OCR01334 - *YES* Castlevania: Symphony of the Night 'The Devil Inside'

[djpretzel]

Hi:)

My name Robbie: (remixer name: akumajobelmont)

I have a remix i'd to submit to your site. It's entitled 'The Devil Inside (Italo Disco Mix)' and it's a remix of 'Dracula's Castle' from Castlevania: SotN.

It's an 80's inspired piece, and it's EXTREMELY reminiscent of classic 80's groups like New Order etc...

I'm really happy with this song now. When i posted it up on VG mix, i was unsure whether other people would see what i saw in the song, and was hesitant in putting it up. However, i found out that it speaks to other people in the same way it speaks to me.

With this track, i was originally going to have vocals in place of the familiar Drac's Castle melody... however... things like this can make or break a song, and such, i decided against them.

The mixing style is, i'm sure you will agree, completely 80's.

An era where the electronic music genre was finding it's feet, and i hope i've captured that imperfect feeling within this track.

The structure is pure Italo Disco, which i'm not sure wether you guys might be familiar with, but it's a catchy style which uses repetition for effect... not laziness. It was, after all, and early form of dance music:)

I have re-written parts of the melodies and added harmonies etc...

I hope you guys will like this:)

Here's the link to the track:

It's just over 6 meg in size, but if (hopefully) you believe the song is up to your standards, then i can re-encode the file - if by chance you guys like it.

Thank you for your time.

Robbie

[danny B]

There's really not much to say about this mix. I really like it. It's got a very solid, authentic, almost tangible retro quality. Fortunatly, this doesn't mean bad sound quality. The original didn't have that good of sound quality to begin with, but this ReMix really nails it. The robot voice is a little iffy, but it definately fits the style. And man, the orchestra hits. OH the orchestra hits. I love 'em. Could be punchier, but that's nitpicking.

The whole mix is clear and well-defined, and other than the panel's bias against creative ReMixes there's no reason to reject this.

Good job, dude.

A very 80's YES

-D

[Israfel]

Yeah, I'm pretty much with Dan. Just as a matter of personal preference, this may not appeal to everyone (I admit it does little for me); but one can hardly deny that this is a well-executed mix.

YES

[Liontamer]

With my computer currently MIA, and me having to use an iMac & QuickTime Player, I can’t reference specific times in the track, so I’ll have to go for the broad overview. From a listener standpoint, I certainly like the track. Played it back on VGF47 and was feeling it. Frankly, this is more of a genre adaptation rather than our typical thorough rearrangements, and taking too conservative of an approach was a problem with Robbie's previous submission covering the Eternal Champions introduction theme.

There could have been a change in the overall dynamics at some point via a breakdown or two, and the composition started getting repetitive - it felt repetitive enough where you'll either snag some NOs or get some complaints from reviewers about the track not going in any new direction after a while. If anything, it could get NOed for a lot of the same reasons B1itz Lunar's Super Mario Kart remix, "Pentagon Path," was rejected. Arguments could range from it's close to the source tune, arrangement gets repetitive, there's a lack of dynamics, and the sounds and their texture may not be appealing. Ending was sudden & poor, and could have trailed off a bit longer for a better close.

I don't like how even some of the supporting elements of the source tune, such as the strings were simply copied & reinstrumented (yet given more volume/presence in the mix compared to the original). Despite that, you put a good deal of work into the genre adaptation; there were good textures and different rhythms here along with brief but observable liberal rearrangement sandwiched in between some of the more straightforward sections. I certainly noticed that some of the sections in the source tune were left behind in favor of doing your own thing instead. Haven't heard this many orchestral stabs since "Unleash the Beast," although in this case I didn't feel they were very cheesy. Indeed, they could have been punchier. The robot voice actually didn't grab my attention in any particular way, but at the same token I had no problem with the usage. Like Dan has said, the execution feels very authentic given the style, which is why a lot of the potential criticisms on the piece (repetition/dynamics/texture) feel like non-factors to me.

Like Izz, I certainly appreciated the performance. Though I genuinely liked it (like I had said earlier), it's also not my thing personally. I really would have been sold on the track had it possessed more of a comprehensive & interpretive approach on the rearrangement, but otherwise it's just over the bar for me. It could have been a lot riskier and could have taken the actual composition in bolder directions, but what was in place here was interpretive though conservative. Looking forward to more from you, Robbie.

YES (borderline)

[DarkeSword]

Yeah, orch hits could have been punchier and meatier, but I really like the what's going on here. It's got a nice beat and you can dance to it. If that's good enough for Marty McFly, that's good enough for me.

Anyway, percussion gets the job done nicely with enough change ups to keep things interesting. There could have been less reiteration throughout, but it wasn't a mix killer; it works.

Good retro texture, good beats, good stuff.

YES