The Black Mages are a hard rock band in the charge of the Japanese composer Nobuo Uematsu. Uematsu revised some of his most popular fighting themes from the games of the Final Fantasy line in order to publish them in newly-arranged shape on the album 'The Black Mages: Battle Music of Final Fantasy'. The band uses mostly synthesisers and electric guitars.

The Black Mages' second album, entitled The Skies Above, was released in Japan on December 22, 2004.

Band Members

• Tsuyoshi Sekito (関戸　剛) -- Guitar
• Michio Okamiya (岡宮　道生) -- Guitar
• Nobuo Uematsu (植松　伸夫) -- Keyboard
• Kenichiro Fukui (福井　健一郎) -- Keyboard
• Keiji Kawamori (河盛　慶次) -- Bass
• Arata Hanyuda (羽入田　新) -- Drum

Albums by The Black Mages

• The Black Mages, their debut album.

1. Battle Theme
2. Clash on the Big Bridge
3. Force Your Way
4. Battle, Scene II
5. The Decisive Battle
6. Battle Theme
7. J-E-N-O-V-A
8. Those Who Fight Further
9. Dancing Mad
10. Seymour Battle

• The Skies Above, their second and latest album.

1. The Rocking Grounds
2. Zeromus
3. Vamo' Alla Flamenco
4. Hunter's Chance
5. Otherworld *
6. Matoya's Cave
7. The Man with the Machine Gun
8. Maybe I'm a Lion
9. Battle with the Four Fiends
10. The Skies Above
11. Blue Blast

• Note: The rendition of "Otherworld" Featured in "The Skies Above" is not the original version of the song (as featured in Final Fantasy X). The "updated" version is argued by some to be better than the original heavy-metal version, due to the fact that the lyrics are more clearly understood.

External links

• The Black Mages official Japanese website
• The Black Mages Blog "The Blog Mages" (Japanese)