Square Enix announced at E3 that a new NieR game was in the works. While little is known about the upcoming game, it has gotten fans reminiscing about the original. Vocalist Jillian Aversa is known for her musical tributes to video games and was inspired to make a tribute to the cult RPG.
Jillian Aversa Creates NieR Tribute
Together with percussionist Doug Perry, Aversa released a video and mp3 of "Song of the Ancients" from NieR's original soundtrack. Perry has worked on Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris and co-arranged the musical backing for the tribute using a wide variety of percussion instruments. The video is available on Youtube, and the track can be downloaded from Overclocked Records.
"Square Enix has a long history of incredible games with equally incredible soundtracks," notes Aversa, "But NieR was something I had never seen or heard before. Set among the ruins of an ancient civilization, the decaying world is at once terrifyingly dark and hauntingly beautiful. MoNACA's score perfectly incapsulates this dichotomy with heart-pounding tribal percussion and an impressive array of vocal music, from ethereal boys' choir to deep, guttural chanting."
The music video for the NieR tribute was directed by Landon Donoho and filmed during MAGFest, Maryland's annual game music convention. Shot in front of a statue of a man drowning in sand, the video has a haunting quality. The video stars both Perry and Aversa. The percussionist with a sinister painted mask and Aversa in a pure white ensemble she put together herself.
"We thought the statue was very reminiscent of NieR," adds Doug Perry. "Like a relic of this once-great civilization that had fallen victim to the passage of time. Wheeling my vibraphone down the streets of National Harbor in the freezing cold made for quite an amusing scene, though!"
Jillian Aversa and Doug Perry's "Song of the Ancients" music video is a lovely NieR tribute. The video has been posted to Jillian Aversa's Youtube page.