Composer Spotlight #2: Saitama Saisyu Heiki (S.S.H.)

"Come on, CHz. What do you think you're doing, dude? Everyone knows who S.S.H. is. He's that badass doujin remixer dude from Japan who slings the best guitar synths in the business and totally rocks out VGM covers. You can't just talk about stuff that's not original game material."

That's why we're going to be talking about stuff that's original game material!

Works featured in this post:

• Lost Child (PC)


• Sixty Nine 2 (PC)

full list of works

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I'll just come clean and say that S.S.H.'s original game compositions sound, well, just like all his other songs: thrashing guitars, smooth synth melodies, etc. The difference is that, instead of having nostalgia for his tracks to rest their laurels on, they stand fully on original material.

And, of course, they still completely rock. This is S.S.H. we're talking about, after all.


"Fly High"
Sixty Nine 2 (PC)

Of course, in regard to both his remixes and original pieces, not all of S.S.H.'s tracks are synthrockin', high-flying (see what I did there) power extravaganzas. For example, "Crying" on LOST CHILD ORIGINAL SOUND TRACK FROM S.S.H SIDE-A and "Into the Noize Ocean" on Sixty Nine2 ORIGINAL SOUND TRACK FROM Saitama Saisyu Heiki are both slowly building tracks, "Crying" taking the rock ballad approach and "Into the Noize Ocean" featuring synth melodies, that only break out with guitaric ferocity after more than three minutes in. LOST CHILD ORIGINAL SOUND TRACK FROM S.S.H SIDE-B has the most variety, from the industrial-like "Amitto" to "Relieve," a piano version of the vocal opening theme composed by Soshi Hosoi.


"Amitto"
Lost Child (PC)

Currently, both SIDE-B and Sixty Nine2 are available for purchase at VGM World. If you've heard all of S.S.H.'s tunes on his web site Live House S.S.H and desperately need more, or just want some music to rock out to, both of these albums would be well worth your time and money.

VGM World has also stocked SIDE-A in the past, but they are currently out of stock (although the "Buy Now" button, which usually disappears when an album is sold out, is still there, so maybe they really have some...?). LOSTCHILD ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK ALTERNATIVE SIDE-X was a bonus single packaged with the limited edition version of SIDE-B, and LOST CHILD ORIGINAL SOUND TRACK FROM S.S.H THE FINAL SIDE-Z was only packaged with the 2006 re-release of Lost Child, you will likely have to check eBay or elsewhere.