ReMix: Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse 'Demonic Conception'

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Castlevania: Sonata of the DamnedCastlevania III: Dracula's Curse

Happy Halloween! Exactly one year ago, we released Joshua Morse's one-man EP Sonata of the Damned, and this is the final ReMix to be posted from it, making it the first album to be completely represented with individual mixes on OCR. That's much easier to do with a shorter album primarily created by a single, uber-talented mixer, but it's still pretty durn cool. It took a year, and there were several other Morse gems sprinkled in between, but it's nice to finally come full circle and end as SotD began, on October 31st. jm writes:

"I believe I've wanted to arrange "Demon Seed" for roughly 4 years, now. I finally got around to it, and, honestly, did not envision it coming out the way it did. One thing led to another and I accidentally combined a trio of genres to make this arrangement happen, but I feel the meld of genres helped to capture the mood the original tune was intending to portray in one way or another."

Genre-spanning though it may be, one thing's consistent across each track off the album, and that's a flamboyant funk that provides a unique ingredient not often paired with Castlevania source material, offering fresh takes on classics and newer cuts as well. Rather than getting into the details on this mix specifically (spoiler: it's great, like all the others), I'll just say that this album provided a great Halloween surprise last year, new ears have been exposed to it even recently with each new mix posted, and while shorter, it's a rock-solid piece of fan-made VGM arrangement that'll stand the test of time. Far funkier than it is spooky, it nevertheless deserves some rotation on your Halloween playlists, and every day of the year works just as well.

― djpretzel

Discussion: Latest 13 comments/reviews; view the complete thread or post your own.
Man, that guitar goes hard! What a sick riff that just sounds so evil with the beat over top of it. It's nice to hear funky and evil in the same place, and this is one of my favorite tunes on this album. Nice work, man.

- Crulex on May 2, 2012
Completely agreed with EmpyClaw - these are some funktastic demonic vampire space aliens who break into dance as they funkily slink around and bite people. Who then get up, all vampiri-zombified, and start shuffling around all funkily, too.

- WesternZypher on January 3, 2011
So I'm not sure how, but the words that come to mind are "light and creepy." It's a fun combination, and one that I would not expect to work together. I also enjoy it feels like an old campy sci-fi film in a lot of it. The earth is being invaded by the funkiest aliens ever. Very enjoyable. ^_^

- EmpyClaw on December 9, 2010
Joshua Morse;731790 wrote: That's a live guitar; no samples involved. :)

Oh snap! My bad, dude. The performance was so dead-on that I guess it struck home as sampled. If that's the case, really solid performance but the processing threw me off. :)!!
Edit: okay, after listening, yeah, sorry I missed that. Cheerfully withdrawn, sir.

- Level 99 on November 20, 2010
Level 99;730591 wrote: I'm not digging the distorted guitar sample.

That's a live guitar; no samples involved. :)

- Joshua Morse on November 20, 2010
Hmm... You know, the last thing that came to my mind was anything even remotely haunted. For some reason it just goes the other way... The whole time I'm picturing a group of people working in a futuristic garage with holograms they're clickin away at to get parts for customizing some kind of vehicle... be it a mecha or car of some kind, all the while they're snackin on foods and joking with each other.
... or it could just be a side effect of too much Phantasy Star Online...
*shrug*

- Crono3of3time on November 20, 2010
This one is definitely smooth, but I guess I'm having an issue some of those super-airy pads and the way they are modulated because there's a few things that are clashing at parts in the mix for me. Nice solo going on, but I'm not digging the distorted guitar sample. Still, pretty good stuff.

- Level 99 on November 15, 2010
As always, top notch stuff from Josh here. Loved the beat on this one--and the variations were perfect. Also really enjoyed that solo (although to be fair, who doesn't enjoy a JM solo?)
Great mix, man...keep 'em coming!

- ktriton on November 9, 2010
"You're listening to "Demonic Conception" with Casey Kasem on cool 101.3, the wave.
this song is dedicated to Barbara from John, I love you baby, come back to me."
i asked myself "could i envision myself whipping the shit out of everything i could possibly come into contact with to this song?" no, too mellow. But i did hear Casey Kasem introduce it in the beginning. (in my head, not in the actual song)

- Csyzr on November 5, 2010
I know if I heap lots of praise on this mix, it'll get drowned out with the size of ego Morse has got to have. I fully accept that useless gushing won't really do much to affect future decisions, or give an insightful look into the mix at all (not that me being a jerk does much better.)
Yet, I just can't help it. This pushes all the right buttons, scrubs all the right places, and even tosses in a happy ending - free egg roll with massage. HAPPY ENDING!
In fact, that's what this mix is. It's a happy ending.

- Master_Yoshi on November 4, 2010
Aha, this sounds familiar.. well nice to see it finally on the site.
Quite a spin on the usual "theme" that goes with CV.
I just wish it were a bit longer, it would be a perfect club mix.
Maybe Josh, maybe!?

- Kadosho on November 2, 2010
I know I praised that ghost whirl lead (0:43, 1:50) once already, but again: eerily arresting + holiday themed = genius. I'd probably flip out if I walked into a Halloween shop and heard one of their "wooooo"-sounding trinkets start playing Demon Seed out of nowhere. The castanets still pack a sharp, nutty flavor, and they keep the danceability intact with the bass and wah synths. And of course the windy gusts and many reverbed synths illustrate a spacious cave setting (which makes up part of the level where the source plays).
Chills all around.

- Polo on October 31, 2010
What did you think? Post your opinion of this ReMix.

- djpretzel on October 31, 2010