Recording Notes: There’s a lot to say about Golbez. He shows up in Baron, starts to influence the king and turn him evil, then when Cecil is cast out from Baron, Golbez takes over their army and hunts down the crystals. You fight him multiple times. He’s invincible. He’s always giving you a beat down. His sprite is pretty amazing. He’s just a badass, really. And this theme captures that, I think. As it turns out, Golbez is being influenced by this evil being, the final boss, Zemus, who’s on a sealed-away moon. Turns out that Golbez is also Cecil’s long-lost brother. So it’s brothers fighting this whole time without knowing it. At the end, you break the spell over Golbez, and he makes a sacrifice to save you and your companions. He survives, but seals himself away on the moon as it leaves the planet’s orbit. Heavy stuff.

Track Commentary: I knew William’s classical training would go to good use for this track. Golbez is such a classic badass villain, and does he get a rock theme? No! It’s dark and brooding organ, an amazing classical piece of music. Maybe it’s the uniqueness of his theme that makes his character stand out so much to me… or maybe it’s just his amazing fullscreen battle sprite.

Appears on Guitar Collections FINAL FANTASY IV