OCR00492 - Red Alert "Hell March (Red Scare)"

[Ginnsu]

Red Alert 'Hell March (Red Scare)'

I get the feeling that many people avoid doing mixes of songs like these, because the original is done so well, trying to mix it, and make it sound better on top of that is an intimidating feat. mellogear certainly doesn't let intimidation get in the way here, instead he drives right on through it with the reverbed guitars, 303’s, and flanged techno drums. It puts a much different spin on the Hell March that you’re used to hearing. Good job, mellogear, keep it up.

[The Coop]

Here goes my first review on OC Remix...

I'm sorry, but I can't recommend this remix. Having heard the original quite a few times (and liking the original as well), I was curious to hear what Mellogear had done with it. I've listened to it this remix several times, and I have to wonder where this remix was intending to go.

Parts of the beginning (namely the opening drums that start at 0:30) sound off a little... like there's a slight fade in for the drum sample and this throws the rhythm a bit out of wack.

My other problems with this remix is that it never really seems to go anywhere. There's the opening rhythm, then another version of it at 1:01, then you're back at the beginning at 1:17. Another version of the opening at 1:32 comes in, then there's a small change around 2:10. The toy piano-like samples that start up at 2:18 definitely aren't in time with the rhythm behind it (again, there's a slight delay before the actual note comes in) and don't do any favors for the song sound-wise. When everything is going at 2:33, you've returned to the opening rhythm again.

Now, I know the original song wasn't exactly filled with different sections and and multiple "verses", but this remix needs a body to the song... badly. It's just the same opening rhythm redone again and again. It would have been an improvement if the artist had added new material to break up the repeated uses of said opening rhythm. As it is now, it's just repeatative and uninteresting.

Hate me if you will Mellogear (and I'm sure you're already telling me what to do with myself by now), but that's how I feel about this tune. Sorry about the long post, but I've always been of the mind set, "If you praise something, why do you praise it? If you dislike something, why do you dislike it?" when dealing with artwork (music, visual, etc.). And what's written above, is why I dislike it.

[TheWired]

Well, the Coop does my job at saying most of what i wanted to say

Being a fan of the orignal song myself, doing a mix of this song was a very risky thing to do, i dont completely hate the song, its still got a heartly place in my list.. i just find it to be not-as-good as the original song, this mix is not hard-hitting enough.

Good job with the instruments though .. being able to make hellmarch possible with 303s is something you dont see everyday

[FreedomForTheMasses]

Pretty cool mix, needs a little better timing but that doesn't really matter to me, I could see them using this in the game, keep up the good work

[Pete P.]

I like the remix. It's a tad more tame than the original, but I like it. Also, I'm looking for either a correctly-notated MIDI or some sheet music, so I can play Hell March live. I do know my way around Midis and Sheets music, I've been playing with both for about 10 years. I do have trouble listening and reproducing many notes, especially when fast. If anybody can help, great

[Corporal Eschebone]

Definately sounds like it could be the theme song of a C&C commando. I like the military vibe this mix has. It doesn't exactly make a huge effort, but still decent.

[jak amneziak]

this is a calmer more sinister feelign mix of a computer game classic. More huanting and more challenging to previous conceptions of command and conquer music.

[Jupiter Knight]

I personally would have enjoyed it more had he used the Hell Guy to shout off a few parts of it. Without him, it's just not a remix of Hell March to me.

"We want war, wake up!"

[synthetic_realities]

I enjoyed this mix. It has a fair amount of variance in it to keep it interesting. Not a bad guitar tone either, though it sounds a little too midrange-y to me. Still, you kept it fun, and it's a good job.

[OceansAndrew]

I'm not quite sure what to think of this mix, as i seems to have 2 minds about how it wants to progress. It starts off on a hardcore military march with synth guitars and a lot of open space, using delay to give it an expansive, field full of soldiers sound. About halfway through, however, it switches to a mid-80's boyband style of drumbeat.

Perhaps it's a show to entertain the troops? I'm not quite sure, but it is jarring. Eventually, the boy band packs up and flies back to safety, and the war is back on, but it still left me shaking my head. The ending was also abrupt, maybe to symbolize the fragility of life in a battlefield, but more likely Mellogear simply got bored of the mix and decided to cut it short.

There are some good points in the mix, but overall it's too repetative and disjointed for my tastes.

[DragonAvenger]

This is one weird mix. Unfortunately, that's not a good weird. It starts out military with 'war guitars', then goes into an upbeat drum beat, with a kinda weird melodic line that repeats, then combines the two. Very disjointed, and no overall purpose.

I'm not crazy about any of the sounds either. Can't say they've aged well.

Sorry, this isn't for me.

[Bahamut]

Man...samples hold this mix back quite a bit, which makes the guitar stand out quite a bit from the rest of the instruments. Volume is pretty low in general as well.

The thing that bothers me the most along with the sample quality though is how empty the mix sounds for a large portion of it.

[Rexy]

I'm not really too sure about that thin snare intro (which similarly gets repeated in the interlude in the middle); there's definitely some good articulation, but it doesn't tend to provide that impending marching feel to it. But then with the guitars coming in with thicker drums and the shifting synth, that's where we can see that industrial metal influence to it; more Nine Inch Nails than KMFDM imo, but the texture managed to work shakingly well.

Albeit, I'm not too sure about the break at 1:45 with the random switch to 909 percussion and lighter synths; it ended up switching the atmosphere completely from what had been intended. The writing itself was good with it though, and to see it move into the guitars for the end was firm enough in regards to the feel.

I may have talked about the feel a lot, but that's what the source was hoping to ask. Luckily the arrangement was well structured and manipulated given the more chord-based nature of the source material, and the production (aside from some of the thinner drum notation) worked well for the most part.

It's not often we see much love for the Command & Conquer series, but given that this seems to be a series favorite amongst fans, it's worth looking into and checking out surely for the nostalgia value for it. There may have been some production imperfections, but it also somehow stood up strong considering its age, which is definitely a plus. Should be worth checking out if you're a fan at least.