ReMix:Donkey Kong Country "Submerged in Ambiance" 5:39

By The Distortionist

Arranging the music of one song...

"Aquatic Ambiance"

Primary Game: Donkey Kong Country (Nintendo , 1994, SNES), music by David Wise, Eveline Novakovic, Robin Beanland

Posted 2013-04-02, evaluated by djpretzel


From newcomer The Distortionist (Justin Spaulding) comes a different take on the familiar 'Aquatic Ambiance' theme, blending ambient electronic textures with some staccato, convulsing metal shreddage. The artist writes:

"I want to thank you for this website, its purpose and the opportunity for me to share my creations. I have been visiting OC ReMix for many years and have always been humbled by the numerous talented musicians and remixers that appear on the site. After years of watching from the sidelines, I feel as though I am ready to contribute. This remix is important to me, because it is from a game that played a very pivotal role in my childhood. Donkey Kong Country, to me, has one of the most creative and emotional soundtracks out of any game of its time and even modern games. What inspired me to remix Aquatic Ambiance was just simply how beautiful the song is in its purest form. I wanted to blend a smooth electronic sound with a harsh progressive metal sound and after playing around, this quickly turned into a remix that I'm proud of."

Things intro quite mellow, lulling the unsuspecting listener into a false sense of hypnotic relaxation before the WAKE UP CALL at 0'46" - I love the scraping, distinct rhythm guitar part, before power chords take over at 1'14". I almost feel like Justin's communicating with us in Morse code at times, as the separated chuggage and muted fret sounds form a very punctuated cadence during the metal bits.This arrangement does a fantastic job of expanding & extrapolating in between sections that feature the melody, which is largely intact. The artist does a great job of tempering fury with calm, and at 2'52" when that lead re-enters in a serene ocean of accompaniment, you can really appreciate the extremes being visited. Justin's clearly been on the sidelines far too long, as this is a fantastic debut which, while arranging source material that has been thoroughly explored, manages to say something new & rock out doing it. Badass - want more!!

djpretzel

Discussion

Latest 15 comments/reviews; view the complete thread or post your own.
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aerious
on 2016-07-07 21:46:13

this is one of my all-time favorite songs on this site. this makes my soul feel cleansed

i made an account here just so i could say this

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Koriantor
on 2014-12-15 21:00:08

:shock:

This is such a sick mix! The staccato guitar rhythms... just... :nicework:

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WesternZypher
on 2013-05-27 10:28:49

Ambient metal goodness. Take the plunge.

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rainmanbk
on 2013-05-15 22:17:09
Okay! So I'm not a huge metal fan, normally, but I'm a sucker for DKC music so I try to give all mixes a chance. Good thing! This is a stellar beginning and I look forward to your future work.

~LS

Couldn't have said it better myself.. This is sickeningly good. :shock:

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moonra
on 2013-05-11 03:51:02

That's some sweet djent we got here. I kid you not, I was wearing a jacket because it's quite cold in here, but I'm halfway through this remix and I had to take it off.

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Im_Just_Shawn
on 2013-04-24 22:58:29

This...Is...Totally...EPIC! I love what was done here with such an already epic BMG from one of my favorite childhood VG's! The atmosphere, the feel, the flow, the...well, EVERYTHING!

I can not believe that there is this much talent in just a debut piece! I expect to hear great things from you Justin!! 8)

May the gods of music watch over your OCR career and bless you with the ideas to captivate the entire community!

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urdailywater
on 2013-04-17 22:49:15

I can't say much about this one except that it is sick.

Great debut.

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Lady Shinigami
on 2013-04-17 22:46:29

Okay! So I'm not a huge metal fan, normally, but I'm a sucker for DKC music so I try to give all mixes a chance. Good thing! This is a stellar beginning and I look forward to your future work.

~LS

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Argle
on 2013-04-09 09:24:29

Yeah this is fucking killer.

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esteve7
on 2013-04-09 01:47:06

When I saw this: "Oh, ok. Another Aquatic Ambiance ReMix. That's cool. Almost 6 minutes though (???)"

When I listened to it: "Wow. This is amazing. A lot of things done well here. Didn't seem like 6 minutes, there needs to be more"

After I listened to it: "Don't recognize the name, but let's see what else they've done..."

".... what?! That's their debut mix? Can't wait to hear more!"

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Emunator
on 2013-04-07 17:13:55

Totally agreed with the flood of support above, this is one of the strongest debut mixes I've ever heard, and one of the most creative adaptations on this source to come across the front page in a long time. I'm extremely excited to hear more DKC music get this sort of treatment :-D

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OneUp
on 2013-04-07 09:35:20

This is one of the best remixes on this site.

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The Distortionist
on 2013-04-06 15:58:03

I'm at a loss for words right now. Seriously, HUGE thanks to everyone!! Too stoked to even type right now. This remix really meant a lot to me, so it makes me incredibly happy to see that people are enjoying it.

I've been super busy lately, but I plan on doing a lot more remixes from the DKC games in this style so stay tuned! :-D

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GravitySuitCollector
on 2013-04-05 18:18:20

Partway through listening I just had to unplug my headphones from the jack and turn the speakers UP. Seriously, I could not resist. :D This demands to be played out loud.

Fantastic job, and I look forward to possibly more from you in the future.

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Igami
on 2013-04-05 12:08:55

Words cannot describe the amount of awesome that this remix is made of.

Great job of taking a source that's been remixed like crazy and making it sound like I'm hearing it for the very first time.

Listen to it, download it, add some butter, then slap it on your portable and take it with you everywhere.

Sources Arranged (1 Song)


Primary Game:
Donkey Kong Country (Nintendo , 1994, SNES)
Music by David Wise,Eveline Novakovic,Robin Beanland
Songs:
"Aquatic Ambiance"

Tags (7)


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

File Information


Name:
Donkey_Kong_Country_Submerged_in_Ambiance_OC_ReMix.mp3
Size:
10,103,854 bytes
MD5:
d5bec3728dc8c2877b149db9e5692c6e
Bitrate:
235Kbps
Duration:
5:39

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