The Rumbling-進撃の巨人 The Final Season OP

So here it is, the final opening song for the entire Attack on Titan Anime series: “The Rumbling” from SiM! This piece gave me unique challenges on the piano because how does one arrange a metalcore music on a single piano? Sometimes, I feel like even 88 keys are not even enough.

But before I continue, I want to ask you something: Doesn’t the melody in 0:08 sound really similar to Grieg’s "In the Hall of the Mountain King" theme? And not only that, the string melodies in 0:14 also reminds me of the main melody in Dvorak’s “From the new world” symphony (the 4th movement). Really a crazy coincidence, since Eren himself wants to create a “new world” in a way…

Some key points of this arrangement:

① 0:41 "I'M TEARLESS, I'M FEARLESS"

These aggressive growling vocals found in metal music are almost impossible to replicate on the piano but I still needed these voices in order to fully replicate the original song. I think the best approach is to just create a fitting melody out of the growling vocals while keeping the rhythm. I “translated” the growling vocals into a middle voice in 0:41 for example.

② 2:04 Beethoven joins “the Rumbling”

This is something I rarely do in my arrangements: I reharmonized the entire bridge part of the original song and only kept the main melody intact. The reason is because no matter how hard I try, I couldn’t fully replicate the sheer intensity of the hardcore metal in the bridge part with all the guitar riffs and screaming. That’s why I had the idea to create an alternative chord progression in order to make the bridge part more suitable for being played on the piano. I also quoted a little bit Beethoven’s “Appassionata” Sonata No.23 in the left hand in 2:04, because I really like these wavy movements and they sound almost “apocalyptic” to me (plus, they are in the same F minor key)

③ 2:44 “If I lose it all, slip and fall”

I absolutely love the quiet melody before the final chorus in the original song but I wish the quiet moment of introspection could have lingered a little bit longer in the music. That’s why I added an additional musical buildup in 2:59 because nothing is more satisfying than playing an insane crescendo and then finally hammer the final chorus in 3:11.

All in all, this song is probably the “heaviest” arrangement I’ve done in a while and I cannot wait to see the rest of Attack on Titan Final Season!

Animenz

Social Media

Twitter:

https://twitter.com/Animenzzz

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/animenz_official

Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/Animenz

🎹Piano arrangement by Animenz

Original Song: The Rumbling

Anime: Attack on Titan Final Season (Part 2)

Published by: PONY CANYON (2022)

Composed by: SiM

Performed by: SiM