djpretzel Posted April 17, 2003 Share Posted April 17, 2003 What did you think? Post your opinion of this ReMix. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
endblink Posted April 17, 2003 Share Posted April 17, 2003 Great, great song. But I'm even happier that DJP mentioned Izzard in the write up. But yes. The quotes and the "Seig Heil" are the best part of this extremely creepy song. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diabolica Posted April 17, 2003 Share Posted April 17, 2003 excellent work, i'd love to hear this with a real orchestra Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zeality Posted April 17, 2003 Share Posted April 17, 2003 Although I'm not implying that Mazedude's other work isn't astounding (He executed a visionary Zeal remix), this sounds like a midi with some Hitler samples. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dennis Posted April 17, 2003 Share Posted April 17, 2003 Abso-fucking-lutely fantastic. Very unique choice of song, and a wonderful recreation. Props to whomever requested it, and props to Mazedude for giving the theme song the Mazedude-brand smickety-smack pimpolization. Instant addition to my playlist. -Dennis- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trance-Canada™ Posted April 17, 2003 Share Posted April 17, 2003 dude!!! this kicks some serious ass, I love the Hitler quotes used throughout the song, it really makes it that much better as you seem to have meant it, to keep the sad feeling of war, it is, man, just really REALLY admirable that you captured the seriousness of a the war in a VG Remix Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Altimus Posted April 17, 2003 Share Posted April 17, 2003 I already hold Mazedude in very high regard, with works such as Norfair Deathmarch, RiverCityRammstein, Blood Bath, and SurfaceoftheMoon under his belt. I was going to be very critical of this piece... Being half-german, I wasn't quite sure what to expect. But as soon as I heard those quoes, I was torn apart, almost brought to tears. He did a great job with the over all tone, and hearing the cheers of the soldiers under Adolphs command is indescribable... Another masterpiece from the Master of Music. Well done man. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Compyfox Posted April 17, 2003 Share Posted April 17, 2003 First of all, nice job. Mazedude asked in one of the threads on the board were german folks found together if someone could listen to his remix and tell him if the speech from Hitler was offending. At this time I thought "A Hitlerspeech? In a Wolfenstein Remix? This will attract some trouble." You have to know that "Wolfenstein 3D" and "Return to Castle Wolfenstein" is banned in Germany not only because of using the Swastika, but shooting on People, Hitler and some other stuff too. That's why I was sceptic. So I listened to this song and was impressed what he did out of the Opening Song. It's a nice balance of Electronic and Classic mixed with sad influences and the mindbreaking speech of Hitler. Even the speech was cutted perfectly, he felt that it was right this way and I have to agree. Unfortunately I don't have the original song in mind anymore to give more comments. But I also have to say out loud that Mazedude didn't want to offend anyone with this mix and that this is no Nazi propaganda! To the speech itself. It seems that Mazedude catched a "audio arrangement" of different speeches from Hitler. I found out that the part at the end of the Song was from his speech in Berlin in April 1933. Another part seems to be from his later speeches while he used his propaganda more for War agression. I guess the native german ones can hear out what he's saying. For all those who can't understand german, I wrote a translation from the file Mazedude was using: *audience standing up* The Fuehrer: "This all is... Heil!" Audience: *heil! heil! heil!* The Fuehrer: "I know it my cormorades. It was obiously often difficult for you. If you believe that a change is needed now, but he can't and again the roll-cast has to be set! It has to go on fighting. It doesn't go this way, you mustn't act, you have to obey *text fades out at this point*, you have to accommodate, you have to bow to the constraint." Audience: *sieg! heil! sieg! heil!* Audience again: *heil!* Audience again: *heil!* The Fuehrer: "The great time has started now. Germany has awakened now. We gained power now in germany. Now we need to gain the german people." As I said earlier. Nice Job, perhaps we hear more from this kind of "mixing". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Illaminus Posted April 17, 2003 Share Posted April 17, 2003 I really like Mazedude's latest songs. They distinguish themselves from other stuff on OCR. Mazedude has definetly evolved to a great artist on OCR. "Nazi requiem"'s mood really moved me, just like "Spacestation..." did. Keep the great work up Mazedude. