent" conveys horror through unpredictably uttering synth glissandi, orchestral discords, ghostly choirs, and heavy percussion; it is a spectacular creation from the perspective of musicality creativity and setting the scene, but will be too much for some. The slower counterpart "Fearless Whisper" is a little easier on the ears.

Moving away from the darker themes, there is a lot of emotion elsewhere on the soundtrack. "Flowerbed" and "Angel Smile" both display Sato's capacity as a woodwind composer; the former blossoms with trilling flutes, elegant clarinets, and fluttering piccolos to give a marvelous dreamy quality, while the latter contrasts light and smooth phrasing to portray a delicate story of humanity. The soundtrack maintains its intricacy with the dramatic march "Hysteric Kingdom"; the bright brass melodies and expansive string runs of the opening section give way to a deliciously dark turn from 0:50. Probably the most epic composition on the score is "Galaxy Wars", which combines rich brassy orchestration with occasional iterations of a foreboding crisis motif. On the other end of the spectrum, there are a variety of light-hearted tracks like "Welcome to the Devil's Castle", "Do Your Best, Girl", "RosenQueen Co. Netherworld Branch", "Portrait of the Underworld", and "AKUMA Drops" that really fit the game and are charming on a stand-alone basis. Some, however, slightly undermine the maturity of the soundtrack overall. Other favourites include the gentle acoustic guitar-based "Dear Friends", frivolous accordion-led "Beauty Baron", and "A Light to the Future", another march really boasting the 'feel good' factor.

The fast-paced compositions are also excellent. Many are bombastic orchestral compositions made original with their focal points; for example, "Witch Hunting" uses trumpet shrills and string crisis motifs to give a tense edge, while "Underworld" mixes extravagant electric guitar work to great effect. In "Running Fire", the well-punctuated bright violin melodies of the body would have sufficed alone, but the surprisingly elaborate development section takes the theme to the next level. More unusually, "Battle of Eight Beat" returns to the Wild Arms style that Sato executes so well, offering an instrumental composition with a fantastic electric guitar solo. As for the most unconventional battle theme on the score, "Beautiful Roundelay" is a brisk folk dance centred around piercing violin work. At the end of the game, piano-infused otherworldly trance greets listeners in the timeless "Planet X" before bombastic orchestration and experimental choral work feature in the final battle theme "Disgaea". The final instrumental theme is the orchestration "Eternal Melody", which undergoes plenty of twists and turns during its 4:37 playtime. It encompasses some silly, dark, and personal moments while largely focusing on capturing a sense of triumph and bliss at the end of the game.

Summary

The Makai Senki Disgaea Original Soundtrack is a superb achievement on so many levels. With respect to the actual game, it fits the Halloweenish setting perfectly and portrays the characters with great wit. In terms of musicality, each composition uses ensembles in a mature manner, develops intricately and often surprisingly, and demonstrates great refinement. As for consistency, there isn't a single bad composition or filler track with the exception of the instrumental reprise of "Lord Laharl's Hymn". Above all else, the soundtrack is extremely diverse and emotional. With upbeat action themes, epic marches, dark scene-setters, tender moments, light-hearted interludes, and numerous vocal masterpieces, what more could you ask for? The downside is that this soundtrack was only available by purchasing the PlayStation 2 or PSP versions of game in Japan. Nevertheless, it should be widely available on Yahoo! Japan Auctions, so go pick it up — you won't be disappointed.

Overview

Tenpei Sato's approach to arranged albums differs from most others in the game music field. Rather than transform themes by arranging them with different styles and instruments to the originals, Sato chooses to stick closely to his source material. With the Makai Senki Disgaea Arrange Soundtrack, Sato offers a selection of some of the best music from Disgaea: Hour of Darkness and changes the originals by offering enhanced sound quality and more elaborate development. The consequent album gives a perspective on how Sato would have treated the score were he not limited by synthesizer technology and maximum track lengths. Given the original score was pretty technologically commanded and well-developed in the first place, the results of this approach are modest. However, is the album still worth considering if you're a hardcore fan of the series?

