Celtic Collection Review
Buy Celtic Collection
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is one of my favorite games of all time, so when I saw the announcement trailer for Celtic Collection: The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, I knew I had to get an early listen. Thankfully, Sean Schafianski, one of the album’s producers, offered me a review copy so that I could fully immerse myself in this album before providing my thoughts. After five or six listens, I’m still collecting my thoughts, but I feel confident in calling this album an intriguing escape from reality.
From the moment that “Let Us Play” starts, you embark to a world of mystery, fantasy, danger, and despair. Producers Sean Schafianski and Ashlee Busch stick closely to the original arrangements and instrumentation, but I should call attention to the wonderfully blended virtual instruments which are nestled quite nicely with the live performances. This is a folk album paying tribute to folk songs, so there aren’t too many surprises, but each track manages to stand on its own without blending together. Nevertheless, the highlight of Celtic Collection is Ashlee Busch.
Ashlee’s voice is the guiding light of the album, drawing the listener in and bewitching them. While “Kaer Morhen” and “Game of Gwent” serve as delightful instrumental interludes, the real magic happens in moments like the beautiful duet during “Wolven Storm” or the haunting final moments of “Lullaby of Woe”. Of course, I can’t mention Ashlee’s voice without mentioning the excellent production by Sean. The mix is perfect with each instrument in its rightful place, and the mastering allows Ashlee to shine. Celtic Collection is a team effort, and Sean and Ashlee make a wonderful team.
RATING: HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
(Most VGM Fans Should Enjoy)
Interview
Now that you’ve read my thoughts about the album, here is what the producers had to say about Celtic Collection: The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.
Ashlee Busch
I have played through Witcher 3 at least 5 times since the release of the game—I can’t get enough of it! I've also read all the books, and I’m currently I'm doing another playthrough, this time on Death March. Geralt may be one of my favorite heroes of all time. The story is so enveloping, and I believe the music plays a huge part in this.
I’ve been wanting to work with Sean on a Witcher remix album since he first introduced me to the game, and I’m so pleased that we got to work together on an entire album. Considering the number of covers out there, this music is obviously beloved by the fan base, but I wanted to do more than just cover the music. I wanted to see how I could imprint my own style on these pieces, and I’m so happy with how the final product sounds. We used different kinds of performance techniques, mixed in real instruments along with samples, and I sang in a few different vocal timbres. It was daunting to tackle a project from a game that is held sacred by so many, but above all, this project was just a lot of fun.
Sean Schafianski
This album was a wonderful opportunity to write outside of our comfort zones. We have both listened to Celtic, New Age, and World music for a long time, and we are familiar with the writing practices, but actually putting things together to make the arrangements authentic was difficult at times. The soundtrack to The Witcher 3 is near perfect as is, so we had to find ways of making these tracks different, not necessarily better. In addition, it was also my first time mixing in this genre. Making everything blend was definitely the hardest part about these tracks, but I'm very happy with how everything turned out!
We couldn't have done this without our collaborators as well. Ian Martyn is a wizard on the Bodhrán and the whistle, and Bethany Overbey’s violin playing is exquisite and perfectly suited the style we were going for! Also, Masha Lepire and Gabriel Bolaños were especially helpful in their feedback during the whole process. Finally, I have to mention Tatiana Hordiienko (aka TamikaProud), who produces beautiful portraits of original and video game characters. We asked if we could use one of her Witcher pieces, and, thankfully, she agreed! Everyone go support her!
All in all, working on this project was a treat and a labor of love. We hope that people can get as much joy listening to it as we did making it!