Phoenix, AZ (Top40 Charts/ Mega Ran official website) Continuing his tireless streak of releasing an EP each month of 2013, Random, aka Mega Ran is set to release a special project called Castlevania: The Nocturnal Cantata, based on the cult classic Playstation release Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (SOTN) on June 4, 2013.
No stranger to game tribute projects, Ran's biggest album was
Black Materia, an album based on arguably the greatest role playing game of all time, Final Fantasy VII, released in 2011. Ran knows the expectations are high. "SOTN was probably my 2nd favorite game of the 32-bit generation, so I'm honored to work on this project. I put my all into it, to make sure that it was a completely different experience than
Black Materia, yet equally, if not more entertaining and dramatic."
The 13-track album acts as an opera, containing three acts, several thematic interludes and centers around a dramatic retelling of the classic story of Alucard, son of Dracula, on a quest to rid the world of his father's evil, and to properly attain closure after his mother's death.
The original game's score and artwork were both composed by females, so Ran recruited help from a rising star by the name of Sammus (sammusmusic.com), who produced the majority of the album, as well as offered guest vocals on several songs, playing the role of
Maria Renard, sister of Richter Belmont, who is played by fellow Nerdy Rotten
Scoundrels affilliate The Ranger. Both have appeared on earlier Mega Ran works. Additional production is handled by DCT, aka SonicSkillz, Mustin, and
Random himself. The highly stylized artwork was done by frequent collaborator Chris Flocco, and is among his best yet.
In addition to a digital download, The Nocturnal Cantata will also be available in 100 CDs, signed and numbered by Ran and containing a completely new set of artwork, by Cody Baier. These are available only at megaranmusic.com
Released in 1997 by Konami, SOTN did not initially sell well in the US, but got rave reviews from several game publications, calling it 1998's Playstation Game of The Year (Electronic Gaming Monthly), and has ranked in the top 25 of most publications "Greatest Games Ever" lists. Its combination of 2D gameplay and role playing elements made it one of the more innovative games of its time.
Website: https://www.megaran.com
Music: https://megaran.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/07-Young-Girl.mp3
