Wow, this album is a real treat for Berserk fans. Seriously, if you like Hirasawa Susumu's music at all,
go snatch it up right now.
These tracks span so many years, and so many iterations of Berserk, listening brings back some great memories. I had hoped Susumu would be a
bit more ambitious with the range of variations in these remixes (and that's what they are, not fully new versions), but it's undeniably a great way to re-experience and celebrate some of his best tracks.
After one full listen, my favorites are probably Forces 2016 and Indra 2016. Sign 3 is unfortunately more like Sign 2.5, merely adding a few more layers on top of the existing track, and I feel like it's inferior to Sign 2, which was already inferior to Sign 1
. Many of Susumu's songs are formulaic (and I mean that lovingly), but Ashes almost feels lazy or sloppy compared to something like Sign or even Aria. Ash Crow is certainly a better song, perhaps as a result of it being a fresh experience for me, though it's also a much more traditional Susumu song, in line with his album work, not his soundtrack work.
As this is effectively a Berserk Greatest Hits collection from the man who defined Berserk's sound, I feel like the other great Berserk tracks from him, Guts, Beherit, Murder, Earth and Nun's Tale also deserve to be here, with Zodd II's placement seeming out of place. But those comments aside, I wouldn't have changed much else about this album. Something old, something new, something different. I can't think of a cooler piece of Berserk merchandise in years, honestly.
