GUNVOLT CHRONICLES: LUMINOUS AVENGER IX2 SOUNDTRACK

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GUNVOLT CHRONICLES: LUMINOUS AVENGER IX2 SOUNDTRACK
Released	July 23rd, 2022 (15th for Inti-Direct orders)
Catalog No.	INTIR-047/048
Price	¥4400
See Also	RoRo Robotics Vox

"Steel VS Steel. The reverberation of battle that cuts through the dust.
A complete collection of sounds that transcend the world, breaking through the X (Extreme)."
—Tagline

The GUNVOLT CHRONICLES: LUMINOUS AVENGER IX2 SOUNDTRACK (白き鋼鉄のＸ（イクス）2 サウンドトラック) is an album for Gunvolt Chronicles: Luminous Avenger iX 2, containing all 40 tracks in the base game and game loop versions of Lola's songs. The soundtrack does not include the tracks of collaboration DLC characters. It comes with a 16 page booklet with notes about all the tracks, as well as some production and creator comments.

Initially, the release of an iX 2 soundtrack was uncertain. On May 23rd, 2022, Ippo Yamada tweeted that it would depend on fan requests. The following day he thanked fans for their support, said Toshiaki Tai and Ryo Kawakami were moving, and questioned if they'll be able to make it work. The soundtrack release was announced on June 15th 2022.

Link to booklet translation document:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1UuYi5fgVZ0p8WDOx3KJnLvEzR_gey1SYHY20WWet_qE/edit?usp=sharing

Booklet Scan Gallery

Obi front

Obi back

Track List

Note: Context listed in italics is speculated but unconfirmed.

(C) = Composer
(L) = Lyricist
(A) = Arranger

The III: Sound Create Unit is credited with arrangement on all tracks except A-7, A-13, A-15, A-18, B-2, B-4, B-7, and B-21.

Disc A

No.	Name	Context	Musicians
01	White Steel (Luminous Avenger), Break 白き鋼鉄、ブレイク	Title screen	Ryo Kawakami (C)
02	After X アフターX	Opening cutscene	Ryo Kawakami (C)
03	An Invisible Answer 見えない答え	Mysterious wormhole and teleporter	Takumi Sato (C)
04	Null - An innocent color - null～無垢の色～	Null's theme	Ryo Kawakami (C)
05	Serenity Mind セレニティマインド	Overlooking the desert/Hard Mode stage select	Takumi Sato
06	Foreign Steel Field 異郷の鋼野	Pillar Outskirts	Ryo Kawakami (C)
07	Command Prompt (命題：＞)	Vocal song 01	Ryo Kawakami (C) Hakofactory (L) Keishi Yonao (A)
08	Mission Clear 2 ミッションクリア２	Mission clear jingle	Ryo Kawakami (C)
09	Open Card 2 オープンカード２	Mission results screen	Ryo Kawakami (C)
10	Break Time ブレイクタイム	Base conversations	Takumi Sato (C)
11	Entrance White エントランス・ホワイト	Normal stage select	Ryo Yoshinaga (C)
12	Volcanic Rock ヴォルカニックロック	Volcano Block (Dacite's stage)	Hiroyuki Sato (C)
13	Love's Sanctuary 愛のありか	Vocal song 02	Ryo Kawakami (C) Hakofactory (L) Keishi Yonao (A)
14	Queen Bee of the Jungle 密林のクィン・ビー	Jungle Block (Vespa's stage)	Ryo Yoshinaga (C)
15	Ready to Go! 秒読みスタートダッシュ！	Vocal song 03	Ippo Yamada (C) Hakofactory (L) Keishi Yonao (A)
16	Panic Encounter パニックエンカウンター	VS Medium Bosses	Ryo Kawakami (C)
17	Optical Glow オプティカルグロウ	Laboratory Block (Autochrome's stage)	Yusuke Sakai (C)
18	Curiosity = Possibility! 好奇心イコール可能性！	Vocal song 04	Ryo Kawakami (C) Hakofactory (L) Keishi Yonao (A)
19	Null - Recollection - null～追想～	Null's backstory	Ryo Kawakami (C) Aoi Takeda (C)

