ReMix: Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse 'Pools of Rust'
Download MP3
Play Preview
- Game: Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse (Konami, 1990, NES)
- ReMixer(s): goat
- Composer(s): Jun Funahashi, Yoshinori Sasaki, Yukie Morimoto
- Song(s): 'Stream (Aqueduct Stage)'
- Posted: 2004-10-30, evaluated by djpretzel
Well, as usual, I overpacked for my trip to Montreal, taking a laptop, seven or so books, a plethora of magazines and cds, etc. and yet managed to forget headphones. Didn't end up mattering much, as the conference I was attending took up most of my time, but it was still nice to get home to the comfort of cultureless suburban sprawl, monolinguality, and local pizza delivery shops. Picking up where we left off, in with OCR01259 is goat, aka Chris, with another classic Castlevanian concoction from his tome of CV3 arrangements. This time it's 'Stream', one of the still-familiar but less-commonly-covered gems from the vault of Kukeiha pieces that lend themselves oh-so-well to Chris' style. I believe that's enough gratuitously-chained-hyphenated-phrases for this write-up, but I'll probably use a couple more before we're done. If you're familiar with goat's work, this won't be a huge surprise - i.e., it's rockin', solid from a mixing and performance perspective, and packs a serious rock wallop, transylvania-style. I can't help thinking how cool it would be if some Romanian gymnast used one of his pieces for her floor routine in the Olympics. Sure, there'd be very few that would get the connection, but it'd still be cool. But I digress - Chris intros with a brief stream effect but quickly kicks it full on with layered guitar and a nice moving bassline. You can always, invariably, without fail, count on Chris to take the original melody and add in all the things that make sense for a guitar adaptation - vibrato, bends, various articulations, wah effects, and myriad other ingredients vital to the composition of game OST guitarification. At 2'38" Chris tries something a lil' different with a short piano bit that while not rock-your-socks-off-virtuoso is a good change, which is followed by some rapid sixteenth-note guitar chuggin' that ends out the mix, with the 'stream' effect fading out. The effect in question does sound a little more like a brook, recorded from several inches away, than an actual stream, but hey, who's really that picky about small tributary terminology these days? I love how this effect is used briefly for a climax at 1'56" - very effective, and reminds me of the water-effect/guitar mixture on Guided by Voices "I'll Replace You with Machines" to some extent, albeit as a one-off and not continued percussive element. More consistently great CV rock material from goat, equally not-to-be-missed, equally agreeable in shreddage and variety, equally head-bangable, especially that last minute. Goodstuffs.
Discussion: Latest 15 comments/reviews; view the - tweex on September 14, 2010
Technically, I think things are as high-quality as you'd expect, but the unusual blend of the dark vibes of metal and Castelvania with the almost danceable treatment it's been given here is a strange flavour. Not a bad one, and not one that would make me dislike it, but it got an against-the-grain feel to it, like it isn't in its element at any one time. I guess it could also be in part due to the sound effects of the water, which I don't welcome or wish to be removed. They're integrated well, but don't prove their worth enough for me.
This is a mix I have a hard time coming to a set opinion of. It may just be a case of me enjoying what's here a lot but being disappointed by it at the same time. It definitely does what it does as well as any other metal mix (better in some cases), but hits too far from my own personal mark for me to give the standing ovation. This isn't badass, it's merely a fun romp with guitars.
- Marmiduke on February 5, 2010
Anyway I do appreciate the stream sound effect samples to lend a bit of atmosphere and setting even though they sound a bit off.
Still, while not the most varied track out there, this mix is still a fun listen. Plain and simply though, this is an rocking and amazing track.
- 42 on December 23, 2009
The mix itself is pretty good, the piano breakdown is especially nice, despite the overly quantized feel, and the sound effects give it a slightly different flavor from his other straight up rock mixes. I thought the solo was a bit boring and played it a little safe. It seemed almost mechanical compared to the great flow the rest of his playing had. Also, a few sections had a different guitar tone for the lead which seemed really thin. Can;t say I was totally feeling that.
Not his best mix, but still pretty good.
- OA on March 3, 2008
The only thing I would have liked changed are the sound effects at the beginning and the end. They sound really weak. A great rushing stream sound would have done wonders to equal the high-energy approach of the rest of the track (especially at the end), as the sound effects used sound like water swirling around in a bathtub.
However, the use of the splash effect around 1:58 really does work nicely!
Great stuff, and I love anything based on CV3 source material, one of my favourite video game soundtracks ever. Keep it up.
- RePENT on January 14, 2007
If you are into any rock or even just some good electric guitar, you must download this!
- Insane2757 on March 3, 2005
- BlueMage on March 3, 2005
goat is definatly one of my favorite artists on OC! Maybe because I'm a big fan of rock/metal remixes. My only quam with this mix is the snare sample, I think it sounds to loose or sloppy, but thats just me. Maybe he did this purposly because of the water at the begining and end? Who cares! This is an awsome mix!
I wonder of he takes requests... cause I know a few songs that could use his touch...
- Jubei
- himurajubei on November 23, 2004
- Carboman on October 31, 2004
Gotta go to the bathroom.
- icycrispcow on October 30, 2004
Go and finish all the other CV3 songs now. We all look forward to it !
- RimFrost the Tourianist on October 30, 2004
