DragonAvenger Posted September 25, 2011 Share Posted September 25, 2011 Hai Brandon Strader www.bstrader.net 3123 Game: Castlevania Source; Vampire Killer Remix Title: Vampire's Kiss Vampire Variations project Notes: Hi. I signed on for Vampire Killer with Chernabogue's Castlevania project, Vampire Variations. I knew it was a popular theme and had been remixed like more than 3 times so I wanted to try to do it in a way that hasn't been done before. My choice was to do it as black metals, very much in the vein of my own black metal project "In Staid Grace" which includes orchestration, black metals, and a nice acoustic break. The concept behind the remix was to pay tribute to Castlevania and also Vampire's Kiss, possibly my favorite Nicolas Cage movie of all time. Also Dracula X was called Vampire's Kiss, in like, Europe or something. I highly recommend seeing that movie at least once, and also play Castlevania. Cause it's a game. The Vampire's Kiss tribute takes the form of many soundbites from the movie which are placed and edited to fit in specific parts of the song. As for my overall take on Vampire Killer, I really like it I think it's the birthdays wurtha gud, and I feel that subbing it to OCR is a risk but one I am willing to take. This is nowhere near as traditional and legitimate as Harjawaldar's I den Svarte Skogen which I felt captured the essence of black metal completely in every regard, really a perfect mix. Harjawaldar is an incredible musician. Here's the mix I'm talking about: When I heard that Vampire Variations wasn't hitting OCR, I did take a few steps to make this mix more true to the genre, mostly lowering the bass guitar, adding more click to the kickdrum, and making the high end more crispy as a whole. Also the reverby atmospheric guitar lead at the beginning, very blackmetal-esque. I'm subbing this to OCR cause I figure there's a 50/50 chance it could make it on there, even with being only partially commercialized black metal. Commercial black metal is an oxy moron anyway. The genre really isn't meant to be all that appealing, especially not to the masses, though the scene is trendy as heck.... I love making black metals but the flashy garb and makeup isn't for me.Fun fact: No major chords are present in the song. Fun fact: This is my first black metal submission since "Blak Metal Chocobo" in 2005 which actually wasn't black metal at all, nor was it really a remix. I was a noob back then and I still feel guilty for it haha. I will somehow make it up to Larry someday for making him sift through the entire ff5 soundtrack. Soundbites: "This part I don't know if this really happened or I dreamt it later, or wha- I mean I'm fighting this bat off all alone, and I'll be damned if I didn't get really... turned on." "You know, I was in Mortal Kombat with a fucking bat, give me a break!" "Aaaaahhhh! (death scream)" "I'm a vampire, kill me! Kill me!" "Vampire, you idiot, Nosferatu!" "Christ! The tortures of the daaamned!" "I'm a vampire! I can prove it!" "I guess I was... pretty horny. I was drunk too. That was it. I had a little to drink. I was a little drunk. Plus I was horny." "Don't rape me... / Rape you? I will!" *bat screech* "Boo HOO! Boo HOO!" "Hey... hey.. I'm a vampire, a real vampire!" "I'm a vampire! I'm a vampire! I'm a vampire! I'm a vampire! I'm a vampire!" "Go ahead! Kill me!" "Well, the fact is I did murder someone last night. I turned into a vampire, it's a long story... / Goodness!" Lyrics: 3:26 - Ohh, Ohh, Ohh, Ohh, Ohh, Ohh, Ohh, Ohh, Oooooohh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OceansAndrew Posted October 19, 2011 Share Posted October 19, 2011 Blackmetal and loaded with Nicholas Cage movie clips? Am I being trolled? I really do like the atmospheric elements, and the movie quotes, while super cheesy, are funny enough. The arrangement is varied enough, and though I don't think that anyone should try to produce authentic-sounding blackmetal if they know better, this has bass and a balanced lead, and it's played tightly and the softer sections sound really good. That's a bonus. I think the creativity and ability to not take the mix too seriously win me over. Nothing is destroying the mix, and near the end I can actually hear some bass, so that's pretty cool. Yes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DragonAvenger Posted October 28, 2011 Author Share Posted October 28, 2011 I do think that while this won't appeal to many, you have done some interesting variations to the theme, and the genre change is well done, regardless of whether people would like it or not. As Andrew said, taking the mix with a grain of salt works here, and overall I think it gets the job done. I am a little disappointed that the beginning isn't quite in time, but it's not a dealbreaker. YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emunator Posted November 17, 2011 Share Posted November 17, 2011 Yeah, this is campy as all hell bro. That said, I actually enjoyed it more than I expected to like a song labeled as black metal. I wasn't sure what to think of what you'd done to the melody, just judging from the intro, but once the drums finally came in, it felt a lot more natural. It's actually a pretty decent representation of the genre, as I understand it, and you've adapted the original tune nicely to it in a way that will probably appeal to metal fans, but also in a way that keeps it accessible to everyone else too. I'm impressed, sir. This is one of your better sounding metal mixes to date, I think. YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
halc Posted November 18, 2011 Share Posted November 18, 2011 definitely some weird part-writing going in the intro, not necessarily incorrect, but not exactly pleasing to my ears. string stabs felt a bit dry as well. the body of the song felt kinda sparese too, all things considered; not the wall of sound you usually give us. not perfect, but there's no dealbreakers in here for me. otherwise this was pretty nicely produced, with a well varied arrangement that keeps the fundamental pieces of the source in tact. YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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