Full-blown arena rock with vocals that have absolutely no right to slap this hard in a fighting game. Daisuke Ishiwatari's Guilty Gear Strive Vol.1 is 19 character themes that play like a metal and hard rock concert where every song is a headliner.
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"Smell of the Game" opens the album like a fist through a wall and sets the bar impossibly high. "The Disaster of Passion" goes in a completely different direction with funk rock energy and a chorus that gets permanently stuck in your brain.
Then "Love the Subhuman Self" drops in with operatic drama and some of the most intense vocal work in any fighting game soundtrack, period. Every track is a full song with lyrics, structure, and personality. Not background music.
If you play fighting games and haven't heard this yet, clear your evening because you're about to have a new favorite album.