Disc B

No.	Name	Context	Musicians
01	Armament Factory アーマメントファクトリー	Industrial Block (Brigade's stage)	Ryo Yoshinaga (C)
02	You're Not Alone もうひとりじゃない	Vocal song 05	Ippo Yamada (C) Hakofactory (L) Keishi Yonao (A)
03	Sleeping in the Frost and Snow 眠れ霜雪の中で	Arctic Block (Hail's stage)	Yusuke Sakai (C)
04	Wordplay Magic あいうえおまじない	Vocal song 06	Ippo Yamada (C) Hakofactory (L) Keishi Yonao (A)
05	M・O・T・H・E・R	Mother Computer encounter	Ippo Yamada (C) Keishi Yonao (A)
06	Solitary Space 孤高宙域	Space Block (Ace's stage)	Ryo Kawakami (C)
07	The New World つなげて新世界	Vocal song 07	Ryo Kawakami (C) Hakofactory (L) Keishi Yonao (A)
08	Ready for Battle 臨戦態勢	Boss encounter	Hiroyuki Sato (C)
09	Gravekeepers グレイヴキーパーズ	VS Gravekeepers	Ippo Yamada (C)
10	Battle Ended 2 バトルエンディッド２	Boss defeated	Ryo Kawakami (C)
11	The Rising Will 駆け上がる意志	Passage to Upper Stratum and Passage to Top Floor	Ryo Kawakami (C)
12	Null - When Resolution Fulfills - null～決意満ちる時～	Null's sacrifice	Ryo Kawakami (C)
13	Xtreme Beyond エクストリームビヨンド	VS Ypsilon/The Creator	Ryo Yoshinaga (C)
14	A Void Vessel 虚な器	Teleporter Null/End-game stage select	Takumi Sato
15	Nostalgic Garden ノスタルジアの庭	Hanging Gardens	Yusuke Sakai (C)
16	Uncontrollable Heart アンコントローラブルハート	VS Mother 1	Ryo Kawakami(C) Keishi Yonao (A)
17	Anger of Mother 母神の怒り	Mother encounter 2	Ippo Yamada(C) Keishi Yonao (A)
18	Lost Luminas ロストルミナス	VS Mother 2	Ippo Yamada (C) Keishi Yonao (A)
19	The Beloved Vestiges 愛しき面影	Ending 1	Ryo Kawakami (C)
20	The Wind of Salvation Blows 救いの風が吹く	True ending	Yusuke Sakai (C)
21	Purification 鎮花祭	Vocal song 08. Hard Mode credits theme.	Ippo Yamada (C) Hakofactory (L) Keishi Yonao (A)

Track Notes

Comment by Ryo Kawakami:

This game is set in a “world where machine life-forms live”. To showcase in the music, we input electric guitar everywhere, which we’d refrained from using insofar. The sound has become harder and more industrial, hope you listen to it in a high volume!

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• The White Steel Breaks

This game’s main word is a “break feeling”. So the title screen theme has been renewed, becoming more aggressive. A drum pattern that hits you, and timbale that echo over the place, a guitar reef that accompanies the image of the buzz saw, and even the explosion SFX have a “destruction” image to them.

• After X

This track plays in the scene where the narrator recounts what happened in the prequel. The melody has pieces of the theme of iX built into it. Since this scene focuses on the past, we used the tone setting of the prequel to make it for this song alone.

• An Invisible Answer

This track is used when the party bumps into something unknown like the wormhole that appeared all of a sudden. This track uses a special sound stage named “whole tone scale”. The Grave Pillar, filled with mysteries… There’s probably secrets where you least expect them to be.

• Null - An Innocent Color -

It’s the theme of Null, the girl Worker that they met in the desert. To express how pure she is and how she lacks a goal, it’s a track that feels both mechanical and transparent. The melody line has a neutral composition that feels like it could be either a major key or a minor key.

• Serenity Mind

It’s a track that feels a tad serious, and it plays during many scenes of this alternate world. Times when they’re being rational, or when sparkling motivation comes in… It’s all mighty track that can used in either case, and I kept it as an useful treasure when thinking of how to design each scene

• Foreign Steel Plains

The Pillar surroundings BGM. Uses the ambience of a desolate desert as a basis, yet it also wants to give a feeling of advancing through this odd world without fearing anything; I wanted to make a positive and brave melody. By the way, Mr. Tai is the one who comes up with the names for the tracks. He requested that “it’s the 1st stage, give it an iX feeling”; then I suggested using the name “steel plains” instead of simply “plains” as a title. And he agreed. As expected!