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CXI Posted April 17, 2003 Share Posted April 17, 2003 This piece is amazing. I can just see a concentration camp in my mind when I hear this song. Well, what I think one would be like, anyway. This is extremely moving stuff. The hitler quotes are very chilling, used at appropriate times and mixed well with the piece. The repeated slow-downs, the places where the music would stop altogether and the ambience after the heavier sounding bits also added to the very deep and moving feel it had. I'm very impressed with this one, Mazedude is only getting better, and for someone with his skill, this can only be a good thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wethamster Posted April 17, 2003 Share Posted April 17, 2003 WOW this remix is great, im gonna fire up my old wolfenstein, and gib some nazi scum, While listening to it. Dude the games gonna seem even better, with this great remix, playing in the background. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Demitri Posted April 17, 2003 Share Posted April 17, 2003 This one's been one of my fav's since Mazedude initially put it out there, and I've been waiting for it to get posted just to say how much I like it! Don't know much on the technical aspects, but man, this one grabs you! GREAT WORK HERE!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan8bit Posted April 17, 2003 Share Posted April 17, 2003 Great work with a song that in the game loops over and over, and the loop is only like 5 seconds. I love the sound samples in there, because they add a realistic feel. If people were offended, then they are offended by history, not Mazedude (one of my favorite mixers on the site). It's also strange, because this morning I was thinking of doing a Wolfenstein mix, and then I come see this one here. A good mix. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bloodydust Posted April 17, 2003 Share Posted April 17, 2003 oh. my. god. i think this is now my favorite mix from this site, and for good reason. it COMPLETELY fits with the general mood mazedude was trying to put forth. this song really gives a feeling of the horrors of war. the clips of hitler truly fit with the song, and give you an idea of what the war was all about. there's a song by a thrash/black metal band (broke up over a decade ago) called anacrusis, and the song is called the twisted cross. it starts off with this truly dark, and crushing, long bassnote, and the entire first half of the song is easily some of the darkest stuff i've ever heard concerning the war. this tops that song. i'm something of a history buff, and i plan to study history in college next year (as well as military science in the context of history later on). i JUST got finished reading a book on the occult roots of nazism, and there's an article in an issue of american heritage from a few months back about the american eugenics movement 10 years before hitler ever even heard of the nazi party. yes, i underlined that part on purpouse. the notions put forth by blavatsky and guido von list, and all their followers, are essentially the roots of the horrible concept of "ethnic cleansing". world war 1, in my opinion, was just a war. yes, it spanned the globe, but it was really about german militarism going out of control. world war 2... that was a battle between good and evil. as far as the song itself, i'm not sure but i think i detect 2 wolfenstein songs- the title theme, and "enemy behind you", both creepy in their own right. it's true that there'll be some question of the wisdom of using the soundclips, but in my opinion they belong here. if i ever manage to get the equipment to make music videos, i'm going to pull together a bunch of old footage from hitler's speeches and whatnot, and use this song. i think in the coming years i'll probably get around to making a video documentary on world war 2, although what aspect of it i don't know. this song is going in there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
endblink Posted April 17, 2003 Share Posted April 17, 2003 Just want to thank CompyFox for the translation of Hitler's speech. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rebirth9283 Posted April 17, 2003 Share Posted April 17, 2003 This is a remix you'd be hard pressed to complain about. To tell the truth, I approached this piece with a mentality of "can a good remix really come from Wolfenstein?" After all, there wasn't a whole big bunch of memorable music to that game, and what actually was there ran in five to ten second loops. how could anyone possibly do something good with that? I'm glad Mazedude managed to do it. The array of sounds and samples used is very impressive. From the opening use of snare drum and piano to the closing use of the same, with all of the industrial-style material in between, the piece had what can only be described as "that special something." As for the samples of Hitler: I