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First things first, all the vocal themes from Disgaea return here. The first full-length item on the arranged album, "Lord Laharl's Hymn" provides a magnificent concoction of devilish female vocals and jubilant jazz instrumentals. This version develops identically to the original, incorporating some stunningly lyrical instrumental sections given even more crispness and bite thanks to the very slightly enhanced sound quality here. As for the other vocal themes, "Etna Boogie" blends a temptress' vocals with big band jazz, "Tragic Marionette" evokes the imagery of a lament sung by a lonely girl in a musical, and "Aah, My Magnificent Life" dazzles listeners with a powerful performance of a tenor Italian opera singer. All are near-enough identical to their originals, though these are nevertheless the definitive versions due to the superior sound quality.

However, there are three vocal themes that receive some arrangement treatment. The Wild West-themed "Oh Comrade" is a significant improvement on the original with more refined instruments and a longer playtime in part due to the introduction of a loop. More controversially, "Red Moon" initially takes a somewhat disorientating canonic approach to the children's choir before pausing at 0:47 to rehash the richly layered original version. The opening of the album is actually a brief a capella version of "Flower of Happiness"; the decision to introduce the album with this theme will be charming to some, alienating to others. Despite the opening arrangement hinting at the potential for creativity, the ending version "Flower of Happiness" is basically identical to the wonderful original. Due to this recycling, half the album resembles a vocal compilation rather than a true arranged album.

The instrumental tracks all offer changes from the original, some more extraordinary than others. "Whisper of the Netherworld" retains the Edward Scissorhands-influenced waltz characteristics of the original, but incorporates an original violin-focused middle section and places more emphasis on the contrast between still haunting celesta motifs and rich fluid orchestral build-ups. The folk dance battle theme "Beautiful Roundelay" benefits from the articulation and roundedness provided the restructured instrumentation in its primary section; at 1:30, it surprisingly enters an excellent new section featuring a romantic violin solo against piano accompaniment and dabs of cello. "Flowerbed" retains the dreamy woodwind focus of the original but adds a new violin section to limited success; while creativity is evident, the section is too underdeveloped and detached to fit with the smooth body.

Probably the least inaccessible arrangement is "Demon Descent", which is slowed down and integrates vocal chants, weird technological noises, and ethnic instruments with the carried over orchestral discords and heavy percussion. On the quieter side, "Dear Friends" embellishes and develops the soft guitar-based material of the original, "The Sad Angel" has more definition than before due to some careful resynthing, and the ending theme "Eternal Melody" is even richer and more rounded than the original. Towards the end of the album Sato emphasises the trance factor of "Planet X" with an extravagant remix obsessed with synth glissandi. Finally, "Disgaea" retains the epic qualities of the original with some enhanced choral samples and includes some decent interludes that are reasonably well-integrated with the source material. Overall, the instrumental arrangements lack extravagance, though most technological changes and new sections are successful.

Summary

The Makai Senki Disgaea Arrange Soundtrack is an appreciable tribute to the game's original score but lacks features that make it distinguished in its own right. The majority of the vocal pieces are rehashes of the original, the rest of the arrangements are carried by their originals, and the technological improvements weren't particularly necessary. There are some interesting works here, however, such as "Whisper of the Netherworld", "Oh Comrade", "Beautiful Roundelay", and "Demon Descent" that will be enjoyed by hardcore fans of the game. Discounting it as an arranged album, this may warrant a purchase for those looking for a 'best of' for the game. After all, it features all of the vocal tracks and most of the instrumental masterpieces. However, there are still many wonderful tracks missing, some of which are featured in the B-side promotional album Makai Senki Disgaea Makai Arrange Collection Dark Label. More importantly, the diversity and changeability of the Original Soundtrack are not fully captured with this selection of 17 mostly lengthy tracks. Overall, I'd recommend the Original Soundtrack above this, although this album will be a pleasant if potentially disappointing listen to hardcore Disgaea fans.