Saskatchewhat?: The Advantage - Elf Titled (review)

The Advantage - Elf Titled
a review by Christian L. Hardy

Concussive bolts of energy whirred past me, shimmering in the glass of my helmet's face-plate. Sweat beaded down my forehead, my wet eyes bloodshot and blurred. Nervously I gripped my rifle tighter, pressing it in closely to my chest. Energy tank low, I descended down airlocked corridors in the deep catacombs of Zebes- firing off blasts into the deep blackness. Finally, I reach my target. It's massive, towering from floor to ceiling- it's magnitude seemingly endless. The single, lidless eye of Mother Brain stares at me coldly. Metroids appear out of nowhere, there is a flash, I dive to move out of the way...

I toss my controller to the floor- screaming obscenities. My mom tells me that I've had enough for today, and to go outside. Fuming, and defeated, I leave- the cartridge still inside the console.

My childhood is populated with scenes like this- hours spent with eyes captivated on the television screen only to end in humiliating defeat at the hands of Dracula, Dr. Wily, or those damned eggplant wizards from Kid Icarus. The Advantage are a progressive rock four-piece who made their debut in 2005, covering the classic themes of the NES games that were the source of so much of my childhood joys and frustrations. Where their debut covered many of the more well-known bases, Elf-Titled tackles the themes of more obscure Nintendo classics, as well as some old favorites. Castlevania, Megaman II, Ducktails, Double-Dragon, and Metroid are just a few of the games feature on the albums sixteen compositions- which include two, three-part medleys.

Not unlike the best NES games which inspired it's creation, Elf-Titled's greatest strength lies in it's replayability, and more often than not, these new renditions surpass the original themes them by giving them a sonic depth and texture the 8-bit system simply wasn't capable of. Bringing these themes to life requires impeccable musicianship, which The Advantage have in spades. Armed with a diverse arsenal of instruments ranging from electric sitars to Hammond organs, The Advantage rock with as much passion as technical precision, coming off as a King Crimson for the Nintendo generation. Elf-titled features a variety of styles, from the hard-driving electro-funk of "Batman - Stage 1" to the symphonic metal medley of "Castlevania III - Boss Music > Willow - Village > Megaman II - Bubble Man", with each composition building in strength until the triumphant finale of "Wizards & Warriors - Tree Trunk > Woods > Victory". Fans of The Fucking Champs, the aforementioned King Crimson, Rush, and The Minibosses should have a lot of fun with this record, making it the perfect soundtrack to a long night of munchies and Mountain Dew in the Mushroom Kingdom.

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These videos are part of a live set of The Advantage, featuring renditions of themes from "Castlevania", Air Fortress", "Ducktails", "Goonies 2" and "Megaman II".