ReMix: Tales of Phantasia 'Journey to Thor'

The mix takes a -long- while to build up, but it does become more cohesive/coherent as it goes along.
Still, it's to repetitive for my tastes, but I do like what the mix is trying to present though.

- 42 on March 7, 2009

Gets a little choppy and loose in the arrangement at times, and does take a while to build up, but I like the overall atmosphere and mood that's set here. Nice work.

- Lucentas on March 7, 2009

Definitely gets better as it goes on. The string sample at the beginning though was a bit ouch; nice bring in the sound effects to cover the hiss. THe track got better as it got more electronic I think.
Not a favorite, but a good, solid track.

- OA on July 6, 2007

This one has been on all my OCRemix CD's since I got it about a year ago. This, along with Zelda 2's 'Temple Trance', ToP's 'Emotions Lost in Time', and several others, are my favorites. I'm a sucker for epic trance remixes, and this one definately hits the spot.

- The Mutericator on November 1, 2004

Checking this one one randomly; the groove here was pretty good; pretty cool stuff, Matt! Tales of Phantasia definitely had some good cuts on it, and Journey to Thor definitely works well with the source material. I'm sure this one's fairly unknown to most people, so don't pass it up. It's not "great" per se, but things certainly got more solid as they went along and I liked the end result.

- Liontamer on September 21, 2004

I love the whole thing. It's all good.
It reminds me heavily of one of the instrumental tracks off of Depeche Mode's Music for the Masses. (which is a good thing imo)

- richter on October 4, 2003

The City of Thor was my favorite music from [i]Tales of Phantasia[/i], and I was worried that, as is the case with so many remixes on this site, that efforts to make the song "tecnoish" would completely ruin the integrity of this dark, eerie music. Now listening to it for about the fifth time, I realize my fears were completely groundless--this remix is nearly PERFECT.
The strings at the beginning are beautiful and eerie, and the remix takes off from there through a roller coaster of ups and downs--in volume, not quality. The remix expands on the relatively quiet game music, turning it into a thrilling arrangement of dark and powerful sound, and, just for good measure, quiets down to the original melody several times along the way.
This is exactly what I would expect out of a Thor remix, and I can only hope future mixers will follow the example of this extraordinarily talented artist.

- SSJ_Rahlen on January 22, 2003

I absolutely love this song. The strings could use some work, but they still give the song an "urgent" feel that works in its favor. The gradual building of the song was really nice, and completely annihilates any repetitive feel most remixes hint at. The SFX are wonderful, and really recreated the mood of [i]Tales of Phantasia[/i], minus the XXX. The break with the choir was a nice transition into the conclusion that totally went ape-shit with wholesome techno goodness. Even with the bad violin sound, I found this to be quite the remix. Recommended highly.

- Straziante on November 30, 2002

I personally loved the ripened-like strings in the beginning and really enjoyed the rest of this detailed and fantastic piece.
Great job Carbuk1e!

- Ryu7x on August 25, 2002

Fieari, I feel the exact way that you do, the intro I found was quite good...IMO. That doesn't mean that it IS good, but I like it, so I'm fine with that. The rest of the mix is as good as the intro, and DJ Carbunk1e is one of my favorites. ^^

- AlwaysAlone on August 23, 2002

Homo, that's exactly what I was talking about! There's an odd sound about them, but I think that's GOOD. Hearing real violins would be neat though, I will look foreward to hearing an updated version if one ever gets made.
I had forgotten that the Abyss was underwater... I was getting it confused with that deep cavern thing where the most powerful equipment can be found (optional) at the very end of the game. But either way, there is a DEFINATE sense of decent involved.
I suppose the piano solo at the end would be entering the building, and standing in awe, gazing at the thing we had been searching for in the first place?

- Fieari on July 23, 2002

Sheesh I don't know, I thought it was pretty good overall. I actually liked the intro Alot with the interesting sounding strings. The strings sounded kinda hollow which is what gave them such great character to me.