• Mission Clear 2

This stage clear jingle is from the prequel but distorted in an effective way when it ends, becoming a new arrangement. By the way, I forgot to write about it on the prequel track notes, but all of the BGMs, songs and singles of the game’s soundtrack share a BPM=150 value. A nuzlocke play for those who make music comes to the Xtreme…

• Open Card 2

The results screen BGM. We use the card system for this game, too. Since I wanted to inherit singles and system related things I purposely made a rearrangement of the prequel’s track. Let’s add “2” to the track while we’re at it, too!

• Break Time

The BGM used during base conversations. Seeing how they’re all energetically chatting despite being sent to another world, it makes you feel at ease. The music is fully pop for this track. The image is “a fun otherworldly lifestyle”

• Entrance White

The menu BGM of the base. Since this time the base is in the quiet entrance hall of the Grave Pillar, I strived to transmit the image of a quiet place where there’s no-one else, I wanted it to be felt in the echo too. The clean tone guitar with an effect placed on it is something I personally wanted to incorporate.

• Volcanic Rock

It’s the BGM of the Volcano Block and the theme of Dacite, too. A twisting rhythm, that feels like magma blowing out. It progresses in a harsh way, as if it was about to erupt. But there I incorporate a cool and dry melody, based on the image of the boss of the stage. It combines heat and coolness, and I struggled to combine these opposite concepts in this track.

• Queen Bee of the Jungle

It’s the track of the Jungle Block and Vespa’s theme. A dense tree jungle and waterfalls, the mighty and wilderness of nature are manifested. The melody has many notes, in the image of the prideful Vespa who talks in quick succession. There’s actually a little connection between this track and “Optical Glow”.

• Panic Encounter

It rings out during scenes where characters run into trouble or when battling mid-bosses or when battling foes in a row. It’s a BGM of a sudden change. It’s always a theme to build up music from the riff alone without having to rely on the melody, but changing the guitar’s tone made it very easy to make indeed. A bass and an aggressive guitar reef. I love it.

• Optical Glow

It’s the Lab Block track and Autochrome’s theme. This sharp tune which feels like lines of light overlapping matches the image of the laser gimmicks and the boss that flies at high speeds. I used the motif of his sister Vespa during the hook of the song, making it a very technical track.

• Null - Recollection -

It’s the track that plays when Null explains her origins. “Not having a purpose” should be something very harsh and beyond imagination for the inhabitants of this world… I used the tones of a synthesizer, playing piano and violin backwards to make a sad and lonely track.

• Armament Factory

It’s the track of the Factory Block and Brigade's theme. It’s a really hard tune, but melodies that use short iterative phrases contain the image of a light and quick boss. Fits the image of a factory that’s constantly making weapons non-stop.

• Sleeping in the Frost and Snow

It’s the track of the Arctic Block and Hail’s theme. It’s a severe tune which makes you think of blowing blizzards, but the melody itself is softly, kind and sleepy as an atmosphere. You can feel the taste of getting lost in the snowy mountains by listening to it. That part where the rhythm suddenly stops during the middle of the track is because it depicts the image of the “Time Freezer” (Cryo-Flash).

• M·O·T·H·E·R

It’s the theme of the Mother Computer that controls the Grave Pillar. It’s a tune with composure and dignity, with pipe organs and choir echoing. The synthetizer’s iterative phase beat brings a mechanical feeling to the frontlines; I did take special care of the balance here. There’s 4 tracks related to “Mother”, and Mr. (Keishi) Yonao took part in the arrangement of these. I will explain why in another note.

• Solitary Space

It’s the track of the Space Block and Slug’s theme. The queerness of “space” existing within the tower, and the image of a stoic and silent boss combine here. The cool A Melody tone that feels like a shadow, the meager Japanese music sound scale were added there taking into account his Ninja-like design. The change of rhythm of the B melody, depicting agility, is my favorite part.

• Ready for Battle

The usual track showing the tension before a battle begins. The drums are the key here. I made use of the rests in music and pacing while also striving for a subdued rhythm pattern as if both are gradually keeping each other in check.

• Gravekeepers

It’s the battle track when you fight each Boss Worker in each Block. Since they are “Gravekeepers”, I added bell sounds to give an image of a requiem. I aimed to make a heavy sound making that made us of low tone music, creating pressure worth of these strong foes.

• Battle Ended 2

It’s the jingle that rings out when you beat a boss. This is also a new arrangement. I tried using a technique in which I inserted signal noise but I was nervous whether bug reports of “the sound is broken” would come in or not (they didn’t, thankfully enough)

• The Rising Will

It’s the BGM of the corridors that climb up towards the upper floors of the tower. I thought of Acura’s strong resolution as he headed upwards while making the track. I assumed it matched with the situation going on, that he was trying to rescue Kohaku, who’d been abducted… But because of that rising purple magma there’s no time to sit down and listen to it!

• Null - When Resolution Fulfills -

The track of the scene where Null finds her “role”. I put the focus on “resolution” and “decision” rather than sadness, and purposely made it with a strong tune. Parts like these are what make the tracks of Null and Ypsilon hard to make. It took a lot of trial and error before I reached the shape I wanted to create. Thanks to the patient programmers who helped me with this task.

• Xtreme Beyond

The track of the battles against Ypsilon. He looks similar to Acura yet he’s not him at the same time. I borrowed the chord progression and building of his battle theme in GV1, and then added a new melody overlapping it. I think that the result was a track that was similar to the original music, yet it’s got Ypsilon’s own powerful and straight impulse to it.

• A Void Vessel

It’s a track that expresses a feeling of loss after a sad happening. It’s built from weak abstract sounds, as if you had a big gaping hole in your heart. It plays during the menu screen of the second half of the story, yet… It’s indeed a harsh thing to see.

• Nostalgic Garden

It’s the track of the paradise spreading on the top floor of the Grave Pillar. The main role is held by a sequence pattern that feels like blooming flowers; I put a lot of attention during mixing to achieve that. The blurry contour drum part with a deep reverberation is the image of the surface when seen from here. It’s not only beauty, it has a feeling of fleetingness and abnormality poured on it too.

• Uncontrollable Heart

The track of the 1st battle against the last boss. When I read the script for that part, I decided to use an arrangement of “Positive Girl” (Kohaku’s theme). You don’t want to fight yet you’re forced to. The harsh feeling that comes with it. And the harsh feelings of Mother, who “wants to put an end to all”. The melody is the same as the original track, but I think I did recreate it as a track with a feeling of sadness from which you can feel both things.

• Mother’s Anger

Mother finally appears. Anger at her broken down state, it shows her heart’s state, filled with desperation. Adding a piano that plays a dissonance on her theme reflects how her anger makes her lose her rationality.

• Lost Luminas

The track of the 2nd battle against the last boss. The reason I asked Mr. (Keishi) Yonao to perform the arrangements of the tracks related to Mother is because this one existed. I thought that both the melody and the tone had to be as close as possible to the original or else it wouldn’t be convincing enough to express her true shape. When working on it, we referred to the orders given to us about this track. “As if it was a great angel”, “as if it was piercing through”. And so we aimed to make an impressive and speedy track. We used a lot of guitar since it’s the sound that represents this alien world. The melody from the track “M.O.T.H.E.R” is also inserted in a way that it doesn’t feel out of place.

• The Beloved Vestiges

Acura & his allies have learned what Mother really felt like. I made a melody with sadness and love, imagining those indistinguishable feelings. It matches the speed in which the story progresses, at first being intermittent and a quiet feeling of recollection, and then a feeling of love slowly expands; that’s how this track is built like.

• The Wind of Salvation Blows

The group sees how the two souls climb high on the skies. It’s the track of that sad and yet beautiful scene. The 2 sequence patterns whose phrases exchange and jump out are a further evolved shape of the track of the Aerial Gardens. Guess you can say it’s the image of souls trapped in Paradise finally being freed… The road to the end of the story must be harsh but please do your best, ladies and gentlemen.

Production Notes

Comment by Ippo Yamada:

Unexpected. This is how you all must've felt regarding this game's release. We in the sound room had the same feeling, too.

Fall, 2019. Shortly after the making of the prequel was over, planning for this game began. But afterward, and when 2020 began, we were making the drama CDs of the 1st game and holding the "Lola Location" concerts; not only that, it was the promotion campaign of the PS4 version of the "Striker Pack" and we were making and filming our very first external location music video while chilling from the weather. Among other things.

During the 1st half of 2020, we were working on "Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon 2" and "Azure Striker Gunvolt 3".

We were taking the lead with the PS4 "SP", held the "Lumen Virtual Live 2020" in May, and building up to announce in June that "GV3" was in the making. We recorded "Memoria of 'He'" during the spring and we were ready. Most of the 2nd half of 2020 involved working on "GV3", and we released "Butterfly's Journey" by the end of the year. We were in a GV focused work, hoping to release it during 2021. That was when the decision to rethink "GV3" came in and suddenly work on this game, "iX 2", began.

