The history of narrative concept albums in Western metal goes back to at least 1988, when American band Queensrÿche released the influential Operation Mindcrime. Europe got in on the action soon after, and a benchmark was reached in 2003 when German-American project Aina assembled a host of transatlantic metal stars to record Days of Rising Doom, the world’s first heavy metal opera. However, even the continent that gave the world heavy metal has yet to produce an act quite like Dragon Guardian. The solo project of guitarist Arthur Brave for most of its existence, since 2007, Dragon Guardian has produced five albums of ‘RPG metal’; a fusion of power metal and audio drama in which an RPG-style storyline unfolds through spoken dialogue between songs.
Originally released in December 2012, THE BEST OF DRAGON GUARDIAN SAGA contains a selection of ten songs from this series of albums, albeit in a somewhat altered form. All spoken dialogue has been removed, with most of the resulting gaps filled by guitar solos from LIGHTNING shredder KOUTA. A couple of new songs are also included.
In true “greatest hits” fashion, the album kicks off with one of Dragon Guardian’s best known songs. Ankoku butoukai is a fine piece of power metal, featuring an awesome vocal performance from Fuki of LIGHT BRINGER and DOLL$BOXX fame. This is the first of her four appearances on the compilation. The holes left by the absent dialogue are covered seamlessly by a combination of KOUTA’s guitar and a curious “chiptune” synthesizer solo.
Tsuioku no kuroki makenshi is the first of the new songs on the album, and it ranks among Dragon Guardian’s best. Arthur’s wailing riffs and symphonic flourishes complement a commanding performance by teenage songstress Suzuki Konomi nicely. Then, after another turn by Fuki on a heavy number from 2010’s Shinjitsu no sekihi, comes a blast from the past. Kind of. The song Mahou no shou featured here is, in fact, not the version Arthur recorded with vocalist-turned-voice actress kicK for 2007’s Seiya no Dragon. Instead, we have a streamlined remake with vocals by kalon., a prominent figure in Nico Nico Douga’s “utaite” community best known for her covers of vocaloid songs.
Fuki’s third appearance, on the Arabian-flavored Sabaku no garoui, is followed by Unmei no megami, the second song exclusive to THE BEST OF DRAGON GUARDIAN SAGA. In a dramatic change of pace from previous tracks, Arthur breaks out his accordion and xylophone as ANZA of HEAD PHONES PRESIDENT lends her voice to this tempo-shifting oddity. Brave’s guitar suddenly kicks at the chorus, cutting out just as fast once it finishes. Fuki then takes her fourth and final bow on Tabidachi no asu, another Dragon Guardian classic from the 2009 opus Dragonvarius.
For the grand finale, Arthur selects the ten-minute title track from 2011’s Seimaken Valkyrias. Thanks to a mix of Nomiya Ayumi’s skilful performance and Brave’s adventurous songwriting, the track never drags despite its length, and as an added bonus, it features KOUTA’s best solo of the record. Warera ga nageki no Kalmia, another remake from the band’s 2007 debut, brings proceedings to a close.
It would be unfair to say Dragon Guardian’s overseas fans hadn’t been catered to prior to this compilation’s release. Besides a run of mini-albums with various guest vocalists, in 2011, Arthur remade Seiya no Dragon as Destiny Of The Sacred Kingdom, with English lyrics performed by MinstreliX’s Leo Figaro. Nevertheless, the “RPG metal” pentalogy remained pretty much off-limits to those who couldn’t understand Japanese. That is, except for those willing to tolerate songs being constantly interrupted by long stretches of dialogue. Now, with THE BEST OF DRAGON GUARDIAN SAGA, international fans can at least sample some of the highlights of the albums with which Arthur first made his name. The only song conspicuous by its absence is Tenkai he no kippu from Seimaken Valkryias, on which Jupiter’s TERU made a guest appearance.
THE BEST OF DRAGON GUARDIAN SAGA is available online from Dragon Guardian’s iTunes store. Below, you can watch the music video for Tsuioku no kuroki makenshi featuring Suzuki Konomi:
