ReMix: Castlevania: Symphony of the Night 'Wet Dreams'
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- Game: Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (Konami, 1997, PS1)
- ReMixer(s): ktriton
- Composer(s): Jeff Lorber, Michiru Yamane, Rika Muranaka, Tomoko Sano, Tony Haynes, akiropito
- Song(s): 'Dance of Pales', 'Wandering Ghosts'
- Posted: 2010-01-14, evaluated by the judges
- Album: Featured on Castlevania: Symphony of the Night - Resurrection
This is some damn sexy Castlevania from Kunal, who we hadn't heard from since 2007, off of the Bad Dudes' Resurrection album. It has clearly been too long is all I gotta say, because ktriton has upped his already formidable game with ace production and seriously brilliant textural juxtaposition. I really have nothing remotely negative to say about this mix, and I find a lot of the ideas and instrumentation refreshing and immaculately executed. From string swells to R&B snaps to creaky EP to the transition from electric bass to synth bass, this is sickness and slickness, joined at the hip. And that's without even mentioning the acoustic guitar that drives the whole piece, with its myriad articulations, sweet mixing, and perfect performance. The whole thing screams pro, but in a subtle, confident-but-not-obnoxious voice that oozes with creativity. Kunal's expressed concern that some of his arrangements may be too liberal for the site, and while that may still be the case for some of his stuff, in this instance the panel was unanimous that this was more VGM arrangement than original. Swede writes:
"Obviously I wouldn't mind some more overt source usage from Kunal next time but this particular arrangement is safe to pass in my opinion. Production is clean and crisp, arrangement is hot and everything is well put together. I especially dig the attention given to the ghost notes in the drum patterns. Guitar sounds excellent too, very smooth to combine soft sounds like that and the electric piano with the busy drums. Great performance too, very nice dynamic playing."
Yeah, ditto all that on the crunchtacular and spot-on drums. There are individual stylistic elements here that remind me of posu and Morse, but it's really got a style & vibe very much its own, and I dig it big time. Hopefully you will too - a hearty welcome back to ktriton!
Discussion: Latest 14 comments/reviews; view the - Villainelle on January 30, 2010
- DCT on January 29, 2010
Wonderful.
- Martin Penwald on January 29, 2010
I also agree with Audity somewhat - I too had an issue with the high end on the drums being too loud.
Otherwise, this song has an interesting groove to it. It approaches the song in a more seductive direction with it focusing more on the guitar being played with a more spanish flair to it, if that makes any sense. A nice listen though!
- Bahamut on January 22, 2010
- DiggiDis on January 20, 2010
- martinstatic on January 18, 2010
- Mustin on January 16, 2010
A+ must listen.
- ChaosPlayer on January 15, 2010
A fantastically original take on this ballroom dance type song. Wonderful, thank you for this!
- MechaFone on January 14, 2010
I just wanted to say that there's a little bit of extra treble in the high-end percussion, which, according to my experience and producer-headphones setup, is a common problem in many many songs really.
I like playing my songs loudly. And, in order to hear natural instruments (e.g. high notes of pianos and guitars) at their maximum quality -- by boosting up high-end EQ -- doing so primarily results in ear piercing, whenever there's such percussion 'in the way' in many songs out there.
It depends on the mindset and audio setup of the person, but I think that a tiny bit more tweaking and consideration for many artists will make for an [i]always[/i] enjoyable listen.
- Audity on January 14, 2010
oh, and that ending was sweet as hell
- halc on January 14, 2010
- OA on January 14, 2010
- LostChronos on January 14, 2010
