Welcome to "Kefkavarium" - Pokérus Project album review
Pokérus Project, the five piece band out of Chile, returns with Kefkavarium. The band invites plenty of special guests to help tackle rearrangements of classic themes from Pokemon, Final Fantasy, Phoenix Wright, Animal Crossing, Donkey Kong Country, Legend of Zelda, and Smash Bros. I normally think of Pokérus Project as a metal group, but this album includes a healthy amount of funk as well. The combination of danceable grooves riding underneath some extra heavy guitars makes for a stand out album.
I'm glad this is one of the first albums I've had the chance to review since awakening from my writing slumber. I've been following Pokérus for years and I am glad to see they are still hard at work, belting out unique tributes to classic game music. As you could guess by the title, Kefkavarium leans heavy into the music of FF3, or FFVI in Japan, wait, what number is it in Chile though?
Things start out gently enough, with some soothing bird calls, but soon the ominous melody of "Kefka's Theme" from Final Fantasy VI picks up, and before I even know it, things turn into a proper mess as this track crashes into the next. Everything is descending into chaos, but one man stands for law and order, and he objects to this madness. Time to dole out some justice with the track "Cornered 2020" from the original Phoenix Wright. Hard hitting, straight in your face metal. We will have order in the courtroom no matter how mad the defendant might be.
This is the funkiest target breaking I've ever heard. Piano and drums kick off the track "Break The Targets (Super Smash Bros Melee)," but soon it's all about that fuzzy old guitar riff. Soon the piano is back with more flair than ever. Between funky grooves we get that stalwart target theme, which then also goes off the rails extra hard. So hard that the track glitches out. Maybe this band is jamming so hard they pulled off some kind of musical wavedash. I never really know where this track is going, with all the instruments taking the forefront, even a tasty drum solo to close out this 20 year old classic theme.
You want to groove, but you also got to harvest your trees, run errands, design a new shirt, and check out what there is to buy at the shop today, but you've got weeds growing too, and those fish won't catch themselves, and was that a roach!?
Well do all that and more in style with this extra stylish rearrangement of "From 2PM to 5PM (Animal Crossing New Horizons)." There is plenty of soul here as we work our way through an animal filled afternoon. This is just a lovely song. The endings on these tracks are especially awesome. Many of the songs build up to a huge crescendo in the finale, and even leads into the next song. I love cohesive albums like this.
"Song of Healing (Zelda Majora's Mask) feat. Cuarteto Bronte" is the first of several songs on the album to feature a vocalist. Unfortunately I don't speak Spanish, so I can't comment on the lyrics directly. The singer's voice and melody is definitely memorable and has been stuck in my head with this rendition of the song of healing. The piano and violin reflect the sadness in this theme. This track is short and fleeting, much like the short melodies of the game. It all adds to the dark, somber mood of the track, especially in the context of Majora's Mask. The light touch on the piano and the lingering vocals that close out the track linger off so hauntingly.
Are you ready to rock!? That is the immediate vibe I get from "Lockjaw's Saga (Donkey Kong Country)". Some extra dense arena rock that I could be moshing to at Ozzfest. I like to think of the Donkey Kong Country soundtracks as leaning more towards the hip hop end of the musical spectrum, but Pokérus Project gots me all turned around on the subject with this headbanging rearrangement. Those marching drums, and those thunderous guitar riffs. Are you sure this is Donkey Kong and not Contra? Just mad heavy. We get some spaced out solos from just about everyone on this track. The drums slam hard during transitions, with the keyboard getting extra spicy before the finale. They feign like they are all out of gas, and bam, go hard to the very end. Did I mention I really like how this band ends tracks?
I know nothing of Ruby and Sapphire. I didn't even play Omega Red Alpha Sapphire. I know the track "Fortree City (Pokémon Ruby & Sapphire) feat. MaripaPls" is fantastic. I'm in the same place with the spanish lyrics. But I love the spoken word style, and I can at least tell that she is recounting some lovely memories with the Pokemon series. Along with that touch of grain beneath the track, this one has a whole different vibe from the rest of the album. All calm, all comfortable as MaripaPls reminisces about Pokemon to the fuzzed up theme to Fortree City. Man I wish I played this iteration of Pokemon, I'd be pretty overwhelmed right now.
“Why do people cling to life, when they know I will eventually kill them? Think of it, all life is meaningless.
”
"Dancing Mad (Final Fantasy VI)" is essentially the title track of this album, and it is over 20 minutes long! There could be an album review of just this one arrangement. I think half the review is this arrangement. Things start quite ominously with a growing refrain that builds into a runaway frenzy of drums, guitars, and keyboards. It even becomes a circus at one point. Then it all fades away and then it's a cacophony of sounds, and a voice in the distance.
Another shift in tone and we are grinding away on a groovy bass riff. Strange voices litter the background, drawing away from the beautiful lead vocals wavering and glitching away. Then things get quite hectic again. Slamming keys and guitar pave the way into the big moment. The giant fight. That laugh. Now we are dancing mad.
An emotional saxophone solo slides in, then back to those hard cutting riffs. Things get strange again before we can reach the end though. Different riffs begin to duke it out in an ever quickening collection of instruments. We get moments of clarity like a fun little keyboard solo at about 18:30.
The violin comes in to set a somber tone at about 19:30. We finally come marching towards the finale of both this medley and this album. How hyped am I to see how they end the end of the ending track. Looks like they hold back and provide a touching bit of piano before it gives way to the same birds that began the album. That also makes this album perfectly loopable, so let's play it again!
What a good album. Well I was floating around in the space of my own mind, Pokérus Project has been putting their own touch on some classic game themes. Some that have been getting the video game rock band treatment for over a decade now, but Pokérus finds a way to make them new again. Buy the album Kefkavarium over on the Pokérus Project bandcamp page.
“released July 25, 2021
Performers:
Gabriel León - Keys
Mauricio Inostroza – Keys
Yamil Majluf – Bass
Victor Becerra – Drums
Patricio “Pokérus” Thielemann - Guitars, Voice
Special guests:
Iris ~Pamela Calvo~ – Voice
María Paz “MaripaPls” Vargas – Voice, Narration
Marisol Santibañez – Voice Acting
Cristián Rev – Guitar
Thennecan – Guitar
Paulina Devia – Viola
Animatissimo – Ensemble
Sebastián “Verud” Vera – Bass
Milton Jara – Saxophone
Cuarteto Bronte - String Quartet
Drums Production:
Victor Becerra
Mix and Mastering:
Patricio “Pokérus” Thielemann
Mix and Mastering in Dancing Mad:
Matías Alarkong
Album Art:
Patricio “Pokérus” Thielemann”
