Review: Time I, or How I Came to Enjoy a CD with Death Growls

I don't really consider myself a metalhead and am by no means well-versed in any of the apparent 200 or so extant subgenres of heavy metal these days. So perhaps trying to write this review is not the greatest idea I've ever had. (Not having great ideas tends to be a recurring theme.) We'll see.

Thanks to the wonder that is YouTube, I'd been poking around and listening to various symphonic power metal: my interested had been piqued by stuff that sounds vaguely like somewhat edgier and at times drawn-out video game music. My musical background is heavy on what is generally termed "classical" music, but I also grew up during Square's SNES heyday, which still informs a good portion of my musical taste to this day

I still am figuring out what precisely I like and don't like within symphonic power metal, but along the way, I found Wintersun's Time I, which I've listened to about 25 times in the last few days or so. As I discovered after the fact, Time I had a notoriously long and protracted development history. Bear in mind as you read this review that I've been exposed to none of that or the associated hype, nor to Wintersun's eponymous first album.

Top 10 8-bit JRPG overworld themes

As I've played through a very large number of old-school Japanese RPGs over the last several years, I've paid quite close attention to the music. While there are lots of limits on what you can technically do on an 8-bit system, I've always felt that enough themes have been able to convey their intent even on a limited system.

So I've decided to make a list of my favorite overworld themes from 8-bit JRPGs. I've tried to find YouTube videos of the original themes, as well as, when possible, updated versions from a re-release or alternate soundtrack. Although I'm providing links to orchestrated versions, my ranking is based on my perception of the original 8-bit versions.