Jazz Jackrabbit 2 "Whispers of Ash" 6:41

There's nothing quite like awesome 90s PC gaming soundtracks, and Alexander Brandon was responsible for so many, including Tyrian, Unreal Tournament, and Deus Ex (released in 2000, but we're willing to gamble that Alex wrote much of that music in 1999!). We're honored to once again feature another memorable early Siren score courtesy Norwegian newcomer Inwayn, who's showing nostalgic love to Jazz Jackrabbit 2!

"Jazz Jackrabbit 2 has a fond place in my heart from my childhood, with this track in particular being one of my all-time favorites. I was inspired to make a remix by Allan Zax's remix of the same track.

What started as a small project turned into a full reimagination of the track. I'm going with "Whispers of Ash". A reference to Inferno, the name of the level associated with the original track, and also encompassing the rainy ambience in the remix.

1: The intro sequence up until the 1st "solo" (0:00-1:34 in the remix) is based off 0:40-1:00 in the original
2: The 1st solo (1:34-2:12 in the remix) is based off the same piano melody starting at 1:00-1:19 in the original
3: The 1st "drop" section (2:12-3:27 in the remix) is based off the guitar melody and chord progression at 1:19-2:00 in the original, and also incorporates the 1st melody as a sub-melody
4: The section between 3:27-5:01 in the remix is largely original and follows the overall chord progression
5: The 2nd "drop" section (5:01-6:44 in the remix) has the melody from 2:05-2:25 in the original layered over the melodies from the 1st "drop""

This is chock full of solid instrumentation & sound design, the groove is smoove, and I appreciate how the various source tune sections were referenced. With Inwayn kind enough to map out the arrangement for us (Thank you for the breakdown!), that left the judges just basking in his arrangement's mellow moods, including Hemophiliac:

"This is pretty fantastic, great atmosphere and soundscape. Such a luscious bass, fills up so much of the space in a good way.

Kick sounds great, and really cuts through nicely. The boomwhacker sound is not something I think I've heard in an arrangement before, but it fits in perfectly here."

Very nice fade-in of the source melody at :19, with a stylish lead. Good addition of the shakers at :46, which added a lot of personality. The beats Inwayn then added in at :54 worked so well with the padding; the textures were gradually building in a nice way, leading to the dropoff at 1:15. 1:52 hit another area of the source and the stuttered, layered leads there were such a nice touch of sonic variation before going back to the previous gliding lead. Everything clicked for the long-haul, leaving fellow judge Chimpazilla equally impressed:

"I find this arrangement incredible. [...] I love the luscious soundscape and super hard kick dominating when it hits; sidechaining is perfect. I love the constantly morphing soundscape, the sounds move and have variation even while the soundscape is consistent. Great use of sfx expanding across the entire stereo field. The whole mix is drenched in reverb and that works super well in this context. I especially like the drums here, the hard kick, the trap snare, and the super groovy shaker pattern really add movement to an otherwise fully ambient piece.

It's a long arrangement, but it's one that you melt into.... it's a vibe for sure.

I love this, count me in!"

Clearly we all spazzed at how jazzed were were to listen to this one. :-D Man, the doubling of the melody first brought in at 2:30 was such a clever way to do it, using the percussive-type sounds with shorter notes, which presented a nice contrast with the gliding notes, just clever arranging and nicely personalized, and just one small trick that allowed Inwayn the runway to let his interpretation breathe and evolve for its extended runtime. We'll absolutely be sure to send this over to original composer (and OC ReMixer, OMG!) Alexander Brandon in the hopes that he'll also enjoy the added dankness worked into his original darkness. :-) Wonderful debut and nice work, Inwayn!