The Valkyrie Profile -Silmeria- OST was split into two soundtracks. The first of the two is titled Volume 1: Alicia Side. Composed by Motoi Sakuraba, it combines a full orchestra with a familiar progressive rock front on some of the more “action” based tracks. Two CDs long, the album starts off with Overture to the Destiny, a quiet piece played entirely upon a xylophone. Track two continues the quiet start. It reminds me quite a bit of the opening credit sequence in Valkyrie Profile -Lenneth- actually. This is most likely intentional as the two games share the same composer. In fact, throughout the entirety of the soundtrack, one can hear a few familiar strains of melody from Lenneth.
Sakuraba makes great use of all the instruments he’s given, alternating between the sweeping but soft and almost ethereal sounds of the first two tracks to the third one, The Chosen Confusion. I have not yet played this game, but I imagine it is one of the pieces that plays during a town visit. It has a somewhat Germanic sound, which fits well with the kind of atmosphere the towns of Valkyrie Profile tends to have. It is not until track seven that the listener gets its first real “battle” theme. Like most of the “battle” themes that follow this, A Motion of Finishing Blow, is quickly paced, dramatic and brassy. It provides a welcome injection of energy after dealing with some of the slower pieces in the beginning. From here till the end of the album, the soundtrack fluctuates between intense “battle” type music and a lighter more ethereal sound that would fit best for slower cut scenes or traveling music.
It is not until CD 2 that the “progressive rock” makes itself known. Of particular note, they are tracks six (Disturb the Doubtful Sleep), ten (Junk Modulation), fourteen (Celestial Troupe), and track seventeen (Endless High-Speed Running). Out of these four tracks, my personal favorite is Celestial Troupe. Like the other “rock” tracks, it’s high energy, fast almost to the point of frantic in some places and the guitar work is just brilliant. This is definitely the kind of music one might except during a Boss Battle.
Having not actually played the game, I do not understand why they choose to separate the soundtracks, but considering the length of games these days, it doesn’t really surprise me if there is just so much music that it would have been easier for them to split it into two CD sets instead of one 4 CD set. That said, I think Mr. Sakuraba did a fantastic job of bringing in the style of music that most gamers are familiar with from Valkyrie Profile -Lenneth- and taking it in a different direction that marks this soundtrack both unique yet also a spiritual heir to the original.