- Homo Pocket on July 23, 2002

This is not just a song about a specific place or a specific person but
rather a journey, and boy does that sound cheesy =D.
This is what is pictured in my mind,
1) there is a storm and you get onto a boat, where you travel to the
middle of the sea.
2) where the choirs are is where you jump into the water (with the help
of a summon, if you play the game you know what I'm talking about and I
don't want to spoil anything for anyone).
3) as you get further and furthur down you start seeing this city under
the water.
4) it's much further a long in technology than any other city known to
man at this time, it is incredibly advanced. Thus the electronic
sounds.
Anyways I hope you enjoy, the storm is approximately 10 tracks, the
song with out the storm was around 30-40 tracks, this song I've spent
the most on.
Bad things:
1) I wanted to have a friend do the violin part, to give more of a real
feeling, however, he's working and is busy and doesn't think his skills
are up to par, (I completely disagree). Maybe I'll resubmit later
(much later) with real violins if I get someone to record it for me.
2) Also I wanted to get my girlfriend to do some talking vocals between
when you jump in the water and the pure electronic part at the end
stating like how many kilometers, how many knots... etc.. like those
female computers that tell you information.
and those are the bad things, well things I wanted to happen but
couldn't

- Xaleph on July 23, 2002

Mmmm. I gotta admit, I could have done completely without the first 2:15 of this. There's too much overdrive EVERYTHING and nothing "normal" to ground it.
Well, the bass line from 1:21 - 1:47 is almost there, but the way cranked kick drum from 1:48 -2:10 made me want to commit MurderDeathKill on something. I understand the building theme of this one, because the payoff at 2:18 on is really really nice stuff, but when this song builds a solid if not beautiful house, it uses a sledgehammer on the more delicate parts of the frame.
Still, the last 60% of this is pretty good. But man...I dunno. There's a lot of work that went into this one (it's obvious) but this one doesn't do it for me, the first 2 minutes really really grate on my nerves while I love the rest of it, evens out in the end. Little high, little low.
5/10

- Zandar The Weeble on July 22, 2002

Must I be in the minority here, in declaring my enjoyment of nearly every single portion of this mix? The strings at the beginning, contrary to Orky's experience, are what turned me ON to this peice right from the start. The strings sound like they are being made on very old instruments, perhaps a bit rickety... and this gives it a very colorful flavor. I surely wouldn't want to hear these strings playing something calmer... or something more elegant or elaborate... keep them away from anything classical, but for this peice, they are perfect. Perfect in all it's rust filled glory.
But as much as I enjoyed the opening, (and the FX really back up the color thing I was describing earlier... this mix was made for "Outdoors" thinking)... as much as I enjoyed the opening, 1:47, and the wind rushing up to that point, was what made me sit up and really pay attention here. The sudden and stark drum blast brings me to mind of the sound of fireworks being sent up... not fireworks exploding, but rather that FOOMP sound when the rockets are first lit. On an open field, sitting in the right spot, this sound just reverberates through your chest cavity. I have a fairly decent, if now aging, subwoofer... and while I didn't get the entire effect of hearing a rocket go up, there was enough to stir the memory, and my imagination accomplished the rest. I [i]like[/i] how the double beats, and the triple beats are laid over top of each other in an unordered fashion... giving it a NATURAL feel, as opposed to an orchestrated one. Perfect for explosions.
The rest of the mix didn't have many SPECIFIC items that can be brought directly to mind, but there was still enough to hold my attention at all times. It never got repetitive, the trademark of a poor quality mix. The one other mentionable spot is at 4:30ish, pointed out by djpretzel as well, the piano came in with a solo. You may have read some of my previous reviews here... if so, you know that I [i]love[/i] piano solos in the middle of a piece (and if done well, as the entirety of the piece as well, but that's a different case) and this one was no exception. What a perfect way to end a solid mix alltogether?
This one is a keeper. I've had it on repeat for a while now. I'm loving it anew with each time. Eventually, the passion will subside as I slowly memorize each nuance, but it will forever hold its place on my random WinAmp playlist, this I promise.
DJ Carbunkle, I know this one has been in the works for a while. Congratulations to you, it was worth the wait. Huzzah!

- Fieari on July 22, 2002