ReMix: Castlevania: Circle of the Moon 'Rude Awakening'

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Game: Castlevania: Circle of the Moon (Konami, 2001, GBA)
ReMixer(s): Rize
Composer(s): Hiroshi Mitsuoka, Sotaro Tojima
Song(s): 'awake'
Posted: 2002-11-25, evaluated by djpretzel

Rize's previous ReMix was some rockin' stuff, but being from the (relatively) obscure Legendary Wings, many might not have been familiar with the source material. I expect no such hesitancy this time as his latest is from the recent Castlevania CotM and features familiar CV tunage done guitar-style, with rolling rock drums and some mean soloing (see 2'40") and doubling and layering that provides a very meaty mix. I especially like some of the drumming here - plenty of rolls, accents, and crashes that follow the chorus in particular very closely. You won't find any surprises - no key change, time change, or introductions of additional instrumentation or processing, so from a certain perspective this is predictable. But predictably good, which makes a big difference. Great stuff and a textbook example of Castlevania well-adapted to the rock medium. I'd still like to hear what Rize could do if he paired his obviously ample rock skills with some electro and did some genre-bending fusions, but we don't get all that many straight rock pieces either. An improvement in terms of sound quality from his previous work (nice delay at the end), this definitely comes recommended.

― djpretzel

Discussion: Latest 15 comments/reviews; view the complete thread or post your own.

Straight ahead rock, and there certainly isn't anything wrong with that- nice solid playing, a pretty good solo, and for being 8 years old, it's really held up well.
Rize is a pretty awesome guitarist, and his appearances are somewhat few and far between these days, but each track he does is quality. :-)

- OA on April 30, 2010

Rize is (at least now) definitely capable of better sound, especially with his drums. But this piece is not bad. It's (clearly) repetitive, and I'm not sure if the solo + ending is enough to redeem the whole piece, but this works if you really like the theme. It could be a lot more aggressive, in the sound and in the arrangement departments.
Still, I won't deny that I can replay the whole song in my mind, lol. It's worth listening to, but your mileage may vary.

- SoulinEther on December 1, 2009

Great remix! I especially dig the guitars (then again, I LOVE guitar songs). The drums sound a bit simplistic though, but that's the only complaint and it's not a big one.

- Non_existinghero on March 13, 2006

Nice. And it really fits the catacombs theme from CotM.

- Magical Ninja on August 19, 2005

The name of the ReMix is just right! I burnt it to a compilation CD of heavy songs to wake up, and when I set this one to play, I jump when I hear it. LOL

- DJ Pili on August 5, 2005

Straight-up metal is something rarely seen on OC, if you ask me. But this is a great rendition of the Catacombs song, either way. I like how it goes immediately establishes the original melody, and goes through the song in a straightforward manner, but it's got plenty of extra flourishes and additions to the original song to not seem tired or unoriginal. Nice work on the solo at the end.

- OchreJelly on December 22, 2004

Actually this could be a good song for "a rude awakening". That is, putting some kind of timer software on the computer that would start playing this song whenever you should be waking up. :)
Hmh, where could I get such software? :)

- Jogilius on May 28, 2004

Very cool. We don't see much metal here on OCR, and we don't see a lot of CotM, either. So, this is a welcome addition to the archive. Well arranged (dare I say inspired?), and well executed. This is a solid, grade-A arrangement. Well done, Rize.

- Impassioned Havoc on May 28, 2004

My favorite remix. A must have.

- Scrabble_Ship on May 27, 2004

Surely you noticed the solo near the end? But you're right, I try to leave the original music unharmed until I've at least looped it all once. Then I solo :)

- Rize on July 24, 2003

Awesome, a rock/metal castlevania mix that's not vampire killer or bloody tears. It's a great mix, very solid, and it covers fresh material. I like how straightforward it is. Just guitar and drums, no flimsy synths, no techno/electronica stuff mixed in, not even any unwelcomed variations on the original tune, just a straight conversion from crappy GBA synths to rockin guitars. I wish there were more of these around.

- Gnam on July 24, 2003

this song is the shizznitt.

- Blaster Atoms on May 2, 2003

Rize wrote:
My very first mix was from Mega Man 6, but it wasn't really mixed. It was just a rerecording of a tune with guitar in place of one treble track. I may fully remix that and release it on OCR as my next project.

That would rock. MM6 has one of my favorite NES soundtracks.

- Baldrash on May 2, 2003

I haven't been able to get much done on my latest mix unfortunately. You see, the mix has a triplet feel to it, and I forgot just how much I hate writing drums in triplet feel. It probably has more to do with skill than anything, but I just feel restricted in a triplet feel.
I'll probably switch gears and mix something else (from this game/series or another entirely).
My very first mix was from Mega Man 6, but it wasn't really mixed. It was just a rerecording of a tune with guitar in place of one treble track. I may fully remix that and release it on OCR as my next project.

- Rize on May 2, 2003

Well made tune there Rize.
Metal mixes are kinda hard to come by it seems and this one was worth seraching for. Great guitar work and a well crafted piece all around.
:nicework:

- The Coop on March 26, 2003