ReMix: Xenogears 'Pillar of Salt'

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Xenogears

Star's mixes are worlds unto themselves. Each has the feeling of being refined over a significant period of time, polished, built into singular creations that have virtually no self-similarity save that all are stupendously produced and brilliantly constructed. This mix is so conceptual and creative, it's somewhat frightening. He's taken the Dazil and Omen themes, merged them, and juxtaposed arabic and hebrew vocals from biblical verses, building on the brief vocal snippet from Mitsuda's original and extending that into a fully realize universe of prophecy and middle-eastern motifs, achieving a grandiose vision that is at once world music, hymn, techno, industrial, and orchestral, but above all, Star Salzman. No one should hesitate for a nanosecond in deciding whether to download this; it transcends fandom of individual games as readily as it transcends genres. I could write spades on even limited aspects of the mix - the intelligently varied, very strategic use of ethnic percussion infused with electronics, the utterly believable vocals, the natural, effortless transitions and morphing structure, and... everything else. Synths, traditional world instruments, strings... picking out each element is ultimately pointless - they're all on par with one another; that is, all excellent. No repetition, no dead space, and such a flair for the dramatic - numerous pieces of this mix sound HUGE in scope not as much due to their volume, but by the skill Star's applied in constructing builds and making every bit count. Star pisses me off in conversations all the time, as our personalities are quite a bit different, and is not the most humble person in the world (by far); he hardly needs more praise thrown his way, and I'm not going to be biased towards his submissions (not that that really figures in), but I suppose I can express my opinion on this mix most clearly by saying this: Pillar of Salt is a superbly crafted, brilliantly produced ReMix with a wide pallete of high-quality samples, classic AND unique vocals, and all the audio polish you could want, really. But conceptually - conceptually it frightens me, and is something in that sense that I wouldn't have problems calling genius.

― djpretzel

Discussion: Latest 15 comments/reviews; view the complete thread or post your own.
A music class I had in college asked that we bring in a 5 minute piece of music to play for everyone. The point was to share different views and styles of music and express what the music meant to us. This remix was one of three I considered using for that class, and the only reason I didn't use it was because I couldn't express my connection with the lyrics. Besides that, I found it to be a powerful and moving piece. Thank you for the memory.

- WhiteMembou on October 13, 2009
Very nice vocals and lyrics. The instruments that you used gave me the idea of arabic music, Great job.

- yosefu on October 9, 2009
Collectively, the instruments produce a stream of arid imagery (desert, sand, mirages) alongside the Middle Eastern vibe, and it's more effective when ones like the glittery sweeps at 1:14+ can delve into both single-handedly. Simultaneous church bell+drum attacks punctuate the tension in such a way that I'm flooded with the urge to look to the heavens for either fire raining down or a floating tower, whichever deity machination comes first. 3:46-4:34 casts a sympathetic light on the condemned cities (the strings get so high-pitched they practically shed a tear), then it pulls back in time to mark the moment Lot's wife turns into sodium chloride (the drum boom at 4:30).
A fervently pious narrative, both in words and music.

- Polo on October 9, 2009
That throaty noise right at the end sounds so WRONG. Otherwise, 10/10.

- Forderz on January 18, 2009
...
I uh...
er
hmm
yes. The thi...
WHOA:shock:
This is the stuff! Sometimes when mixes use non-Western instruments, it can be gimmicky and fake. This flows so well and melds the styles and timbres effortlessly. Just great.

- Sam I Am on June 12, 2008
Awesome. Epic. Granduise <-word? bah) Absolutely breathtaking and incredible. Some of Star's songs I like, I love most, and this one, I LOVE. Go check out his other works which are oh-so-notable.

- MechaFone on May 1, 2008
You know what? I am punching myself in the face for not listening to this beforehand. Holy dang ol' balls.
There's not much more to be said that hasn't been. DJP summed it up quite eloquently in his writeup. This is more or less the definitive epic remix.
Love the vocals, also!

- Jaybell on May 1, 2008
Just listened to this one again after cruising through some past material. It's certainly not to insult any of the other mixes on OCR, but yeah, epic's right on this one. We don't have too many mixes that are this grandiose. Great work per Star's usual.

