Chocobo band - Hollow (Final Fantasy VII Remake)

Symphonic metal formation Chocobo band reveals their newest cover of Final Fantasy VII (Remake)

By looking back to the Dokomi convention 2022 in Germany, some of you remember the impressive live concert of Chocobo band in Düsseldorf.

Based on the Japanese computer game Final Fantasy, the Italian group, known as a symphonic metal band, pursues the vision of spreading the magic and enthusiasm of this catchy game and soundtrack in newly arranged loud tones.

Back story

Chocobo Band was born in 2007, when Mike Pelillo (guitar/vocals), Gabriele Lei (bass guitar) and Riccardo Barbieri (keyboards), musicians and hardcore fans of Final Fantasy, attended the first Nobuo Uematsu’s show in Italy.

The impact of hearing FF soundtracks played live with a full orchestra and choir made an impression so strong, that they thought about forming a band to play songs of the great Japanese composer in a personal and original way.

After three years, the project became reality, when a complete line-up was formed with Alessandro Lugari (drums), Giacomo Ferrari (keyboards) and Salvatore Zappalà (guitars).

The band first rehearsed songs from The Black Mages’ albums (Mr. Uematsu’s band, from 2001 till 2009), then started to add tracks from various FF soundtracks, which had never been played or rearranged in any way before.

Very soon it was clear, that the project could not remain a completely instrumental one, as the most famous songs of the games are sung, so a seventh element was added to the band: the singer Beatrice Bini.

A complete setlist was then prepared, with songs from almost every Final Fantasy rearranged song in a progressive rock / metal way, some of the most famous ballads and even fully orchestrated pieces.

The band then started to play live gigs, receiving positive feedback from the audience. Since its first live performance in October 2014, Chocobo Band played in stages and events all over Italy, such as Lucca Comics & Games, Festa dell’Unicorno, Mantova Comics, PLAY, NipPop and Modena Nerd.

Throughout a constant exchange with its followers on social networks and live events, the fan base grew and made the band well known even overseas.

In 2017, the first album "Shuffle or Groovy" was published: 10 tracks of well-known FF songs rearranged in a lot of styles, ranging from bossa-nova to blues to swing, with tributes to famous musicians such as Jimi Hendrix.

The album received great feedback and pushed the band to go even further, publishing videos and playing live, just in specific venues, an entire parallel acoustic setlist made of those tracks.

After a change in the line up, where the old drummer switched with Francesco Roncaglia and Riccardo Barbieri stepped down from live performances to work only “behind the scenes”, the second album, “Tales from Other Worlds” was recorded and came out in 2020.

This time, the 14 tracks have been arranged in an epic progressive metal style, partly following the tradition of Uematsu’s "The Black Mages", but with a touch of personal taste in the arrangements and completely rewritten orchestral scores. The album was a huge success and the single videos taken from it have reached a wide audience on YouTube.

The band is currently preparing for their upcoming album "TALES FROM OTHER WORLDS" in 2024. Please check out their newest record!