For those interested, KOF XIII is under development. SNK's Japanese site has updated some information on the game which you can find here:

http://game.snkplaymore.co.jp/official/kof-xiii/

Once it loads, click on the characters tab. This screen gives you a preview of what I'm assuming to be the game's OST alongside the long awaited return of team specific themes. KOF XI arguably had this, but it looks like SNK is returning to the true music feel from the 94-98 years.

Just select a team, and take a listen.

-- Judgment Day

Here is actually the site rip on SRK with all the Team Themes minus what has not been revealed.

http://www.shoryuken.com/showthread.php?t=230377

Thanks for the lead. Unfortunately, I found pretty much all of these pretty generic sounding. They kind of follow the blueprints from prior themes and fizzle out to me. Probably works as far as ingame goes, but it feels like they're not even attempting to match the series in its' prime. The Woman Team Theme is the only one that really sticks out and Japan isn't bad either, though it keeps sounding like it WANTS to get better. That Ikari theme is total weaksauce compared to the likes of Jungle Bouncer or Rumbling in the City though.

While generic sounding at least its going back to its roots as kind of a big band/jazzy affair. I kind of like Iori's new theme although the real star of the show IMO is the Art of Fighting team. Classic acoustic guitar with japanese motifs what else could you ask for? Reminds me of '96 for that particular one.

Hopefully the soundtracks get better from here on out. We also still have a K' Team theme to listen to.

Just wondering has anyone picked up those extremely expensive soundtrack packs for KoF XII?

Uhm...what extremely expensive soundpack ?

There are 5 extremely expensive trackpacks available as DLC for KoF. Most of them are 4.99 to buy and they remix the 10 songs in the game. I haven't got the spare cash to buy this extremely disappointing set of music so if anyone else has bought it.....does it sound good?

Do I hear live saxophone for Iori's "new" theme i.e. Saxophone Storm?

It's great to hear the arranged aspect of KoF music coming back with live guitars and such. The for a few years, the music was just lame. Having recently been on a Shinsekai Gakkyoku Zatsugidan kick, this music doesn't quite tap into some of the old greats but is definitely an improvement.

Women Fighters (cool, jazzy stuff), Fatal Fury (mainly Terry for his jazzy-rock themes), Iori (bad ass riffs and sax duels) and Kim for his mean guitars.

While I can't vouch for XI - XIII, a member from that old group was still on the KOF music development staff via freelance basis after the breakup. However SGZ was a much larger group, whereas in recent years, it's only been 2-3 artists as most.

kims korea team has the potential to be my favorite track in KoF XIII.

can't wait to play the full game!

Was there a particular reason as to why The King of Fighters XII never received an official soundtrack release?

While Team Entertainment did pick up the series after Scitron went out of business, having published the most recent 2 albums in the KOF series, perhaps they aren't interested in continuing to do so.

Wait - Scitron's gone? When did this happen? Just curious because it looks as if they were publishing stuff as recent as 2006 from the collection that I have. Also, my CD covers indicate that KOF XI, 2003, and both Maximum Impacts have the Scitron label and website (which unfortunately no longer works ).

April 2006 is when Scitron ceased and operations were bought out by Happinet Corporation.   Happinet then finished up whatever projects were already in the pipeline at the time, and then roughly 2 years later (2008) Happinet stopped publishing vgm.

It sure felt like the end of an era, that's for sure.
Personally, it was practically a religious mecca to visit their offices in person and pay homage during my first trip to Japan.

Now the only label who's been publishing vgm longer than Scitron did is King Records, although these days it's mainly for their distribution services.

For what it's worth, it seems that KOF XIII's latest site update has a more "complete" version of a few of the OSTs. Some channels are also slightly altered if you compare them to the previous versions (which I'm sure you can find on YouTube somewhere). Not sure if that part was accidental, of if they're fine tuning the music.