Dirge of Cerberus -Final Fantasy VII- has been invariably pinned as an indulgent fanboy-ish look into the life of Vincent, everyone's favorite vampire-like FFVII character. To keep the spirit of this "gun Action RPG" going, who better to sing the theme songs than goth/punk J-Rock star Gackt?

If you haven't seen the front man of the band before, the Redemption Music Video would give you a good idea. The clothes he wears, the hairstyle, the voice: it's all kind of silly, in a creepy sort of way. The style is like Marilyn Manson, but tamed down to the level of Linkin Park.

Redemption, the opening theme for Dirge of Cerberus, is a kickin' pop-rock song with plenty of production, an awesome breakdown bridge, and non-stop in-your-face guitars and drums. If it's not your style, then you won't like it, but for those who can appreciate it, it's certainly enjoyable.

On pure merits alone, however, I find that the B-Side "Longing" is an even better song. Also found within Dirge of Cerberus, "Longing" isn't the somewhat-expected ending ballad that you find on most singles. No, this song's just as hard as the first, and the guitars are even more outrageous. A lot of production, mixing, and effect-work went into this song as well.

If you want to live out your burning childhood dream of being a Japanese rock star, sing along to the instrumental tracks!

The best part of this single, in my opinion, is the limited edition bonus DVD. Not only is the official music video a fine work, but the Dirge of Cerberus video is especially cool. Combining in-game and FMV scenes from the title, you get a pretty solid feel for what awaits gamers for this title. Also, the same group that worked on Advent Children did the FMVs for this game, so the video looks awesome at times. Check out the sample to see what I mean.

If you bought the limited edition OST, the limited edition single fits in the case that comes with it. Be a DoC completionist and collect it all! Or...just get the single if you like it.

Reviewed by: Patrick Gann