Hi all - this week, in anticipation of the newly announced Netflix Original Series, we will be releasing the next chapter in our ongoing CASTLEVANIA soundtrack series! It's one of our favorites of the series, and quite possibly one of our favorite video game soundtrack of all time: the Super Nintendo classic SUPER CASTLEVANIA IV. We will also have a re-stock of our previous release CASLTEVANIA III: DRACULA'S CURSE back on the site.
As usual, new releases and re-stocks go on sale Wednesdays at NOON (CST).
MONDO
Super Castlevania IV - Original Video Game Soundtrack 2XLP. Music by Konami Kukeiha Club. Artwork by Jenolab. Pressed on 2x 180 Gram Bronze and Gold Split Vinyl (Limited to 1,000 Copies) - or - 2x 180 Gram Silver with Red Splatter. $30
Mondo is proud to present the premiere vinyl soundtrack to Simon Belmont's first 16-Bit adventure, the 1991 SNES classic SUPER CASTLEVANIA IV.
SUPER CASTLEVANIA IV, technically a remake of the first CASTLEVANIA game, puts you back into boots of vampire hunter Simon Belmont. But if the first CASTLEVANIA soundtrack was like a band’s debut garage album, SUPER CASTLEVANIA IV is where they finally got into a major recording studio and fully fleshed out their sonic ambitions.
The Super Nintendo’s sound chip brought the franchise into the world of synth for the first time. It allowed Konami’s composers to use audio samples to achieve an instrumentation previously unattainable on earlier systems. From the moment SUPER CASTLEVANIA IV begins you can hear the difference, with synthesized samples of organs and chiming bells, that set a more cinematic tone for Simon’s quest to fell the devil’s castle.
But it's not all graveyards and fog; by the time you arrive at the fourth track on the album, "Simon Belmont's Theme," you reach the new gold standard for the music of CASTLEVANIA. And when you get to Track 8, "Mechanical Trick Castle," you are hearing Konami Kukeiha Club at its absolute finest, producing epic, bombastic score with prog rock elements that would remain the backbone of the franchise for years to come.
Remastered for vinyl and cut at 45RPM across two heavyweight LPs with beautiful original artwork by Jenolab, the soundtrack to SUPER CASTLEVANIA IV is essential video game music.
BACK IN STOCK
MONDO
Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse - Original Video Game Soundtrack 2XLP. Artwork by Sachin Teng. Pressed on 2x 180 Gram Black Vinyl. Featuring BOTH the NES and FAMICOM versions of all 28 BGM tracks from the game spread across two 12" LPs. $30
CASTLEVANIA III: DRACULA'S CURSE is a dark horse for most beloved of the original NES / FAMICOM trilogy. The soundtrack is important not only for fan-favorite track 'Beginning' - one you'd be nary to find excluded from any future CASTLEVANIA game - but for the dynamic audio introduced on the Japanese version of the game. The VRC6 Audio chip contained the Japanese version allowed for a wider array of sound channels, producing a brighter, fuller soundtrack than on the cartridge released in the US. The Nintendo Entertainment System could not process this level of audio, so the version released in the US needed to have the audio scaled back. Despite this audio handicap the US version is still terrific, and the superiority of the which version best is still a matter of debate to this day. No need to choose though, since Mondo's vinyl re-issue contains both, spread across two 12" LPs, housed in a gatefold jacket featuring amazing new artwork by Sachin Teng.
