ReMix:Monarch: Heroes of a New Age "Gentle Oblivion" 6:19

Hey, check it out, a ReMix from NORIHIKO HIBINO!!

Collaborating with pianist Ayaki Saito, this gorgeous, haunting piano + sax ballad duet is a sublime track off of Monarch: Heroes of a New Age Arrangements & Variations, arranging Goomin Nam's soundtrack to Windows MMO Monarch: Heroes of a New Age! Goomin himself is ALSO a ReMixer, having sent in a fantastic FF8 ReMix in December of last year. They're all connected in the sense that they've worked with Jayson Napolitano & Scarlet Moon Productions, who do good things for the VGM world on a regular basis. Another one of those good things is the recently-released Prescription for Sleep Volume 2, with MORE VGM arrangements from Hibino including pieces from Zelda, Skyrim, Final Fantasy, and more. Jayson writes:

"When we started putting together the Monarch: Heroes of a New Age OST release, we realized we had more music than could fit on a single CD. We wanted to offer the variations that composer Goomin "Nauts" Nam had created, and I thought it would be a fun concept to create a separate album to house the variations and some arrangements from friends and artists associated with the Scarlet Moon Records label. That's how we got the arrangements from Goomin himself, Joshua Morse, Dale North, and GENTLE LOVE. I gave Norihiko Hibino of GENTLE LOVE a choice of three tracks to choose from, including "Tomb of the Sovereigns," which would have also been great, but I had a feeling they'd choose the beautiful and emotional "Lake of Oblivion" track. They recorded it in one take, as they always do, and it's still on constant rotation on my sleep playlist.

With the release of Prescription for Sleep: Game Music Lullabies Volume I and Volume II, I wanted to remind fans that the duo had recorded this arrangement as well, so we've been offering it for free to those on Loudr who purchase the two volumes together. As a treat to those of you at OverClocked ReMix, we also wanted to make it available to give Goomin a second opportunity to be featured on the site, and to bring Norihiko Hibino and AYAKI (who has recorded on several games) to the site for the first time. We hope you enjoy the track!"

Liontamer adds:

"Goomin Nam's "Lake of Oblivion" is such a great piece; though the instrumentation style is much different than the Castlevania: Symphony of the Night soundtrack, the composition would perfectly fit in within that game. It's great to have Norihiko Hibino & AYAKI debut on OCR with their spirited take on the theme, which started off fairly straightforward, but eventually veered into more interpretive territory and stayed there awhile after 1:33's section with Hibino-san's original sax flourishes layered over AYAKI's piano referencing the source. 3:17-4:36's section focusing on the piano on its own was both intricate and delicate; just a beautiful performance by AYAKI. The overall feel of this Monarch arrangement mirrors a lot of what you'll hear from GENTLE LOVE on both Prescription for Sleep albums. I'd absolutely recommend picking up both volumes; you're in for a good mixture of old-school and modern classic VGM themes given a relaxing, mellow treatment. The interplay between a legendary composer like Hibino and a young gun performer like AYAKI should not be passed up!"

Really mellow, very classy & intimate arrangement and performance from both artists, which I think does a great job introducing their style & approach also featured on their other work to audiences here. Thanks to Jayson for coordinating this very special treat & thanks to Norihiko Hibino and AYAKI for an amazing piece!