ReMix:Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest "This Chase Is Haunted" 3:03

By Prince uf Darkness

Arranging the music of one song...

"Haunted Chase (Haunted Hall)"

Primary Game: Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest (Nintendo , 1995, SNES), music by David Wise

Posted 2010-10-08, evaluated by the judges panel


Well, first off, kudos for the punny mix title, which mashes up the source title with MAGFest regulars TPIH in style. Tony's Serious Monkey Business track is just over three minutes of heavy-hitting metal that expands on the original & makes it bleed pure guitar - he writes:

"Arranging this song was a bit different, because there really wasn’t much for me to go off of. The source stays around a central theme pretty heavily and I had to add a bit of original work just so the song wasn’t ridiculously short."

Vinnie summed this one up well:

"Arrangement-wise and production-wise, it's hard to find fault with this. Hard-hitting, dynamic, clean, great performance - pretty much everything one could hope for in a guitar+synth arrangement. I'm not even that big a fan of the original track, but this really kicks life into it. The first listen through I wasn't picking up all the source usage, and you've got some chunks of this that are original (that kick ass, btw), but upon closer listen you're definitely over the bar. Keep bringing rock to the masses, Tony."

Synth parts themselves are really well-written, but balanced beneath the guitars so as not to stand out; CHz noted that at certain points, like the solo around 2'08", it would have been nice if they'd been brought up a bit, if only to better appreciate the part writing, which is badass. It's sorta cosmically unfair that guitar powerhouses are throwing more & better synth solos into their jams, covering the guitar hero AND synth hero roles simultaneously, but all's fair in love and ReMixing, and if the result is tracks like this, it can't be a bad thing. Fantastic stuff from Tony that made a great addition to the album!

djpretzel

Discussion

Latest 13 comments/reviews; view the complete thread or post your own.
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Black_Doom
on 2015-12-10 13:50:01

Oh, this is one of the cases when you know that right from the begining your face is gonna be melt, and, hell yes, I'll let my face melt here :) This track is so fucking awesome. Seriously, Tony's guitar skills are jaw-dropping here as always, and everything is clean and dynamic. Wish it was longer, though.

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DragonAvenger
on 2010-12-22 21:46:41

This track is definitely a powerhouse: the guitars, bass, and drums really push the track in all directions, and overall it's pretty awesome to listen to. I agree that the synth is getting crowded out, and it would have been nice to hear that clearly, but aside from that, great mix.

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Crulex
on 2010-12-07 12:44:28

You know, I have never heard of Dream Theater before I heard this ReMix. And now after hearing about the comparisons and checking it out, I love it. Proof that video game music can lead you to more music to enjoy in the wildest ways. I do hear the influence and this has quickly become one of my favorite ReMixes from the album. The sweet guitar rhythms and the driven, almost frantic pacing really reminds me of that level. And thumbs up for the creative name. :smile: Really, Prince of Darkness really delivered on this one, so thumbs up on a truly incredible mix.

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EmpyClaw
on 2010-12-05 15:41:39

There is so much awesome in the mix, I don't know how it was all fit in. A great piece of metal. Love it.

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Palpable
on 2010-12-04 19:36:37

This is one of those songs I keep coming back to on this album, and I like it even more than when I judged it. I love the Dream Theater-esque part where the rhythm emphasis gets weird, and how nearly every hook from the original is crammed into this. Such a great arrangement.

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Anorax
on 2010-12-04 00:08:06

AWESOME REMIX!

I love how you kept so close to the source.

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Firefeng
on 2010-10-30 08:56:55

This mix screams Dream Theater, only I like the distortion on this mix's guitars a helluva lot better than the slightly muffled, crunchy sound that Dream Theater uses.

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Master_Yoshi
on 2010-10-15 08:42:10
This was a pretty hard source to tackle for many people - we went through two people beforehand who had too much trouble with it before soliciting Tony's help, and he did a damn good job considering the source material.

Really? Two people tried and failed at this track? I'm surprised, it's a really cool track, and much more complex arrangements have been tackled in the past. Ah well, it's hard to go wrong with screaming electric guitars, and they are employed to great effect here.

Well, not really screaming at all times, but this is still rocking, and good! It feels a bit formulatic, as in "Do a cover arrangement of the theme as your backbone, use the key melodic hooks, and then do most of your expansion via solo" but hey, the system works, right? Really, my only gripe is that - I don't get a feel that this is the work of... Yeah. Sorry dude, I totally forgot your name, because I didn't listen to this and think "Whoa, that was pretty damn cool! Good job [subject name here]!"

So yeah, this is good but not earth shaking. Maybe that is the problem that Bahamut was referencing - it was hard to set the world ablaze when arranging this track.

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ddavis1979
on 2010-10-09 07:52:38

Excellent remix, it will be added to my favorites and listened to many times!

9 out of 10

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DarkBlade
on 2010-10-08 20:18:06

Lol Nice referrence to Lamb of God at 1:40-1:50

Clearly the "Laid to Rest" intro! =D

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Bahamut
on 2010-10-08 14:49:50

This was a pretty hard source to tackle for many people - we went through two people beforehand who had too much trouble with it before soliciting Tony's help, and he did a damn good job considering the source material.

Gotta love headbanging to the track though, solid aggressive metal. :)

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OA
on 2010-10-08 14:31:58

Super rocking powerhouse of a track. What is a powerhouse anyways? would that be a home with electricity? Or the condo owned by a superhero maybe? I don't know, but I do know this song kicks ass and OCR needs more POD. \m/

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djpretzel
on 2010-10-08 09:45:28

What did you think? Post your opinion of this ReMix.

Sources Arranged (1 Song)


Primary Game:
Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest (Nintendo , 1995, SNES)
Music by David Wise
Songs:
"Haunted Chase (Haunted Hall)"

Tags (5)


Genre:
Metal,Rock
Mood:
Aggressive
Instrumentation:
Electric Guitar,Synth
Additional:

File Information


Name:
Donkey_Kong_Country_2_This_Chase_Is_Haunted_OC_ReMix.mp3
Size:
5,469,653 bytes
MD5:
52c7aab0b365ba9936984e58bce68b13
Bitrate:
235Kbps
Duration:
3:03

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