- Liontamer on June 30, 2007
I forget whether or not if I've posted on this song. But man this one is right up there with Invertibrate Retreat (if not better). 9999/10 :D

- HoboKa on April 19, 2007
I am by no means a musical expert, but all the same this track should be listened to and appreciated by anyone that frequents this site. I have been listening to OC tracks for 3 years now, this being one of my first downloads. I STILL listen to this track with as much enthusiasm and goosebumps as the first time. It is truly epic and makes one feel like they are at the center of a storm of energy. Bravo Star!

- leilock on April 18, 2007
I've been meaning comment on this remix for quite some time since Arabic is my first language. Your singing and choice of languages are wonderful, Star...very melodic and haunting. Your Arabic singing is mostly an Egyptian accent with a hint of Moroccan. That is to say, the lyrics and the way you say some words are typical Egyptian-style (e.g. ragani, gani, and gadeed...in traditional Arabic and some accents, these words with the letter "jeem" are typically pronounced with "j" sounds instead of "g") while the way you sing them is kind of different from that...like I said a hint of Moroccan accent somewhat. It's not broken, in fact it adds a very haunting effect. Can't quite put my finger on it, but I actually prefer the way you sing it over a typical Egyptian song. It's just that I didn't quite get what you were saying until I read the lyrics, which is normal. Of course, the other parts are as just as haunting...makes me wish I understood Hebrew...you seem quite fluent in that. I'm wonder how fluent are you in Arabic?
As for the remix itself, well "Premonition" is perhaps my favorite track in Xenogears, so I'm glad you went with this one. Very nice electronic-based upbeat track compared to the rather ambient original song. The sounds are mostly aggressive, yet in the same time ambient with the violins, darkbua (Arabic drum a.k.a. Tar), and other Middle-Eastern instruments in the background.
Excellent job, Star. This is one of my favorite videogame remixes ever.
Edit: Going to nitpick the Arabic-to-English translation a bit. The final Arabic verse...I can't find a word which literally translates to "left" in the English translation. The word "ghiba" doesn't actually mean "left"...it's a term for people who speak badly of other people behind their backs..."verbal/spoken backstabbing" as people say. There's also another meaning to the word "ghiba", which is close to the actual translation written on OCR--"absence"..."Baad ghiba=after a period of absence". "He left" in Arabic translates to "Baad ma rah", or "Baad ma sabny" (After he left me), or "Baad thahabihi", etc...different accents use different words, the middle example is closest to Egyptian yet the final example is the proper Arabic one.
Hope that helped. :)

- SwordBreaker on March 8, 2007
gbuuh....wow. Let's see if I can shape coherent words long enough to say some stuff.
I've always been a fan of Star remixes. They're awesome, really. This one, however, takes the cake and is my personal favorite Star remix.
I've never played Xenogears, nor have I heard any of the music (with the exception of a couple of midis people used in their RPG Maker 2000 games). I don't care, however, because this mix can hold its own ground. The lyrics and vocals are amazing. For me, religious texts make awesome lyrics (Like "Beast and the Harlot" by Avenged Sevenfold, those lyrics are based on the book of Revelation). And when lyrics are in another language, I'll usually like them even more. As DJ Pretzel said, Star mixes are like worlds unto themselves. This one evokes all sorts of vivid imagery, especially the first time I read the lyrics sheet while listening. And I already like middle eastern music, so that's another boner point. This is an incredibly dramatic piece that reflects what the lyrics/religious scripts they were taken from were hinting at. The fiery destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah? There could be no better stage for such a dramatic, almost apocalyptic sounding piece.
I can't piece words together so good right now, so I'll shut up. This mix is amazing, everyone should hear it at least once before they die, 10/10.

- ph0sphorousgobu on December 6, 2006
Darkflamewolf wrote: Has anyone translated the lyrics yet to this song and what it means?

Under the lyrics tab on the writeup page. Every second line is a translation; the latter verses quote the Bible.

- watkinzez on October 15, 2006
Has anyone translated the lyrics yet to this song and what it means?

- Darkflamewolf on October 14, 2006
blizihizake wrote: Bumping this thread. For anybody who hasn't heard this yet, DOWNLOAD IT. Epic.

dido, this track is sick. star has done some really "unique" things with this mix. The roger troutman like vocals in this are friggin awesome.

- avaris on September 19, 2006

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