It's already been a good year for Kingdom Hearts fans, what with the release of Kingdom Hearts 1.5 HD ReMix and the announcement (editor's note: at long last!) of Kingdom Hearts III. However, fans of the series-- particularly the music-- now have one more reason to get excited right now.

Project Destati, which cropped up several weeks ago, has just been formally unveiled by musicians Kristin Naugus, David Russell, and Sebastian Wolff. The project's official site, featuing the Kingdom Hearts series' iconic stained-glass columns, a brief teaser arrangement of the track "Destati," as well as a countdown timer (that expired at 12:01am PDT on September 17th), has been baffling inquisitive fans for several weeks now, and we're pleased to have all the details right here.

Per the creators:

And it looks like interested parties won't have to wait long to see the fruits of this labor: the project's first release, Project Destati: Awakening, an 18-minute licensed EP featuring five tracks from the venerable series, is also now available for purchase via iTunes and Loudr (in a variety of formats) for the sum of $3 USD. Awakening is being billed as "the beginning of a comprehensive collection of albums as homage to, and in honor of the music of Kingdom Hearts." This coincides very closely with the 11th anniversary of the original game, which released on September 16, 2002.

The artists also included a message for those interested in supporting Yoko Shimomura, the original composer of much of the series' music:

Be sure to check below for both Awakening's tracklist and links to where you can find more information about the artists, as well as pick up these new tunes!

Project Destati: Awakening's tracklist:

1 - Destati
2 - Treasured Memories
3 - Sinister Sunburn
4 - Another Side
5 - End of the World

• Project Destati Official Site
• Project Destati on YouTube
• Project Destati: Awakening (Loudr)
• Project Destati: Awakening (iTunes)
• Project Destati on Twitter
• Project Destati on Facebook