OCR04590 - *YES* Final Fantasy 9 "Eternal Rain"

[Liontamer]

Hello OCRemix,

Here"s another song from my album !

 

Contact Information

ReMixer name : Black SeeD

Email : 

Website : https://blackseedbm.bandcamp.com/releases

Userid : 37884

 

Submission Information

Game arranged : Final Fantasy 9

Name of arrangement : Eternal Rain

Song arranged : Final fantasy IX- Freya's theme / Final Fantasy IX Music: Kingdom of Burmecia

 

Comments :

Hello again everyone !

Another track from my album of remixed video game tracks in an atmospheric black metal way (Black SeeD - Farplane of Memories (2021)).

 

This one contains two tracks in one, although they are really close to each other from the start.

Long guitar intro, to set the mood and impose the acoustic guitar as a core instrument of this song. The theme is repeated, the goal was in the context of the album to already get the listener comfortable with the theme (and take a break of the more brutal BM stuff), while getting more and more tension into the back guitars.

The other goal of this track is to alternate between more peaceful (acoustic) parts and getting back into more brutal stuff, while keeping the acoustic guitar in the loop as rhythm guitars, mixing with the electric ones, which gives a bouncy feeling and adds a more weird atmosphere.

 

The second part of the song is the Kingdom of Burmecia part, with a transition from Freya's theme by keeping the theme for a bit.

 

I hope you'll like it !

 

Here is the link to the wav file : 

 

Thanks a lot !

Black SeeD

[MindWanderer]

Nice mellow melancholy "intro" (that goes for 2 ½ minutes). Nothing revolutionary, but good tone. Reminds me of Hollow Knight. Then it breaks into the contentious atmospheric black metal stuff, which I personally have grown to love. As usual, it's objectively a bit muddy, but in a way that's typical of the genre.

Then we take the same journey again, but with the less melodic Burmecia theme. This part didn't hold my interest so much. This time it reminds me more of World of Goo, which had a serviceable but less noteworthy soundtrack. The black metal is muddier this time around: by aboiut 5:45, the lead becomes nearly inaudible, and this continues for a full minute.

I expect this one to get some justifiable NO votes based around the mixing, but from me, the overall package and the genre expectations are enough to earn a firm

YES

[prophetik music]

freya's theme is recognizable right away, and the rain is a nice touch given her character development and the iconic shot of her in the rain. this is a patient approach which is expected given the context of this remix. there's some slow elements added at the ~1:55 mark, which is nice since at that point the track had been roughly the same thing for that entire time.

there's one last repetition of the melodic content, and then the expected brickwall slam happens at 2:35. this isn't near as heavy as i expected given the artist, and sounds great. right after this is the shift into the Burmecia theme. the arrangement elements chosen show how related the two themes are, which again is a neat compositional element given that freya is burmecian. this one doesn't have much melodic material simply because the original doesn't, but there's still enough for it to be recognizable through another brickwall transition at 4:28. the audible acoustic guitar through this heavier section is great and gives some variation from some of the heavier stuff you've done on other tracks.

the freya theme returns at about 5:15 in the lead as this continues to get heavier and more post-rock-ish, and some nice higher sustained pads come in to brighten and intensify the tone around 5:45. the choice to drop the electric guitar lead in this area and instead just have the keys handling the recap of the burmecia theme did make it harder to hear the direction, but the intensity there and the recognizable chords kept it moving forward. i wasn't concerned about the thickness of the master there. the ending is more of an outro, which was a bit disappointing but sufficient.

this is yet another great track from your album.

 

 

YES

[Chimpazilla]

Lovely intro.  The rain is too loud and prominent, feels like it has too much lows and oddly sounds... dry.  The intro goes on a bit long as MW said, there are additions such as the pad as it moves along but it feels repetitive, especially since the rain is so consistent, with no variation in it at all. 

The heavy section at 2:35 is not signaled in the slightest, so even though I was looking at the upcoming wave sausage on Cubase, I jumped out of my chair when it hit.  Give a girl a transition please!

Into the breakdown at 3:21 and the rain is still going, do I hear some thunder?  I can't really tell if it is thunder or a stray low, it is just indistinct and muddy.  This breakdown section is simple but lovely... but simple.  Same guitar and pad from the intro, but the pluck addition is nice.

At 4:29 you made me jump again.  Those drops are jarring instead of impactful, since there is literally zero transition or signaling what is coming.  I can cheat with Cubase since I can see it coming, but people on YouTube or downloading for casual listening are going to jump hard.  That second drop section feels really long since the energy never relents from 4:29 until 6:45.  Over two minutes of balls-to-the-walls. Then, fadeout ending. (not a dealbreaker, just a lost opportunity for resolution, in my opinion)

The mixing is adequate, especially for this genre, although during the heavy sections, everything is playing including that lovely little pluck and it is buried so deeply that it adds to the wall of sound rather than provides contrast (which it could, and should).  The drums sound very good overall to me, although the snare sounds a little muted.

