ReMix: Mega Man Zero 2 'Moving Forward'

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Mega Man Zero 2

Newcomer AMT, aka Austin Thresher, writes:

"This is a remix of the opening stage of Mega Man Zero 2. Not much to say, I worked on this for a while and I'm pretty happy with how it came out, so I figured I'd submit it. Guitars / bass are real, I had fun recording them. Thanks for taking the time to listen!"

We actually have two other MMZ2 mixes, both from 2005, but neither are in this particular style, which I would describe as "Mostly Instrumental Metal/Rock" - the "mostly" is because Austin throws in some manscreams & manscreamed lyrics towards the end, after what sounds like sampled talking. I gotta say, usually for me vocals are an all-or-nothing deal: Either make a vocal mix, or make an instrumental mix, but don't pepper vocal bits around sparsely. Incidentally, I feel the same way about voiceover narration in film - commit, or excise completely. In this case, though, Austin won me over; the screamed lyrics towards the end of this really serve as more of a climax, after the arrangement has built in intensity to allow for such a new element. The initial version the artist sent in was mixed a little too aggressively and needed some polish, but he addressed most if not all of the judges' issues with this resubmission. OA writes:

"...a lot of production issues I had with the first sub have been fixed, and some of the breakdown sections really worked. Excellent synths there. Arrangement was creative, and the subtle (and the sometimes extreme) panning on some elements was very cool. Nice attention to detail. Vocals were great. That Mega Man is one angry guy! :O"

Hey, you would be too if you were an overworked franchise hero who KEEPS having to save the world every other week. This track's cool because it's highly personalized, yet the source remains identifiable. It's not something you would hear and think "remix" in any way, which is an interesting dynamic. Certainly a unique and enjoyable debut from AMT - I admit, I'm somewhat intrigued, and definitely looking forward to his next track.

― djpretzel

Discussion: Latest 15 comments/reviews; view the complete thread or post your own.
Does anyone have a tab (.ptb, .gp# even .txt) or even sheet or midi of this song OR the source?
I really wanna learn to play it, but I was never any good at figuring anything out by ear -.-

- Atlessa on March 28, 2012
About the growls/vocals that seems to turn most of the people off, I think it's very suiting to the internal conflict "Zero" must have had to go through after Zero 3's final boss fight when he has to choose when the truth about "Zero" comes out (hope I'm not spoiling anything there.)
Pretty sure if we got inside Zero's head there'd be some screaming anyways. I know I screamed a good number of times navigating through multiple death traps when I first played MMZ.
Anyways, I loved it. Off to play MMZ. Again. xD

- fatnool3 on April 30, 2010
Awesome!
The screams kinda remind me of some of the Metalcore I used to listen to... okay, I still listen to them, but not as often. I tend to be more of a melodic-centered metal person these days, however I still enjoy a good metalcore band every once in a while.
I have to agree with a previous comment that the guitars tended to lack body. Other than that, no complaints whatsoever.

Looking forward to your next mix!

- DragnBreth on March 29, 2010
I was quite wary when I read djp write about "manscreams & manscreamed lyrics" in the write-up, but it turned out much better than I thought. Usually, I don't like growling/screaming, but it works quite well here. I guess that's because it's there for only a small part of the song, i.e. it doesn't overstay its welcome.
Positive surprise.

- Martin Penwald on March 19, 2010
I love the source material, but I'm afraid this doesn't do it for me. I love the energy and the portions leading up to the yelling, but as soon as the yelling began I had difficulty finishing the song.
Still, though, this is definitely a good piece of work.

- rahmoon on March 15, 2010
Yeah, this is pretty awesome. Nice to hear a different style of shredding on OCRemix that's for sure.
I agree with the comment about the compression though. It almost seems like it's a tonal compression (possibly Multi-band) that ignores the low end and buries the palm-mutes somewhat.
Usually you don't need compression on distorted guitars since they have a natural compression from the effect.
But I mean, it's nitpicking at the end of the day, still a very solid remix.

- MojoHamster on March 5, 2010
I'm not a fan of this kind of music at all. I am a fan of the source material, but felt that it was hardly incorporated.
That said, I actually enjoyed this track. It sounds solid and heavy and not garage band at all. Great job building up to the climax of the song. The screaming seemed right in place, and there wasn't too much of it was I could handle. I didn't care for the ending so much though, just sort of... over...
Great effort and creative twist of the source, good job overall!

- SChepulis on March 4, 2010
I think this is a little overcompressed most of the time, and the rhythm guitars are indeed thin. Personally, I love the screaming vocals, I just wish there'd been more of them. The arrangement feels kind of empty a lot of the time, and they fill it up quite nicely.
EDIT: Very much looking forward to a screaming contest between you and LuIza (in an OCReMix I mean). Make it happen, dude!

- Dafydd on March 3, 2010
I do believe it is a stylistic choice to scream or growl rather than sing.
Just sayin.

- Cyril the Wolf on March 3, 2010
Meh. If you can sing, sing, if you can't, don't ruin an otherwise good song by just growling at the microphone. Pass. =\

- Tasogare on March 2, 2010
AMT;651059 wrote: The lyrics for both the spoken part and screamed part are
I don't know what you want from me / Or why you try me constantly
Just let me go, how do I show / You're nothing but a loss to me


Thanks. :smile:

- Crulex on March 2, 2010
It's good. But after the scream I think you should have slammed on the grinding guitars and heavy fast drums. This went into electronica and not metal so much. If you're gonna use a scream, go full on metal afterwards.(my opinion) Again, it's good. I like it.
At 2:15 it gets it right. Sounds like some of the nu metal bands a friend of mine really likes. Then again, I can't even mix so I should shut up. And it is intended to be a MegaMan track...guess I'm jaded.:dstrbd:

- LostChronos on March 2, 2010
The lyrics for both the spoken part and screamed part are
I don't know what you want from me / Or why you try me constantly
Just let me go, how do I show / You're nothing but a loss to me

- AMT on March 2, 2010
AMT;650621 wrote: PS: Cyril, I'm DeathBySpoon. We ARE collaborating ;)

I meant on a metal track smarty mcsmart pants. ;)

- Cyril the Wolf on March 1, 2010
DJP: "Either make a vocal mix, or make an instrumental mix, but don't pepper vocal bits around sparsely."

This. Don't get me wrong, I love the vocals and the metal work around it, and it's awesome (because I seem to be one of the few that know the source) to see it worked this way. This Remix really is great all way around. I just think this sounds like half a ReMix with one music section and one vocal section. It's sounds like a solo and/or music only section could have been added after the first round of lyrics and finally end a vocal finale. But like I said, I like what IS here, and that's what counts. Great job, AMT!

PS: I'm not good at hearing out metal vocals, so what are the last two lines of the lyrics? I can make out the first two, but it's the 2nd half that I can't seem to understand.

- Crulex on March 1, 2010