Evergrace OST - Piercing the Heavens (In-Game Version)

Evergrace (2000) Composer: Kota Hoshino Producer: Masanori Takeuchi Developer: FromSoftware Finally, a version of the song with no audio hiccup in the middle! I captured this straight from PCSX2 for use in my "the kota hoshino 2000s experience" playlist, but I suppose others might enjoy having a clean version of this song too. Also the OST and in-game music can sound different so it's nice to have this for completion. Now, here's something I think is important to point out in analyzing the EG OST. In an interview with Kota Hoshino, he states that Evergrace's music was inspired by ethnic/folk music. This is a little vague, but further comments show that some voice samples used in Piercing the Heavens (this song!) from "Q Up Arts: Voices of Native America." The source to that can be found here, by a poster named Nisto: https://vgmdb.net/forums/showthread.p... This is a sample CD of so called Native American voices... made by Douglas Spotted Eagle, who is non-Indigenous. And has made his award-winning audio career around appropriating what he believes is Indigenous sounds to make "contemporary ethnic" music. So, we've got a Japanese composer trying to make ethnic sounding music by using samples from what a white guy thinks Indigenous culture is like. If you enjoy Evergrace's OST like I do, and you love analyzing inspirations for this often abstract incomprehensible music, I suggest you take into mind the layers here. Sure, it's a 20 year old game, but if you're like me and find worth in old strange games, then I hope you'll look at them from all angles, even in the angle of cultural appropriation. And hey, don't cry to me about being politically correct about games or something - Evergrace is a game about prejudice and dangerous assumptions about the other, you know? Thanks for reading that. I also forgot, another translation of 天を衝く is "Stab the Heavens," but I went with the translation of pierce as seen on the "Full Evergrace OST" video. Fits with how the Tower is supposedly the closest thing to reach the outside of Rieubane - piercing the fruit that houses it. That's a novel fun fact for you! Thumbnail was compiled from a few sources, such as the logo taken from an official wallpaper, but the promotional art of Darius and Sharline is taken from the Evergrace Wikia. The source of that can be found here: https://evergrace.fandom.com/wiki/Fil...