Data Discs announces Alien Storm and Alien Soldier soundtracks releasing to vinyl

Data Discs have announced two more SEGA soundtracks for their collection of video game music vinyls: Alien Storm and Alien Soldier! Both releases of these Mega Drive classics promise sound that is true to the original hardware. Orders open June 13th with a July 15th ship date.

DATA020: ALIEN STORM

For the twentieth release in our numbered series of archival game scores, we are pleased to present Keisuke Tsukahara’s music from the Mega Drive classic, Alien Storm. With audio sourced from the original hardware and artwork drawn from the SEGA archives in Japan, Alien Storm is a fun, often strange mix of FM synth grooves and sample-based rhythms, wrapped in a sound palette that is instantly recognisable and most succinctly described as “Mega Drive, 1991.”

Alien Storm is presented as a 180g vinyl edition, cut at 45RPM and packaged in a heavyweight sleeve, featuring textured “alien tentacles” that are both embossed and spot glossed on the front and rear. It is also accompanied by a heavyweight lithographic print and an obi strip. Available in the following editions, all priced at 20.99 GBP:

180g Translucent Seafoam Green with Slime Green & Brown Splatters (Ltd Edition)
180g Slime Green

DATA021: ALIEN SOLDIER

In 1995, at the tail end of the Mega Drive’s lifespan, composer Norio “NON” Hanzawa (Gunstar Heroes) was tasked by acclaimed developer Treasure to score their hugely ambitious new shooter, Alien Soldier. He then duly created one of the most technically impressive, challenging and experimental game scores of the entire 16-bit era. In line with Alien Soldier’s frantic gameplay, Hanzawa’s score is often intense, perplexing and occasionally overwhelming, but it is also punctuated with some surprisingly minimal and inventive synth passages, which at times feel oddly reminiscent of Vangelis’s Blade Runner. However, Hanzawa’s work on Alien Soldier is distinctively his own, harnessing the inherent noise and strange tones of Mega Drive’s FM sound chip to create a score filled with otherworldly sounds, disorientating layers and a sense of complexity seldom heard in game music at the time.

Alien Soldier is presented as a remastered double 180g LP, with audio sourced from the original Japanese console and cut at 45RPM. It is packaging in a heavyweight single pocket sleeve, with an accompanying foldout poster of the original cover artwork and an obi strip. In addition, early orders will also receive a set of three matt laminated postcards featuring key characters from the game (direct orders only, while stocks last). Available in the following editions, all priced at 25.99 GBP:

2x 180g Blue/Frosted Clear/Grey Tri-Colour with Blue & Grey Splatter (Ltd Edition)
2x 180g Opaque Grey
2x 180g Classic Black

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