A review of Black Materia: Final Fantasy VII by Random and Lost Perception

In the late 90′s there was only one game that I gave two shits about, and that was Final Fantasy VII.  I could sit here and write an entire review of the game, but it would probably drag on and no one wants to read about some game made at a time when System of a Down was a band people listened to.  The reason I am bringing this up is to give you a nice foundation and to let you know that I am a big fan of Final Fantasy VII.

I do not listen to a lot of rap or hip hop.  I respect the genre and find myself listening to some Kanye West, Jay Z, Eminem, and The Streets.  I know I am strictly a “vacationing” rap fan, and I have come to terms with that.  I am a dude who typically listens to rock music from the 90′s, 80′s metal that involves insane guitar solos, or weird electronic music with a lot of beeps and boops that drive my wife crazy.  If you asked me a month ago what I thought the best new rap album was, I would have said Kanye West – My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.  Today, my mind has been changed.

This is not my first time hearing rap vocals over Final Fantasy VII music.  I have heard the “Vinyl Fantasy 7” record by Team Teamwork, and thought it was pretty OK.  The thing is, I wouldn’t really listen to that album around other people, or in my car.  It is more of a “I am at work, and it is time for me to pop my earbuds in and look at numbers for an hour or two”.  Black Materia is very different, and something I would gladly listen to with the windows down in my Ford Taurus while pretending I am not getting weird looks from teenagers who think I am too old to listen to rap.

Black Materia, like similar video game related music, combines the soundtrack for Final Fantasy VII with a beat and some vocals.  This seems like it would be pretty easy to accomplish, but honestly most of the time with similar artists it comes across as a midi file with a drum machine and a guy spouting lyrics in something that might be considered flow.  Random (aka Mega Ran) takes it to the next level.  The original video game soundtrack has been revamped, and given new life on it’s own.  The amount of cleaning up and restructuring makes it sound like it could be music for any video game currently available.  On it’s own this is a great achievement, but the added beats that accompany the soundtrack are hard hitting, flow very well, and are ridiculously catchy.  Finally, the lyrics carry themselves easily through each track without feeling “forced”.  An added bonus is that the lyrics actually tell the story of Final Fantasy VII.  Instead of rapping about a video game, the story is mainly told in the first person and takes you all the way from Midgar to the final battle against Sephiroth.

I will tell you, however, that the only thing I didn’t quite care for is that some of the tracks are very short, and seem like they could have been fleshed out a little more.  A great example of this would be the “Cosmo Canyon” track, which ends as soon as I get into it.

I am not going to review each track, because when I read album reviews that do this I usually get bored with it.  I read the review to get to the point, should I buy this or not?

In short, if you are a Final Fantasy VII fan you should certainly purchase this.  It is cheap, and is a great way to experience the game all over again in music.   Even if you are not a fan of the video game, at least give the album a listen to on their website.  It is free to stream, and if you like it spend the money and buy a copy.  It is well worth it.