can see where they would offend some demographics. But, truth told, they do add something to the piece. I say this for a reason. When playing Wolfenstein 3D, how many of us really remember that the setting is World War II? More importantly, how many of us, as we're running around maze-like levels blasting guards, really remember the cause behind the war that the game is based on? In general, how many of us, while fighting in a game, really remember the true objective of the real fight that took place in which real people gave their real lives to overthrow Hitler. The voice samples used in this piece, in a haunting fashion, bring the reality of World War II into what had previously been just a game. I applaud Mazedude on an amazing remix, and thank him for, by using the voice of the man that personified evil, paying tribute to those who gave their lives to stop him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ella guro Posted April 17, 2003 Share Posted April 17, 2003 Mazedude is one of the best remixers on the site, and I only know about 4 people who are more into the original Wolfenstein than I am, so needless to say I was psyched when I saw this remix on the WIP boards about a month back. Unfortunetely, after listening to it, I left with a sour taste in my mouth. Part of it is how I envisioned the theme to be - the Hitler speech at the beginning was great, but the french horn sounds rather odd - very legato and plain for a part that was faster in the original (the slowing down may be part of it...). The little touches like at :37 with the violin tremolo crescendos were great, but the lead instruments all sound a little strange - everything is slowed down, simple, and legato. It seems like there's almost a lack of emotion in the lead...and considering that this is something that Mazedude did, I was really suprised there. The arpeggios in the background were nice, but I never thought that something as crazy as a Mazedude-style remix would really fit this tune. Wolf3D was a very simple game, and while it was kind of dark, it never really gave me the traditional feeling of World War II...it was pretty damn far-fetched, is what I mean. And it's not exactly the prime example of a realistic in a game. I always liked it because the levels were fun - not really that it gave me the emotion of seeing a Nazi concentration camp or anything (although episode 2 level 2 comes closer). I just pictured something minimalistic with tons of emotion for this piece. So yes, some of it has to do with personal preference. But when I hear the horns blare loudly a simple rythym (...can't...spell...that...friggen...word), it seems odd everytime. I have no backgrounds in a band, so you'd think I wouldn't notice something like that. Furthermore, for being 4:29 and being as climactic sounding as it is, it really doesn't go anywhere from where it started. Part of that is just the nature of the original melody, but I would've liked a little more progression instead of --> Hiter, buildup, melody, buildup, different part, Hitler, melody. I just think it needed some more work... EDIT: and to anyone who said that Wolfenstein's music was "unremarkable" or "unnoticable", you obviously haven't listened to some of the tracks in the game. They're simplistic, maybe, but there's a lot you can do with a simple melody (and the title track remixed here just needs some variation and good instruments to make a good remix out of it). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zeality Posted April 17, 2003 Share Posted April 17, 2003 Listen to a professional German group called "Feindflug" for excellent examples of quote usage (Feindflug specializes in hard-driving techno, usually themed after WWII). Mazedude goes a bit heavy on them here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vesh Posted April 17, 2003 Share Posted April 17, 2003 Great, great song.But I'm even happier that DJP mentioned Izzard in the write up. lol, same here. =] "No, I'm a f**ckin' squirrel!" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snarfoogle Posted April 17, 2003 Share Posted April 17, 2003 Nazi? Hitler? BANNED But, damn, I can say this is one of the best mixes on the site. Chilling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zeality Posted April 17, 2003 Share Posted April 17, 2003 Despite his crazed intentions, he was an excellent leader. It's not everyday that someone comes along and turns the largest depression in the world up-side down and manages to nearly take over Europe & Co. in a few short years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ella guro Posted April 17, 2003 Share Posted April 17, 2003 Despite his crazed intentions, he was an excellent leader. It's not everyday that someone comes along and turns the largest depression in the world up-side down and manages to nearly take over Europe & Co. in a few short years. Um... ... This is the reviews forum, please take the