The second half of the Valkyrie Profile -Silmeria- Soundtracks, Silmeria side is another two CD compilation containing all the songs that didn’t make it into Alicia Side. If you’re reading this, that means you have most likely read part one already. Since no introduction is really needed, let’s go straight into the music.
CD 1 starts right off the bat with a dark and dramatic piece called “Movement of Distorted Causality”. It starts of slow but in a minor key before it speeds up, bringing in cellos before fading back down. The rest of the track does this, rapid crescendos and equally rapid decrescendos till it’s almost inaudible before coming back in with the chorus. Track two is more stable in it’s volume but it still maintains that dark tone that track one had setup. It’s a slower piece but sounds almost more sinister. It gives the listener the impression of approaching something ethereal and forbidden.
Track three goes right back into an intensive build up backed by a full orchestra. Unlike the “intense” pieces from the first album, Multiplexed Contradiction is less “battle” themed than it is action. It is the kind of music you would expect to hear during some dramatic FMV. Things calm down for a while, the next five tracks all being quieter but equally dark sounding as it builds up to track nine, where the rock guitar makes it’s presence known again. Even this piece is less “rock” than the others from the previous album was. Listening to it, I was struck by the vision of Rock Opera. This is the only really exciting piece till we get to track fifteen. Influences from the first game can be heard again here. Portions of the melody in this piece reminded me of running through Lezard’s castle in Lenneth.
It is not until CD 2 though, that things really start picking up. We’re once again thrown into another piece with a heavy input via electric guitar and it serves to set the pace for the rest of the album. For the most part, the second CD is the more exciting CD of the two, with a few slow pieces such as Track 13 (Each Lullaby). A particularly cool piece I do want to note is track nine. It’s an amazing driven piece. Mr. Sakuraba put the violins at the forefront to drive it and I almost had this impression that the violins were pushing forward while the rest of the orchestra was hurrying to catch up and then the guitar comes in during the last minute for a really nice finish. This is probably my favorite track out of all of them on the album.
So for the most part, Silmeria Side is just as good if not better than Alicia Side. If I could only buy one though, I would probably buy Silmeria Side. It is the more exciting and dramatic album of the two.
