The Black Mages

The Black Mages are a Japanese hard rock/progressive metal band in the charge of composer Nobuo Uematsu. Uematsu revised some of his most popular fighting themes from the games of the Final Fantasy line in order to publish them in newly-ar

The Black Mages are a Japanese hard rock/progressive metal band in the charge of composer Nobuo Uematsu. Uematsu revised some of his most popular fighting themes from the games of the Final Fantasy line in order to publish them in newly-arranged shape on the album 'The Black Mages: Battle Music of Final Fantasy'. The Black Mages' overall style is a complex progressive metal style. The songs are almost only instrumental, even though their second album contains guest vocalists. The Black Mages' second album, entitled The Skies Above, was released in Japan on December 22, 2004.

* Note: The songs "Otherworld" and "The Skies Above" feature guest vocalists. This version of "Otherworld" is very different from the original Final Fantasy X version, and seems much more melodic, since it includes much more sounds from the two synthesizers and features a female singer, rather than the death metal-like growling found in the original version.