debates somewhere else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mazedude Posted April 18, 2003 Share Posted April 18, 2003 Hmm, well - given all that's been said, perhaps I'll say a few words about this piece myself... Firstly, massive thanks for all the fan comments so far, both good and bad; I totally appreciate 'em and always bear them in mind for the future. That said, this piece right here wasn't intended to be one everyone would like, or even intended to be better than my others, but rather; it was a ton of experiments all at once. To start off, I was kinda happy at the prospect of creating the first Wolf 3D mix on the site, as I really loved the game back in the day. I designed my own levels and everything... ah yeah, good times. And, it was the predecessor to Doom, which I've also covered plenty of, so it makes sense. Secondly, I was responding to numerous requests. Some people wanted intense Nazi militaristic mayhem, some people wanted a sad and touching rendition of the War theme, some people wanted me to do something like Blood Bath (combining different game themes into 1 mix), and what I personally wanted to do was to dabble into the film-score genre of electronica-orchestral. If you listen to the Title theme of the movie "The Negotiator", by Graeme Revell, you'll be able to see how I kinda modeled this after that, loosely. Thirdly, in conjunction with the style, I needed to experiment with my new orchestral samples. Having worked with real orchestras, I personally am not a huge fan of synthesizing orchestral material, because even with the best of samples it still always sounds fake. But, I got these new Gigasamples, and felt it was worth a try. Eh, parts sound good, parts don't. Ah well, it was a first experiment. Also, I wrote this piece in 2 days. Sequenced it one night, post-produced it the next day. In retrospect, I shoulda taken a little more time to give the electronic beat a bit more variety, and the ProTools post-production isn't layered 100% to my satisfaction... but, ya know, for just a video-game remix, I'm not gonna make a big deal out of that. Maybe later I'll go back and fix that. Regarding the usage of Hitler, well - actually, that speech was part of a bunch of war sound clips I gathered for a Rush-n-Attack mix I had in mind but never got around to. When writing this one, it just seemed like the perfect icing to the cake, so to speak. Huge thanks to Compyfox for giving me a translation - I was vaguely worried that it was going to contain some blatently horrible insults like "Death to the Jews", or something that I certainly wouldn't want to put in a released remix, heh. As it is, I'm fine with it, and have no quams about using it. As mentioned, it's merely History. On the same token, jabs can be made at American history that we certainly aren't proud of, so it's in no way a present-day National or cultural jab. And besides, Hitler was IN Wolfenstein 3D, so... it works. So... there ya go, there's what Mazedude has to say on his own remix. It was a multi-level experiment, I and think I pulled it off pretty well. Not super-great or anything, but pretty good. For now, I like it. -Mazedude http://listen.to/mazedude Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndrewDeluxe Posted April 18, 2003 Share Posted April 18, 2003 sorry just testing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndrewDeluxe Posted April 18, 2003 Share Posted April 18, 2003 I know this song has gotten great reviews and I am not lecturing or slamming artistic decesions here. But am I the only one who thought the Hitler samples were in bad taste? I recongized them immediately having recently watched "The wonderful, horrible Life of Leni Reifenstahl" (aka Die Macht der Bilder). If the context of the film is correct it is a pre-kanzler poltical speech in Berlin (1932, i think). The problem I have is that Wolfstein is a simple action game, that dehumanizes Nazis to comicbook-like supervillians, bascially ignores the holocaust victims (which is fine for a comicbook, unserious action game), but to combine that with a politically charged and "uplifting" Nazi propoganda speech seems wrong to me. I know it's not a glorification of Nazism, but I could see how someone might think it could be(especially with the pause and then cheer at 3'15). Listening to it without context, it isnt clear if it rejects Nazism or is a glorification of it. If it is meant to be neither than it shouldn't use such a poltical piece of propoganda. I am not ripping on Mazedude, in fact I think the song is quite well done. I am offering an opinion and what i hope is a constructive criticism. I don't hail (a bad and I believe unintetional pun from DJ Pretzel) from germany (althougn I speak it) nor I am Jewish, I just think its bad taste and espeically since just having fought a war. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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