[MechaFone]

Wow, it's out!...I didn't even know this was up and coming, lol. I've never heard the whole soundtrack myself, but I'm hearing some very well contructed efforts in this soundtrack mix. Completely unexpected (on my part) and in every way a joy to hear, y'all start downloading -now-.

[SwordBreaker]

Downloading the torrent now. I also didn't expect this to be released. I didn't notice an official "comments thread" for it over at the projects board, too. Perhaps Taucer and co. are busy at MAGfest. Bet they're going to have a lot of fun promoting on the panel and such.

It's been an excellent beginning to 2008 so far. With vgmix finally launching, the biggest Dwelling of Duels month ever, and now this remix album...I've been enjoying the ride!

[SwordBreaker]

Just finished my first listen through. I love the fact that this album has a lot of vocals, guitar, and middle eastern influences. Unfortunately, I'm not familiar with the source since it's such a niche game. Here are some impressions of what stood out to me:



Thieves of Fate: definitely didn't expect vocals in this one. Who's singing? Prophet? Love the lyrics, love the singing, love the guitars, love the pop-rock feel of this song. My only complaint is that the vocals get a bit drowned in some parts toward the end of the track. Still though, great job overall, guys. Especially enjoyed the multilayering of the vocals at the end of the track, makes me wished this was used more. I'm assuming that level 99 did the electric guitar parts. Awesome work with that. Taucer rocks as usual.

Starbright: Very soothing track. Nice work with the sax as usual, Prophet.

Sexy Boy: wow...whoever you are, this track is excellent. Where in blue hell did you come from? The female vocals are very soulful and seductive. You've got an excellent voice. The trip-hop feel of the track is very Massive Attack-ish. Love the violin samples and occasional "cuts" in the track. I wonder if the singer is the remixer. If so, then this is one hell of a debut. If not, then again this is one hell of a debut. Minor complaint: more variation in the lyrics would've been awesome.

Snakebone Pit: of all of your tracks in this album, this one stood out to me the most, OA. Rock on, indeed. Nice orchestration in the intro. And when the guitars come in, it becomes a different beast. Love your playing, man.

Scar-stealing Girl: very nice combination of styles in this track. It's very mellow in the beginning (Taucer), then it becomes electronic mid-track (Ross). A surprisingly nice transition. Love the ethnic percussion.

Running After You: Ah...Darangen, one of my favorite remixers. This track has a very similar basic structure to "Collision"; starting out very mellow then blasting everyone with those excellent guitars. Loving this.

Requiem for Another World: very ethnic sounding. DA's vocals are "Cranberries-esque" as usual. While the singing didn't impress me as much as the stuff in "Sexy Boy", the harmonization of the vocals with the track are quite cool. Nice work, overall.

Hallucinogenic: the name of this track describes the vibe perfectly...immediately when those drowned out vocals came in, I thought this was going to rock. Love the Middle Eastern sounds and percussion. The distortion on the guitars are such an excellent effect, very "stoner rock" there. The guitar solo mid-track is like a cross of Jimmy Hendrix and Dream Theater. Nice acoustic guitar at the end, very Arabian. One of my favorite tracks of this album here.

That's it from me for now. I've been listening to my favorites over and over as I wrote these impressions, and everything still stands. To those who I did not credit and tracks I did not talk about, nice job. This album KICKS ASS.

PS: I demand lyrics for Thieves of Fate and Requiem for Another World!

[FiremanJoe]

Wow. I did a barrel roll- this totally surprised me. A great start to the year guys. Nice work.
*begins downloading*

[Didaji]

Downloaded it and listening atm. Very nice! But i downloaded the .rar full album from mirror 1, remix 6 was missing there, atleast for me.

[Shadow Wolf]

This project sounds great so far, even though I've only gotten to Thieves of Fate. The chord structure in this song, especially the chorus, is strangely reminiscent of Closing Time from Semisonic, and that's not a bad thing in any way shape or form. I only have one question:

Can we PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE get an instrumental version of this song? The acoustic work is amazing, and I'd love to hear it alone.

[DrumUltimA]

Originally Posted by shadowolf86

This project sounds great so far, even though I've only gotten to Thieves of Fate. The chord structure in this song, especially the chorus, is strangely reminiscent of Closing Time from Semisonic, and that's not a bad thing in any way shape or form. I only have one question:

Can we PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE get an instrumental version of this song? The acoustic work is amazing, and I'd love to hear it alone.

The chord progression for the verses is supposed to be based on the second half of the original track, where the pace speeds up (and in the game you see the mansion etc), where as the chorus is the progression for the main melody

[Shadow Wolf]

Complete Project Review:
GREAT project. The whole thing is an amalgam of very surprising instrumentation choices, ethnic instruments, and smooth jazz sounds. It’ really unlike most of what we’ve seen here before. I’m one of the few human beings that has actually beaten the game, and it does an excellent job of interpreting the soundtrack.


Days of Summer:
Nice subdued opening, great acoustic work, and a sweet lounge music sound. It helps that this is one of the best themes in the history of gaming, but you did a great job with it.


Thieves of Fate:
The chord structure in this song, especially the chorus, is strangely reminiscent of Closing Time from Semisonic, and that's not a bad thing in any way shape or form. The piano and guitar work extremely well together, and the backbeat works as well.
I'm a little bit iffy about the electric piano coming in at 3:42 and 4:32, not because it's a bad patch, but it sounds harsh in tone and volume as opposed to the rest of the soundfield. I didn't really care for the e-piano riffing at 4:32 especially. I really like the inversion at 5:32 as you swing into gear for the end of the song. (At least it sounded like an inversion to me, maybe you just moved the whole shot up an octave higher.) I don’t particularly care for the vocals, but I almost never do.


