ReMix:God of War "Minotaur Nightmares" 4:18

By Mazedude

Arranging the music of one song...

"Minotaur Boss Battle"

Primary Game: God of War (Sony , 2005, PS2), music by Cris Velasco, Gerard K. Marino, Mike Reagan, Ron Fish, Winifred Phillips

Posted 2007-06-19, evaluated by djpretzel


God of War is an amazing game. No, I haven't beaten it, and I'm not really that far, but even from the first level alone - even from the first PART of the first level - anyone who's been playing games awhile can recognize that a lot of elements came together very successfully to facilitate the sort of experience it creates. It combines the fluid motions and mechanics of the more recent Prince of Persia games with an epic sense of scale, a completely cohesive and brilliant aesthetic sense, some of the best camera work I've ever seen in any game, period, and a beautiful score. If you watch the making-of documentary on the disc, you really get a sense of the hell the team went through and the perfectionism and excellence that was encouraged and achieved across the board. Anyways, this isn't a game review, but I wanted to throw my two cents in. As a side note, I've met Gerard Marino, one of the composers, and he's a great guy. As is Christopher Getman, perhaps better known as Mazedude. Not just for giving us yet another great ReMix, but for turning our attention specifically to American game composers, with his American Album project. Because many of the titles we cherished from the 8- and 16-bit eras were primarily Japanese, often the same nostalgic appreciation and fanboy fanaticism never gets directed towards the deserving composers closer to home (for most of us), and Chris has really done a fantastic job of helping to mitigate that. Be sure to check out the interview with Chris, Mustin, Tommy Tallarico and others, too - awesome!

On to the mix; our first GoW piece is a definite keeper. Then again, that applies to pretty much everything Mazedude does, so let's delve a bit deeper. What we've got here is basically an industrial... waltz. Not often do you see these two beasts mated in captivity, but if there's a zoologist that can breed such a chimera, it's the dude of maze. Chris writes:

"Originally an epic piece of grandeur - complete with orchestra and choir - now a killer industrial waltz of synthy splendor, complete with many custom samples created by Mazedude.

That, and a few Lord of the Rings samples, as well as some of the coolest lead sounds I could find in the world of tracking.

So, true story. My girlfriend, Goddess Julia, was hanging out late into the night, and fell asleep. I was still wide awake, and determined that I wanted to remix this song. I applied the headphones and got to work. A few hours later I have an awesome start, a few minutes mixed, and I've really been enjoying myself, when my girl starts making some very uncomfortable noises, like she's in pain. I stop what I'm doing and console her. "You were having a nightmare," I say, as I calm her down and ease her back into a nice sleep.

The next day I'm all like "hey, let me show you what I wrote last night!" I start to play it, and she snaps back and yells "that's the song that was playing in my nightmare last night!!!" ... apparently I had it cranked pretty loud inside the headphones.

Sounds to me like I have a winner on my hands here. :)"

Said Goddess Julia has since become Mrs. Getman, so I suppose the moral of the story is that writing industrial waltzes in the wee hours of the morning can lead to wedlock. Congratulations to Chris - a husband is you! As an additional bit of anecdotal wonder, Mr. Marino himself really enjoyed this piece, and said so himself when he met Mazedude in L.A.... I tell ya, all these west coast peeps, networking all the time and going to shindigs with bigwigs... just ain't fair! This mix has a demonic, industrial, tracked feel that reminds me a little of Ari's Neighburgers opus. This is a really great example of how even lush, modern, film-class game scores can be ReMixed into entirely different creations; things are obviously and intentionally less pristine, and the overall genre has been modified substantially. Nevertheless, as with all Mazedude compositions, the heart and soul of the original are still present and beating/doing whatever it is that souls do. This isn't what I'd expect from our first God of War ReMix, but I like that fact, and I like the mix too. Chris is a busy guy and just trying to keep up with whatever he's working on is a daunting task, but it's great that he keeps releasing amazing, free game music arrangements, and doubly great that he's taken on the personal mission of focusing on the wealth of talented American game composers. Kratos would be pleased.

djpretzel

Discussion

Latest 15 comments/reviews; view the complete thread or post your own.
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Crulex
on 2011-12-08 12:56:23

Oh, god, that distorted bell gong is sooo good! I'm so glad you both opened and ended the ReMix with them. The whole thing plays out like a scene into what hell looks like if you were to look at it through a window. Industrial Waltz seems to be perfectly demented for this sort of music. The hellish SFX were impressive and fit the ReMix perfectly. Amazing work with the organ as well Dark, demonic and I love every bit of it. This is my kind of ReMix and completely recommended.

