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As we reported when the album first dropped on September 9th, the Project Destati team has at last released their long-awaited homage to the music from the Kingdom Hearts series.

Released 358 days (sound familiar?) after their debut Awakening EP, Project Destati: LIGHT is the first entry in what will eventually be a three volume collection of re-orchestrated tracks selected from the entirety of the Kingdom Hearts musical score. Sebastian of the Project Destati team was kind enough to hook the KH-Vids Staff up with a few copies of the album. We had seven copies, which were randomly distributed to members of our team – except for one that I kept for myself. I’d heard of the project before but never had a chance to check it out firsthand, so I was naturally excited to have a listen!

Beginning with the selection of songs, they start out their project with some really solid and well-known tracks from the series (see below). The main characters’ themes – Sora, Kairi, Riku, Roxas – are all here, with classics like Hikari, Hand in Hand, and Dearly Beloved joining them.

One thing I loved about the album was that they included some more minor tracks from the series – it wasn’t just the ones we’re all familiar with. In particular, Waltz of the Damned has always been one of my favorites from the Kingdom Hearts II soundtrack, but one few people recognize when listing their favorites from the series. I was overjoyed to find that it was not only included, but that it’s been beautifully redone. Mkaukau? was never a track I recognized or had particular feelings about, until I heard it on LIGHT. The Project Destati team has also produced a version of Destiny Islands so enchanting that even me, someone who has historically hated the original theme, has gone back and played the redone track on repeat more than a few times!

I’m not musically inclined in the sense that I understand the particulars of the work that the Project Destati team has put into this collection, only that it has been lovingly and artfully done. For me one of the selling points of the HD Remixes has been the tracks re-orchestrated by Yoko Shimomura, so to add even more redone tracks to my Kingdom Hearts playlists is a welcome notion indeed.

I asked the staff members who received copies to let me know what they thought about the album or, at the very least, what their favorite track was. I’ve included their thoughts below:

“Project Destati has done a terrific job of paying tribute to the Kingdom Hearts series and Yoko Shimomura's music that has captured the hearts of many Kingdom Hearts fans throughout the years. Instead of feeling like simple remixes, the guys at Project Destati took several tracks and made them feel fresh and new. I may be biased here, but if I had to pick a favorite track from their first volume, it would be Roxas/The Other Promise. Listening to that track teared me up, and I truly believe this is the best fan rendition of Roxas's theme ever. I look forward to Project Destati's next two KH albums, and I hope that one day, their take on the music of Kingdom Hearts would be performed live.”
-- @Ami Mizuno

“Favourite song is Lazy Afternoon Streets.”
-- @Karuta

“General about the album: The recording quality is great with the track selection having a little bit of everything for a Kingdom Hearts fan. Project Destati takes rather large liberties with a lot of the tracks on their album. It makes the music selection a mixed bag of goodies and not so goodies, but overall the songs presented on the album are solid and makes Project Destati: Light a good debut for the project.

Project Destati: Light opens with Introduction: It Began With a Letter. The lead off track is a medley of songs that begins with a track with the same name, It Began With a Letter, and slowly builds up to renditions of Dearly Beloved and Dive Into the Heart, at times combining the two. The track flows beautifully from song to song and the arrangement of the songs included are very well done.

Hollow Bastion too is an incredibly well done tribute. The song starts with Project Destati's take on Radiant Garden and flows wonderfully into the field and battle themes Hollow Bastion is known for. Project Destati is able to combine all the variations the song has received over the course of the series and adds their own twist to it. Their version of the track is able replicate the magic of hearing the song when arriving at Hollow Bastion for the first time and I could listen to it on repeat for hours on end.

Rage Awakened is one of the few boss battle tracks on the album but it is the best one of the bunch. Project Destati manages to re-create the frenzied theme and make it even more frenzied and raw. It captures the feeling of the boss fight against the Lingering Will perfectly; it brings forth a lot of background instruments that were not as pronounced in the original song. Project Destati's Rage Awakened is a track that I would insert into the upcoming 2.5 Remix if I could.”
-- @libregkd

“My favorite track was Hand in Hand, which has always been one of my favorite Kingdom Hearts tracks because of the epic emotional feel of it. Sadly, the track is usually pretty short, so of course I was stoked when this arrangement was over five minutes. The whole album was beautiful and creative while keeping that nostalgic quality the Kingdom Hearts soundtrack has always given me.

... Yeaaah! ヾ(@°▽°@)ノ”
-- @Jayn
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Overall, Project Destati is an incredible celebration of the tracks – and series – we all know and love, and is, I think, a fantastic testament to the amazing creative ability and dedication of Kingdom Hearts fans. Kingdom Hearts preaches things like friendship and connection and togetherness, and while it might be cheesy and all that, to think that three fans came together to make something beautiful like this… I am overcome. I know, I know. If you’re not into re-orchestrated tracks or fan-projects like this, feel free to pass the album over, but if you’re even at all dubious, I definitely recommend checking it out.

We’d like to thank Project Destati for sending us copies of the album and urge everyone to purchase the album for themselves, DRM-free, in MP3 or FLAC format, from Loudr or iTunes. You can find out more about Project Destati by visiting their website, or by following them on tumblr, Twitter, Facebook, Google+, or YouTube.

For those who have bought the album – or at least listened to it – what do you think of the project? What’s your favorite track? For those who haven’t yet, stayed tuned… copies of the album sound like great giveaway prizes to me. ;)