AsterTracks 307: We finally did the Vanguard tie-in!!
If you follow my writing, you obviously know music is obviously a big passion for me. For a while now however I’ve been looking for an entry point to write about another big passion of mine. Granted, I’m four months late game on this record but hey, at least I’m within the calendar year!
If you are here from the music side, Cardfight Vanguard is a trading card game originally by Akira Ito and published by Bushiroad. I’ve played this game for a little over a decade, competitively since 2014. If you’re here from the Vanguard side, hello! My name is Claudia Santos, and this is AsterTracks, a music blog where I review music, mostly by smaller artists. I have also, after a year removed due to a cross country move, recently re-entered the competitive scene by going undefeated in my local shop challenge playing Messiah. To coincide with the latest arc in the Vanguard anime Bushiroad has put together this album of music used in the show and though, like I said above, we are four months late to covering this I wanted to come on here to both look at these tracks critically as well as analyze whether or not any of these are good songs to play a card game to.
The album opens with “He Said” performed by yuiko of Primary, which, without double checking, is the theme of main character Yu-yu Kondo. This is a highlight on the record for me as it opens with this overture-like energy and has some pretty deep layers. There’s a blend of acoustic guitar, twinkling keys and a string arrangement that all blends together to make something really compelling. There’s also some really minimalist percussion that really tops the whole thing off beautifully. If I’m looking at this song from a card game perspective, I could see this song serving well for a last-ditch effort play that really turns everything around in your favor or if you’re playing against an opponent that really means something to you. Later on the record yuiko also performs “Future will come” which I’m honestly kind of middle of the road on. It just unfortunately sounds like a pretty generic track from a pretty generic shojo anime and makes the Clamp character designs really fit here.
After “He Said” is Motonori Kitai’s “Silent Bark,” which comes off as very butt rock and I’m not sure if I think it’s in a good way. The riffs are sort of cliche and basic though there is an interesting guitar solo later on. I’m also surprised to learn that Kitai has a larger music career considering he’s really over performing on the song throughout which sort of makes for a weak vocal composition overall. I think if you’re the new kid in a new locals or you’re having some kind of training montage this does work for a TCG hype up track, however. Kitai also performs on “Caution” which goes over much better in my opinion. I don’t actually have much of an analysis to give you here except to say that everything that doesn’t work for me on “Silent Bark” is used here as well but I think is more tailored to Kitai’s talents overall.
“Make a splash” is a decent J-Rock cut that my only real gripe with is that it's a bit over produced. The guitar work on this one is particularly strong and has an impressive solo complete with some technical picking and sweeping work. The song also always manages to get me in a catchy way despite the language barrier. This is a good protagonist song but also, from an anime viewpoint, just works well for a day out montage.
Airots’ “erhiglhaad” is my least favorite cut on the soundtrack. Predictable chord progression, basic idol vocal performances and a song that sounds so shojo it even tries to force fit the foreign but basic word into its naming scheme. The pop group has a second track on the record in “Vidhelvasti” which actually has a cool composition that just, plain and simple, sounds like music for a boss fight. Airots also performs vocally much better here, and the string section is so, so tight. I should also say that, while I did say it’s boss fight music, “Vidhelvasti” is the theme music for Michiru Hazama the happy go lucky tournament champion turned mid boss antagonist in the series, but I also didn’t recognize that without looking it up so take from that what you will.
After “Vidhelvasti” comes “Breaking the Rock,” which might just be the most well-known song on this album not only for being Raika Koshiba’s theme music, but also for being just ridiculous. The song is performed by GYROAXIA who also performed the third opening for the overDress anime. The main sin here is a completely over the top vocal performance from the chanting “heys,” the awkward whispered verse, sometimes they literally just yell “rock and roll” and it sort of makes it sound like a rock song written by someone who hasn’t heard a rock song since the 80s. Still, I have to admit, the instrumental here has got to be my favorite on the whole compilation. Great synth work, heavy chugging guitars and an occasional little bass trick that hooks you right in. The guitar solo on this one does sort of feel pasted in from another song in a way I can’t quite place but I think it goes over well anyway. This is a great song for a tough back and forth fight and really fits that card game and anime battle theme really well.
The final song here is “Into the Cemetery” by Italian-born Japan resident Paolo, who is no stranger to the anime and video game soundtrack scene and might just be my favorite cut on the record. Honestly, this is sort of what I wanted the entire album to be. When I watch the overDress seasons, I often say out loud how compelled I am by the scores on it, none of which are found here. The opera performances here are maybe a little weaker but with a great instrumental behind it with a grand, sweeping orchestra it sort of transcends what the whole body of work even is. This is also the best song on the entire album to play cards to especially if you’re the villain and you’re winning.
If you did come here from the Vanguard side and like what you’ve seen here today, please, stick around, I try to review around four albums a week depending on how much time I’ve had to listen to new records and really try to emphasize the smaller sized ones. If you’re here from music and want to know more about Vanguard as a game, I’ll link the official site below in what is normally the “support the artist” section. I'm also trying to start a secondary blog here to document my competitive season so maybe look out for that.
Our rating - 7/10
Top tracks:
yuiko’s “He Said.”
Motonori Kitai’s “Silent Bark”
RIRIKO’s “Make a splash!”
Airots’ “erhiglhaad”
Motonori Kitai’s “Caution”
Airots’ “Vidhelvasti”
GYORAXIA’s “Breaking the ROCK!!”
yuiko’s “Future Will Come”
Paolo Andrea Di Pietro’s “Into the Cemetery”
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