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stkyle
on 2010-03-12 20:52:27

I had hit play and went back to writing a paper and moments later I look up: "What the Nazgûl??" I had to double check what game this was from lol. I love the low repeating tone, like an intruder alarm. Makes me think of base under attack from Nazgûl ^_^

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Sir_Downunder
on 2009-12-13 05:35:37

I love this, my favorite Mazedude track to date.

When the first bell tolls, you can just tell this is going to be menacing right off the bat, and this piece delivers in spades. Heavy beats, absolutely demonic synths and the screams pull together this hell-raising piece :twisted:.

A killer track by Mazedude. Just don't listen to this before you go to bed.

If you do, just imagine Kratos swooping in and viciously killing everything. :

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OA
on 2008-06-03 12:12:27

Never got around to commenting on this one when it first came out, my initial impressions were that it was skillfully arranged but a little too creepy for me, but after a year or so of listening, the screams and such aren't quite as scary to me, and I can appreciate the excellent music. It still has a very menacing feel to it, but it's not as unnerving.

Beats are great, and the synth leads are well chosen and varied. This is a really busy piece in the high end, and it's somewhat overwhelming at first, but give it a few listens, it really grows on you. Just be sure to check under the bed before going to sleep. ;-)

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Inv1ctus
on 2007-10-06 05:18:48

the composer is very talented to be able to orchestrate that kind of electronic chaos and make it sound really good. All the elements of the song really collide into each other, which is very enjoyable to listen to.

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DrumUltimA
on 2007-07-09 22:16:04

i love the screaming :D

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Martin Penwald
on 2007-07-04 15:58:36

An industrial waltz? Now that's something you don't hear too often; however, it works incredibly well.

Furthermore, the track has a spooky, hellish vibe to it. Listening to it evokes pictures of demons and devils dancing augustly in some dark, blood-red dome.

Very well done.

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Kidd Jredd
on 2007-06-22 20:51:16

Rock on man, I've been a fan of yours since I heard those crazy old school tracker sounding Doom Remixes of yours. I like all of your work for different reasons, but these wicked industrial type mixes really hits the spot for me.

You don't ever hear main stream stuff sound like this and it's a damn shame. But dude, it's awesome to hear new mixes from you and a major props on the whole marriage thing :). Good stuff man.

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Trash
on 2007-06-21 11:49:22

Its a very good remix reminds me very much of the final battle in Super Metroid :P or at least how i would imagine it to sound with if it ever would be remade :P

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debeerguy007
on 2007-06-21 04:25:53

As always, Mr. Getman has the ablity to make the weirdest sounding, yet most awesome sounding of video game rearrangments to be heard. It's stuff like this that gives a whole a new meaning to the term, "remix"

And I tell ya what, that ain't necessarily a bad thing.

Good stuff my man.

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Chickenwarlord
on 2007-06-20 23:49:00

It's Mazedude. Seriously, do you need a review after you know this?

As always, fairly awesome stuff. The whole feel of an off kilter industrial waltz with murder in its chords. Not quite up to the level of Microscopism, but darn close.

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NZman
on 2007-06-20 20:31:31

1:50, 2:16, and 3:44 were the highlights for me.

My favorite track from the Bad Dudes EP.

Glad to see this here.

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AeroZ
on 2007-06-20 19:15:07

Love that "scream n terror" feeling to it.

Love the tight drumwork.. psycic tunes.

Love the depth at 01.31 the organ gives.

You rock my ears.

This is Top 5 for me.

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Arek the Absolute
on 2007-06-20 17:44:30

mazedude is a genius

simple

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DJ Skratch 'n' Sniff
on 2007-06-20 10:34:45

Classic Mazedude deliciousness.

Sources Arranged (1 Song)


Primary Game:
God of War (Sony , 2005, PS2)
Music by Cris Velasco,Gerard K. Marino,Mike Reagan,Ron Fish,Winifred Phillips
Songs:
"Minotaur Boss Battle"

Tags (5)


Genre:
Industrial
Mood:
Dark
Instrumentation:
Electronic,Synth
Additional:
Usage > Halloween

File Information


Name:
God_of_War_Minotaur_Nightmares_OC_ReMix.mp3
Size:
6,866,791 bytes
MD5:
e315612d017c61bb5a5320b8ab5a0513
Bitrate:
210Kbps
Duration:
4:18
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Bad Dudes


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Published 2006-10-27
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