ReMix: Eternal Champions 'Perpetual Motion'
- Game: Eternal Champions (Sega, 1993, GEN)
- ReMixer(s): zircon
- Composer(s): Adrian Van Velsen, Andy Armor, Jeff Marsh, Joe Delia, John Hart
- Song(s):
- Posted: 2006-07-19, evaluated by djpretzel
I was privy to earlier incarnations of this, our first Eternal Champions ReMix, courtesy of Mr. Aversa. I still remember the television ad for EC, which depicted the box for the cartridge opening and closing, so as to resemble a mouth, with some witty slogan about how Eternal Champions was going to eat up all those "other" fighting games. Needless to say, while Sonic was clearly a successful combatant for Sega in the realm of platformers, EC never really screamed "franchise" to anyone. I remember playing it, thinking it was decent, then going straight back to my beloved SF2T without batting an eyelash. The music was something of a fog for me, but zircon's lifted that fog, and what you've got in this case is a piece that wouldn't sound out of place on a Castlevania soundtrack - very gothic... or baroque... or one of those adjectives that describes music they play when people dress up in flamboyant clothes and whip vampires and wear too much makeup. It's a different style for zircon, although his trusty FM7 is familiarly identifiable as the synth brass patch that starts things off. The intro actually sounds a bit like a Genesis, until the cleaner drums and pristine bell pads enter. There's textural electric guitar added in for some subtle but effective grit, as well, and drums get meatier using Andy's layering tricks at 1'10" after a tom fill. The following progression really reminds me of portions of the Clockwork Orange soundtrack. There's a nicely executed ritardando/fake ending sorta thing that then kicks right back in, harder than previously, and some choral patches join in for the last bits. There's a conscious lack of a discrete bassline in the instrumentation, with the base of the progression filling things out in the lower quarters; I think this both helps and hurts the mix. It helps it remain very crisp, clean, and perhaps increases the gothic feel, but at the cost of the drums sometimes feeling unanchored. I could go either way, but since it's a salient and probably more unorthodox arrangement decision, it bears mentioning. All in all, though, a great mix that reminds me that EC really did have some good tunes, and which also opens up some new directions for its ReMixer in terms of genre and instrumentation. As a sidenote, while 'Perpetual Motion' was one of my mix title suggestions, I was pushing much harder for Andy to use the extremely punny 'Eternal Affairs' or the Banglesque 'Eternal Flame' - alas, cooler heads prevailed.
I've come to enjoy your remixes as they are amazing to listen too!
This one still tops my list of top OCRemixes and I doubt it'll leave anytime soon. The best part is when you slow it down a few minutes in and pick it up back up. Very well done.
Keep up the amazing work.
- Loning on July 9, 2009
- maelkashishi on December 10, 2007
- lord_ah on September 15, 2006
I wonder about the name of the piece, though - discrete reference to SC Vanguard's 2006 show? Probably just a coincidence.
- Rainman DX on September 14, 2006
- Chickenwarlord on September 4, 2006
However is nice as background music. :P
[i]Conclusion[/i] : more [b]calamitous judgement![/b] more! more!:-D
- John Revoredo on August 27, 2006
- playingtokrush on August 22, 2006
Back on topic, Zircon really did bring out the best of the Eternal Champion's theme. My mind's eye sees Perpetual Motion as a lighter "color" than the average OCRemix; clear bell tones and--I'm not as versed on instruments or music, so bear with me--the "flute-like" instrument that composes the lead adds to this perception, I guess. If you don't get what I mean by "lighter color", suffice it to say that Perpetual Motion sounds more like a cathedral than, say, a dance hall; if that's not clear, I'm probably a music-to-visual Synaesthetic, so I don't blame you for not understanding.
In short, it's very beautiful in a musical sense. I love all the remixes on this site, but I wish there were more like this one. Keep up the good work, Zircon.
- Rainbringer on August 6, 2006
- playingtokrush on August 6, 2006
best part 1:08-1:54
- JoyBoy on August 2, 2006
- Nobbynob Littlun on July 28, 2006
Now, we just need a new CD so I can hear all of those unfinished WIPs you post in their completed form.
- PlastikBag on July 27, 2006
Does anyone else think this is far too short to be called 'Perpetual Motion'?
- Chickenwarlord on July 26, 2006
- Mythezza on July 26, 2006
Paul R Charles Watkins wrote: Hey, the same song AkumajoBelmont remixed. A little more subdued than what we're used to with zircon. I found it to be decent, but nothing beyond the fade in at 2:55 seemed to stand out. My two cents.
Fair enough. You're right that it's a bit unusual for me. For one thing this is the slowest original I have ever remixed; sub-90 BPMs are fairly difficult to work with. Another thing is that I actually did this ReMix with only a tenth of my normal synth/sample collection. I started it on a whim after my prmiary music software drive got wiped. However, I did have a lot of fun with it and as long as some people are enjoying it as much as I did, then mission accomplished, I say :)
Thanks for the comments, all.
- zircon on July 24, 2006
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