Fury and Tears:
This mix has a really good energy to it. Sounds like a Benny Hill chase scene in some places, but the electric guitars make up for it. Good take on the original theme though.


Starbright:
Excellent sax work, right from the gate, and amazing work weaving channels together without overloading the mix. The beginning has a nice busy street jazz sound to it, reminds me in a lot of ways of the soundtrack to SimCity 4. If the background sounds are any indication, this is a live performance, which makes it even more impressive.


Loneliness:
Neat decision bringing the piano and guitar in on the exact same line. This immediately shows a great new age/electronic flavor. I like the bongos as well. Good synth work all around, it can be hard to mix that with orchestral and make it sound really good. The build at 3:32 into the electric guitars was subtle, unexpected, and I liked it a lot.


Thrash’s Snakebone Pit
This makes me think of James Bond, and I have no idea why. It’s big, it’s overblown, and it’s fun. It’s a very Monty Norman-esque mix. Adventure, danger, spies, and really loud guitars.


The Scar-Stealing Girl
At the beginning, I’m not even sure how to classify this. Synth, definitely, but what else? It’s got a really slow, deliberate backbeat, and I like the kind of low-fi quality of some of the samples up ‘till 1:52, where we drop into an excellent piano solo. Actually, an unbelievable piano solo. It’s sending tingles down my spine. Wow. I love piano solos, and this is an amazing arrangement of the theme. The electric guitars at 2:45 only help it. Then at 3:22 we whip out the Bongos and go really electronica. Nice ping-ponging with this section. It bounces back and forth over my headphones. Good panning work. I like the (basically) guitar solo at 5:02, and the music box is a wonderful touch. This is the best mix of the album in my opinion.


Running After You:
Darangen doesn’t do orchestral. 10 bucks says it goes electric before 2 minutes. Oh, I was right. Still though, great work with ethnic instruments at the opening, and the trademark Darangen shred still sounds great. You’re weaving between orchestral to industrial. That is just f***ing impressive. This mix kicks ass. Great work, you never disappoint.


Requiem for Another World:
What instrument is opening here? It sounds vaguely like a panpipe, but I don’t think it is. There’s a very nice ethnic music quality to this, there’s a lot of instruments I’ve heard before but I can’t identify them. I actually like your voice work here, it fits well. You have my permission to keep it. :P


Fuego Frio:
Is that an accordion? For some reason this reminds me of another song I’ve heard that was supposed to make me feel cold. Originally parts of this sounded like they had a Russian flavor to them, but I’m also getting kind of a waltz/flamenco/tango vibe as well, which is probably closer to what you intended, since the mix name is Spanish. Either way, a very well done waltz mix.


Hallucinogenic:
The voices! They’re back! Were any mushrooms harmed in the creation of this mix? Because it certainly sounds that way. Great production and mastering work to make it sound like that. Part of it is the nature of the mix, but my only complaint here would be that it wasn’t significantly musical. But who cares what I think?


Confronto Finale:
Hooray trance! Nice shift to orchestral using the drum line, that was sneaky. There’s a lot of pent up energy in this song, and even though it’s energetic, it just feels somewhat like it’s never entirely let out. But it’s still a great mix. Good work switching so seamlessly between orchestral and electronica.


Summer’s Dream:
Marimba. Now there’s an instrument you don’t hear every day. This project has a ton of ethnic instruments. It does a beautiful job portraying the theme though. It’s quiet, contemplative, and it has a really great resonance. Last time I heard a marimba used like this was the Riven soundtrack. Furthermore, I’m astounded that you just did 7 minutes and 41 seconds of solo marimba and I didn’t get sick of it. Way to break the mold with this one.


Le Tresor Interdit:
Epic. Clarinet for the lead is a really interesting and awesome decision. It really carries the mix well. The acoustic work in the back of the mix fills it in really well. This is really a great example of the flavor of the entire project. Great mix, great project. Nicely done.

[DragonAvenger]

Originally Posted by shadowolf86

Requiem for Another World:
What instrument is opening here? It sounds vaguely like a panpipe, but I don’t think it is. There’s a very nice ethnic music quality to this, there’s a lot of instruments I’ve heard before but I can’t identify them. I actually like your voice work here, it fits well. You have my permission to keep it. :P

Glad to know my voice is mine, still...

Originally Posted by shadowolf86

Le Tresor Interdit:
Epic. Clarinet for the lead is a really interesting and awesome decision. It really carries the mix well. The acoustic work in the back of the mix fills it in really well. This is really a great example of the flavor of the entire project. Great mix, great project. Nicely done.

Dude, that's a saxophone.

[DrumUltimA]

Originally Posted by shadowolf86

Summer’s Dream:
Marimba. Now there’s an instrument you don’t hear every day. This project has a ton of ethnic instruments. It does a beautiful job portraying the theme though. It’s quiet, contemplative, and it has a really great resonance. Last time I heard a marimba used like this was the Riven soundtrack. Furthermore, I’m astounded that you just did 7 minutes and 41 seconds of solo marimba and I didn’t get sick of it. Way to break the mold with this one.

Wow, thank you!!