I see that Sakimoto's soundtrack for Lord of Vermilion 2 comes out next month.  I didn't even realize he had taken over for Uematsu with this sequel.
I enjoyed the first one's soundtrack, so I was wondering what others thought of the switch to Sakimoto.  Anyone else planning on buying the album?

Full song plays here: http://www.lordofv.com/

That is definitely Sakimoto meets Uematsu...
Had I not already read who the composer was I still would have realized... just not in the first 30 seconds.

Is this available for purchase on amazon.co.jp / cdjapan / playasia?  I can't find it.  The other one was easily accessible (Dog Ears label, wasn't it?)

Not particularly impressed by the first (but not as bad as Blue Dragon), but I'll order this one because of the composer change. I don't know why the role of other Basiscape staffs is limited to arranging, when their rock talents could easily take over (or even outstrip) the sound scope of the preceding score. I also don't figure out why no retail lists this soundtrack yet. Late July is coming soon.

I thought the first one was incredible. One of my co-workers said the heavy tracks 'sound like Pantera', so it resembles mainstream music. Whether that was intentional or Uematsu is simply a headbanger, I'm not sure. Non-vgm listeners are constantly listening for clues that remind them of 'regular' music. It's very strange for me to consider their reversed view.

I'm curious to see how Sakimoto will handle Lord of Vermilion music. (I refuse internet samples, so I have to wait until I get the CD.)

It doesn't seem strange to me at all.  I'd say less than a quarter of the VGM I listen to I could categorize purely as "game music".  Most of the rest falls fairly neatly under established genres, many of which have existed for tens or hundreds of years before gaming.  (Granted a lot of that is my taste for arranged albums, but even old school synthesized game soundtracks often emulate established genres.)

Lord of Vermilion was awesome and I was hoping for Uematsu in Vermilion 2, so I'm not sure what to make of this! The track on the website reminds me very heavily of Sakimoto's Gradius V combined with Uematsu's Lord of Vermilion. Not as good as Uematsu's pure kick-ass awesome yet, but Sakimoto also has some fantastic stuff so this will still be a very interesting listen.

Guess Uematsu was busy with FFXIV... and something else?

Really not feeling this so far with a couple of listens. It seems Sakimoto has tried to slightly emulate Uematsu's style from Vermilion 1, and does a poor job of it. It has neither the awesome energy of Uematsu's original or the captivating triumph of Sakimoto's own work like his Valkyrie Chronicles soundtracks. Maybe it'll grow on me but the outlook isn't good.

And I feel this album a lot, really loving the rocking side of Sakimoto and the rest of Basiscape, especially stuff that Kudo arranged. Sakimoto should really let him loose to compose something special.

I actually really enjoyed this album.

Bah, I somehow forgot to order it after all.  My memory sucks so much.  Ah well, just placed my order now.  Thanks for the reminder!

Lord of Vermilion II just tickles my tympana. In exactly the way I want them tickled.

This is now probably going to be my pick for best vgm album of 2010. I like this even more than the Guwange arrange album and it's definitely my favorite by Sakimoto. What I like the most is the combination of electric guitars and orchestral instruments. (It certainly doesn't hurt that I recently upgraded my car speakers and head unit; I can hear so much more detail now. Factory speakers should be illegal.)

This is what Soul Calibur vs. Guilty Gear would sound like.

I enjoyed the album quite a bit.

It took a bit to fully grow on me, but I also ended up liking it quite a bit.