ReMix: Xenogears 'Omen (R3 Mix)'

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Xenogears

Now for some solid Gears action from R3FORGED, who we also haven't seen since 2006. He stuck with this 'Omen' mix over the course of the project and revised it, however, culminating in a masterpiece of glitched + tweaked percussion that builds layer upon layer of intensity. The drums start off purely electronic and are awesome enough as-is, but when the acoustic kit gets thrown in later in the mix, things get truly awe-inspiring. Ian writes:

"Starting with EDM, then shifting to Electro House, and finally ending with Akira Toriyama, this mix has been completely re-worked 3 or 4 times. This song has been carefully composed using excessive distortion and conscious stretching of the human ear's potential to give the listener the experience I had when I first heard the original. I hope the listener feels the intense sorrow that the original portrayed. I try to express this through an instrumental struggle with glitches and such. The odd time measure from the original composition was tough to give a "slow-train" feel, so I dropped it to 4/4 and reworked a lot of the runs."

There's a surprising level of narrative development here; the whole piece is almost like one big crescendo, getting more and more elaborate and contracting around the listener, then terminating with an eery, heartbeat-like pulse. It does Mitsuda's original full justice and really creates an immersive, transporting atmosphere. Album director Avaris writes:

"Ian stayed with us over the years constantly changing this track as his own personal style changed. What I love most about this mix is its intense feel while remaining down tempo. It's a passive aggressive attack on the senses. The electro-acoustic elements make this track infinitely repeatable and pure WIN. The 'intelligent' use of his glitching and audio trickery in this one is textbook R3FORGED at its best."

I haven't heard enough of Ian's work to testify as to whether this is textbook "him" or not, but I can definitely say that I'd LOVE to hear more. Another great track from Humans + Gears - stay tuned for more!

― djpretzel

Discussion: Latest 11 comments/reviews; view the complete thread or post your own.
I am extremely surprised that this mix doesn't have more reviews than it does now at this point. This really captured my attention from the beginning with the pulsating beat. It's literally echoing through me, in a totally awesome way. Not so awesome for my cats though :/
I love the depressing feel of this mix overall. That feeling is portrayed perfectly, and I can easily see why this would be called "Omen." Glitching throughout is subtly but very effectively done, along with most of the other effects.
Nice work!
EDIT: Oh yea, and heartbeat = creepy.

- DragonAvenger on November 1, 2009
I'm not such a fan of this song - the bass really kills it for me as far as listenability goes. Otherwise, things seem pretty well crafted, but I'm prone to headaches from a huge amount of bass in comparison to the rest of the song.

- Bahamut on October 26, 2009
Thank you, everyone!
I appreciate all input, positive and constructive, and the fact that you're listening at all makes my day. Thanks again!

- Reforged on October 24, 2009
A+ Must listen :nicework:

- ChaosPlayer on October 24, 2009
I can't begin to express just how amazing this song is. I've had it on repeat for the past hour since I was able to download "Humans + Gears" and, needless to say, this is one of the most haunting songs, to me, in the entire game soundtrack. When I first heard it playing the game, I was overtaken with a sort of nostalgic emotion that I didn't understand. All I know is that my heart rate sped up and I could hardly tear my eyes away from the TV screen.
The same goes for this song. I'm listening to this and it instantly reminds me of the somber edge the original track had. The glitches, scratches, and hard hitting bass beats of the song really brought a new sound to this track. The piano and echoes, along with the different melodies overlapping each other, truly bring out the best in this piece. As stated, it has an intense crescendo effect and the heart thumping at the end of the track left me breathless.
Since Nano Wrimo is coming up, I can honestly say that this is one of MANY tracks from my OC Remix collection that will be going into my writing playlist. Excellent job R3FORGED! I look forward to hearing more of your material in the future.

- Studio Eden on October 23, 2009
Seriously this rocks. Loved every second of it.

- metalsnakejuice on October 23, 2009
Holy CRAP this mix is badass. Absolutely fantastic listen! WOW

- Hollidayrain on October 22, 2009
I enjoyed this song so much I had to turn off Last.fm scrobbling. I didn't want people to see how OCD I was, listening to the same song over and over. :D
It's like Front Line Assembly knocked up Massive Attack and this was their beautiful love child. Brilliant!

- Chiral on October 21, 2009
I think this has to be the best song with the most unoriginal mix title on the site haha. :razz:
For the love of god you better finish your other version of this from 3 years ago! Although this version captures the despair and dark feel of the original source to a T. You really breathed some new life into a well used source tune dude!

- avaris on October 19, 2009
I'm loving those smeared snare hits- sounds like it's growling. Totally cool effect. Synths and piano sound are perfectly chosen, and this really takes a track I didn't care for too much on the original soundtrack and really gives it attitude. Great panning, and a good flow. Very good stuff, another win for the Xenogears project!

- OA on October 19, 2009
What did you think? Post your opinion of this ReMix.

- djpretzel on October 19, 2009

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