This is a lot of little issues that are adding up to a resub for me.  I don't believe everything on my punch list needs to change, but my primary request is to please signal the drops with something.  Either a sfx or some sort, or guitar glissando or other melodic element, reverse-cymbal riser, or even half a bar of silence, just something!  Additionally, the rain sfx should be turned down a bit, and perhaps remove some high-mids out of it so it doesn't sound so crisp (I believe that is what is making it sound "dry" to me which is so ironic). 

That all sounded negative but honestly this is a great track fully of dynamics and excellent performances.  If it passes like this I won't be upset, but I think it can be improved and it will be more memorable, exciting-rather-than-shocking that way.  If I am being an old fuddy-duddy about the jarring drops, I can own that, too.

NO (please signal transitions, and turn down and EQ rain sfx)

[Liontamer]

It's Black SeeD, so I'm making two assumptions: 1) the musicianship won't be in question and 2) at some point, the mixing's going to be flooded enough that it'll make me question it.

Beautiful opening with Freya's theme delicately performed on acoustic guitar, which was combined perfectly with the rain SFX. A synth line got added in the background at 1:49 and initially didn't sound right; some of the sustained notes on it briefly seemed pitchy/off, but not a big deal. The instrumentation and soundscape suddenly changed completely at 2:35, which got my attention (and Chimpazilla's too) for the sheer abruptness. IMO, the melodic lead still definitely should have stayed clean and upfront, because we're left with a kind of quality disparity when it comes to this piece's sharpness, but I'll live. Back to the acoustic at 3:21, but sounding distant like the way 2:35's section was produced, since there was no bright melodic lead on top of the soundscape as with the intro.

OK, we're halfway through and I haven't gotten an extremely cramped metal section yet, so I'm waiting for the othe shoe to drop. 4:29 definitely sounded lossy/muddy, but it cleared back up some in stages starting at 4:40, so I'm OK with it. At 5:14, the melody returns, and things have a distant/lossy sound where machine-gun drums are in effect, but it's nothing where I can't get past the mixing choices.

Things switched back to cleaner at 6:45 for the finish, and I genuinely don't understand why the track can't be mixed in that manner the whole way through. That said, the mixing choices aren't ideal, but they don't harm the track; being a "get-off-my-lawn" old man about some metal mixing, I didn't have any major problem with this. The arrangement and performances are excellent, and the mixing's solid enough despite my personal taste for sharpening up the more distant-sounding areas. I'm happy to be wrong about my assumption here.

YES

[XPRTNovice]

Really liking this in a lot of ways, but I def think the rain needs to get pushed to the back gradually here so that it's not stealing the thunder (no pun intended) from the rest of the great arrangement that's playing out in front. Chimps suggestion to EQ it to carve out some space for instruments may work well, you may even experiment with automating the EQ so that it gives way over time. 

The 2:40 transition was definitely abrupt, and I feel like we're getting mixing issues right up front. That pounding kick is punching through the whole mix for me, and the lead guitar could come out a bit as well. Crash cymbals at 3:10 were distracting in the mix as well.

We rebalance at 3:25, and for about a full minute I kind of feel like we meander without a clear direction, and then back to a massive slam at 4:35. I still feel like there's something off with that kick as we get here, like it's punching through too much. The lead guitar at 5:25 is in a much better place than the previous metal section. 

From an arrangement standpoint, I feel like this could stand to take like almost a 35% cut and it would still retain the story you're trying to tell. I get a lot of repetitiveness in here, and a lot of not really knowing where we're going or why we're going there. At 7:17, with essentially only two sections, I found myself in love with the chapters, but not with the book, if that makes any sense. It's just too much of itself. 

Honestly, I think this one needs a big haircut, and there are enough mixing issues that I'm going to give this a resubmit. 

 

NO (resub)

[DarkSim]

I've listened through 4 times now, and the more I listen, the more it grows on me.

The intro starts out with some nice atmosphere, and the guitar presentation reminds me of The Last Of Us theme, with some backing. The intro drags on a bit. Then, like an animé plot twist, the big metal section comes in with absolutely no foreshadowing whatsoever. I think on subsequent listens, as I was expecting it, it wasn't so jarring, but certainly on first listen I didn't appreciate that arrangement decision. The same thing happens later in the track too.

Mixing overall could be better, (rain is quite loud, metal sections a bit muddy), and the fadeout ending is a little underwhelming. The track length is on the more indulgent side, and I think if you'd put in some more transtitional writing in the intro and 4:29 transition, then it wouldn't feel as plodding as it does at times.

That said though, I think it's strong enough as-is, and the above points would be nice-to-haves rather than dealbreakers. I'm on board with this.

YES

[Emunator]

It's interesting to see how you handle an arrangement that's not as explicitly in the realm of black metal as your previous submissions, but still applies many of the same principles of arrangement to something a little more delicate and emotional. One of the core tenants of black metal, dramatic dynamic shifts, is definitely in play with this arrangement, and perhaps unsurprisingly, I really enjoyed the sudden swings in intensity. I do agree that, with some more nuance to the sound design and some transitional signals (pick slides, drum fills, crashes) you could retain that same impact but slide into the heavy sections with a bit more grace. That said, there's beauty to be found in every corner of this piece, and even with the areas where the execution could have been tightened up, it's hard to deny that this is an inspired and tasteful take on the FF9 source material.

YES