That won't do. We can't change our schedules so suddenly! Late 2020 to early 2021 involved recording the planned for Lumen songs as well as working on Lola's new songs. After going through the making of "Blaster Master Zero 3" and the "hell" that voice recording for the "trilogy" was, we were in early summer and that's when we merged together to start earnestly working on this game. We made the music video recording during the summer and eventually made the surprise announcement in fall, 2021.

The OST for this game began production in late 2020. (Ryo) Kawakami strived to work on both this and the Lumen songs too. Half a year later, he was joined by (Aoi) Takeda, (Ryo) Yoshinaga, (Yusuke) Sakai. When summer was almost over, (Takumi) Sato and (Hiroyuki) Sato thus the full sound team worked on the project by then. Lola's songs involved lyrics made by HakoFactory and arrangement by Keishi Yonao.

Thanks to the live performances and the drama CDs, the concept for her songs had been pretty much set in stone so song making progressed at quite a speedy pace.

This game, made through these hardships, has the "iX" sound atmosphere at its axis while adding the world of desert and machines as the motif. It builds harder music while, at the same time, using the setting of the pseudo-recreation of environments within the Grave Pillar, making the stage tracks be very colorful melodies too. Enjoy this soundtrack which has become more powerful and more colorful.

Creator's Comment

Comment by iX2 director and scenario writer Toshiaki Tai.

Late 2020. It’d been about half a year since “GV3” was announced. I was working on the game’s plot, UI and other stuff in a slow and methodical way. The CEO suddenly patted my shoulders and asked “Why don’t you make a sequel to iX?”. And thus work on this game began. Huh? Make a new, similar 2D Action game before “3”, which was in the making? I can do it!

But at the core of the matter there was a big issue. It couldn’t be “too similar”. Gunvolt is an ongoing series, under intense development. If you’re going to make something in parallel, then conflicts must be avoided. The main series had a thing going on. That was Director Tsuda, who’d been saying “let’s develop the games taking into account “only” boys of 5th elementary (9-11 years old)”, and that’s how the previous two main games were made. So that they’d have a strong impact in the hearts of boys who are still growing, and which would remain there, even after becoming adults; an exciting game with a thematic world building… guess that’s how you can define them. The iX games, on the other hand, are aimed for big adults.

My concept for them was “fill them to the extreme” with a charm resembling that of a late 90s arcade game and know-how, and so I was very maniacal in how I developed them. They often told me that “iX sure was flashy in presentation”, but that was a result of improvement on specs of the compatible hardware, and I personally aim for smart and calm expressions. You might be able to see the comparison better once you play “Gv3” on the same hardware.

Making a new-gen game. Making classical games. Since we’re doing simultaneous things, why not do both at once? That was the stance. Well, while it is a spin-out (independent) yet both series can be considered something that contemplates the past and future of each, two sides of the same coin, even.

Well. Making began but we’d already reached the “apeX of 2D action” in the previous game and done all we wanted to do. Thus we had to tackle this game from another direction, yet… The end result is that we couldn’t repurpose anything from the prequel and had to start from scratch.

While switching to a new development engine. All was a start from zero. I felt anxious on the inside as I gave out the orders… But once it began to take shape, that anxiety was no more than unnecessary concern, and thanks to the efforts from the team we did really “break through the limits”! Things I’d given up at the start of planning were re-incorporated before I knew it, and it led to the birth of a game that overcame my predictions. I’m the type who doesn’t replay his own games often but this is a game I often play when I have time, pulling the Switch from my pockets to play it occasionally.

I suggest giving yourself a challenge when you want to play it casually like “heal only once in a mission” or “only use OD abilities”, coming up with your own rules. I made limitations very loose on normal mode so I hope you try out many types of game-play. Or when you want a more stoic challenge, I suggest hard mode. The coins you build up for the panels(?) melt once after the other, a feeling of tingling whenever it stretches or warps. Achieving the ending is a feeling of satisfaction never felt before, the type you want to brag about to your friends. If you felt this classical charm which is becoming lost in the current day, I’d be very happy.

And we mustn’t forget all the BGM that decorate this game. Given how it’s set in another world, I changed the direction of the music too. Many sounds ring out at once during the game, so I don’t think you’ll be paying detailed attention to it either but each one is a great track on its own!

Hope this BGM lets you realize a new charm of this game.

References

• Inti Direct product page