Leaderboard

Oh wow, this is definitely super indulgent. I was already impressed enough with the idea of putting DDD in a minor key, and bringing in a nod to "Piranha Plant's Lullaby" had me sold - but three movements of the source, in three completely different emotional packages, contextualising the development of a relationship whether romantic or even platonic? Now, THAT hits deep. From the lively treatment of the source in the initial build and two-step section, to the more intimate-sounding EDM second section, to the outright broken nature of the heavy metal section with eventual blast beats and quadruple kick pedal (!!), there's so much contextually that has something that a listener can easily interpret this ride of an emotional bond in their own way. With that ambition also comes its way of being placed together. Obviously the tones are all well put together, whether it be synths, guitars, percussion or various other effects. Brad can say what he wants about the transitions being jank, or disjointed, but that's part of the anticipating of seeing where the direction would go next. The only thing that stuck out as concerning for me was the un-synergized tonality between the lead guitar shredding and the more minimalist chords, which makes sense concerning the different tuning put in play. It's no irk for me, as at the end of the day, timings and performances are tight enough to let the section run through in its intended (chaotic) format. It's a very easy vote - super ambitious, obvious use of the source BGM albeit twisted in more ways than one, all wrapped up in a powerful package. Let's get this on board. YES

Loved this theme as a kid, so always glad to hear someone transform it. The sound design's pretty cool, and I appreciate giving this a not-dour-yet-darker edge; very exploratory, and I didn't expect the... let's say indulgent... rock turn 4 minutes in. :-) Dayum, son, where’d you musically incubate? Arriving here all fully formed and shit… :-P YES

opens with some heavily filtered arpeggiated elements and pads, and some really ringy vocals. the big hit at 0:31 reminds me of another remixer's penchant for huge transitional synths. there's some trancey keys doing the arpeggio and eventual melody line, although they're not particularly idiomatic. i found the wide spacey synth with the long delay on the attack to be a little too fast for how slow it was, but i liked the vibe for sure. there's a big transitional element into 1:39, and there's some really wild sound design here that's fun. i appreciate that it never quite settles down to a normal - it's constantly changing and evolving. 2:10's a hard drop in style, and the keys here sound like they're releasing early which is interesting. the lack of sustain compared to earlier feels is unsettling. another big build into 2:44, and there's a particularly filthy bassline synth that i really like here. there's also a lot of rumble which i'm not as big a fan of. the lead here is outrageously mean and over-the-top extreme, and the transitions are all really janky, so this is very intense. 3:30's long falling action functions as a great palate-cleanser to that intensity, and we hear the docks come back much clearer this time around. the sfx in here on the vocal clips is enough that i couldn't tell at all what was going on in them. i don't know if that was intentional or not. the piano in here is a little too high and piercing for me, and combined with the overtones from the vocal clips, this was kind of uncomfortable to listen. we finally reach the third section, and it's a much more straightforward, heavy feel. most of this didn't seem to be clearly able to be mapped to the original in any way, but there was some clear intentionality at 5:11, and later when the keys come in at 5:41. the intensity of the drums especially is nuts through this whole section. i found myself liking the setting more than everything that the lead was playing - especially initially, that low bend sounded nowhere near the key that was being played. 5:41's a significant falling action, and this is clearly the end of the road here. there's some sfx to end it, and we're done. what a ride! this is so broad from start to finish, showing a ton of versatility and stylistic influences. i certainly don't think it's perfect, but what a broad spectrum of approaches and concepts. i certainly don't know of another DDD concept that comes at the original from so many different directions. it's easy to nitpick something so broad, so i'll just say that i really enjoyed it, there's more than enough source for it to count, and the perspective here is intense. nice work. YES