Liontamer Posted December 27, 2023 Share Posted December 27, 2023 This was my Dwelling of Duels submission for December 2022, MAGFest Month. I participated in DoD for the first time in January 2022, not knowing what I was getting in to. After seeing the enthusiastic (and constructive) response to my submissions, I got hooked and committed to do a full year of DoD to practice recording, arranging, and production. This track was the culmination of that year. I wanted to take everything I had learned submitting to DoD in 2022 and crank it up to 11. I thought the Mole Knight boss theme would make for a good djent cover, so putting the arrangement chops I gained over the year, this is the result. It's heavy, it's prog, it's got vocals, it's got guitar solos, it's even got a violin solo! Track credits: * minusworld - guitars, bass, programming, lyrics, arrangement, production * Brandon Strader - vocals * Development of Avoid - guitar solo at 2:23 * Shea's Violin - violin solo The opening of Mole Knight's Boss theme reminded me of the intro to "Make Total Destroy" by Periphery, so I adapted it into a similarly fretboard-spanning octave tapping riff and went from there. I knew I wanted alternating growled and clean vocals, and Brandon Strader delivered 110%. Development of Avoid did the solo at 2:23. This track was perfect for his style. The solo is weird and alien, but also strangely memorable. I added the bridge really late in the month, and Shea's Violin came on board for a short violin solo and killed it. The main source used is Mole Knight's boss theme, "Claws of Fate". Mole Knight's stage "An Underlying Problem" is used in a few places, and the Specter of Torment version of the stage, "Facing the Task" is lightly used. Main source: Shovel Knight - Claws of Fate (https://virt.bandcamp.com/track/the-claws-of-fate-mole-knight-battle) Other references: * Shovel Knight - An Underlying Problem (https://virt.bandcamp.com/track/an-underlying-problem-the-lost-city) - melody from source at 0:00 adapted at 0:49 in this cover; bass line from source at 2:14 adapted into breakdown at 1:23 in this cover * Shovel Knight: Specter of Torment - Facing the Task (https://virt.bandcamp.com/track/facing-the-task-lost-city), chord progression and melody from source at 0:44 adapted in the bridge at 1:57 of this cover The lyrics are mostly a generic "down with the system" deal, but with some mole- and shovel-related imagery. I did take some inspiration from current events at the time... namely a certain head-of-state warmonger and a certain owner of a bird-themed company. ### Verse 1 We are beneath you We make the ground quake under your feet Collapse the system Bring it down to earth You are beneath us You think your status makes you our savior Demon in disguise Fallen angel ### Chorus Walking all over us again Can’t take much more, we are at our wits end Look at this world you left for us Covered in rust, and dust, and lust Fire and smoke reach toward the sky Brandishing claws, revolt sparks in our eyes Through with the lies you’re shoveling Disgust, distrust, combust Yeah, bring it down ### Verse 2 For all your worth You are worthless A blight On our kind Your cultists Have disowned you True colors Red stripes, blood ### Bridge Shining brightly As we unite! We Will strike the ground Move this mount-ain On our own And you’ll Be left all alone All alone ### Breakdown Influence overthrown Name no more known Monuments overgrown Yeah ### Down Bridge The future’s Shining brightly As we unite! We Will strike the ground Move this mount-ain On our own And you’ll Be left all alone ### Tag Rise up Break through the fallow ground Sharpen your claws New world inbound ### Outro Walking all over us again Can’t take much more we are at our wits end Fire and smoke reach toward the sky Brandishing claws, revolt sparks in our eyes Games & Sources: Main source: Shovel Knight - Claws of Fate (https://virt.bandcamp.com/track/the-claws-of-fate-mole-knight-battle) Other references: * Shovel Knight - An Underlying Problem (https://virt.bandcamp.com/track/an-underlying-problem-the-lost-city) - melody from source at 0:00 adapted at 0:49 in this cover; bass line from source at 2:14 adapted into breakdown at 1:23 in this cover * Shovel Knight: Specter of Torment - Facing the Task (https://virt.bandcamp.com/track/facing-the-task-lost-city), chord progression and melody from source at 0:44 adapted in the bridge at 1:57 of this cover Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prophetik music Posted January 4 Share Posted January 4 metal af to start. the initial section with the growls sounds pretty solid, but i'll admit i can't understand a word of the clean vocals since they're so quiet relative to the rest of the track. they're also kind of treble-ly throughout. the track slammajammas through some really mean riffing and drum work for the first 1:50, and there's a bunch of the riffs from the original throughout so i'm good with the arrangement. this is a beast of an original to adapt into a vocal track - brandon does a really great job with a really rough melody line, honestly, even if the words are a bit difficult to fit in sometimes. given that the vocals aren't the focus of the track, i don't mind that the words aren't always really very fitting of the melody line. there's a break (>>??>>) at 1:55, and some fun stuff going on in there with the violin as a really out of nowhere add. i agree that the solo is all angles and sharp edges and i love it too. it goes through some more riffing and then it's done. this is super intense and i love it. virt's music is so technically proficient that we don't get nearly enough remixes of his stuff as i'd wish, so i'm all over this. your playing is proficient and your arrangement is solid and recognizable, and everyone who contributed really did a great job. nice work. YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MindWanderer Posted January 23 Share Posted January 23 Loud, loud, loud! I know it's the genre, but I still had to drop my volume to 2/3 thirds of my usual listening volume. And the opening (and ending) sound like 95% literally random notes; it sounds really similar to what happened in old programming languages when you overflowed the frequency range. Growling vocals are totally indecipherable, but that's understandable. The sung vocals are also 99% indecipherable, and that's less so. It's hard to make out the words even in the vocal solo. Oh, it's Brandon, that tracks. He's always had great pitch control but not so great enunciation, and this is no exception. I can barely hear the guitar melody either; it's all drum kit and overdriven guitar. And because the melody is so hard to hear, and that's where the Shovel Knight is, it loses a lot of that connection. I have no doubt it would pass 50% timestamping, going carefully and listening carefully, but it's a weaker link than it needs to be. While I personally think the mixing should be improved, I respect that most fans of death metal don't expect, need, or particularly appreciate clean mixing. (I actually really enjoy well-mixed death metal, but not most of it.) I'm not a fan of this, but I think it does what's intended. YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liontamer Posted February 10 Author Share Posted February 10 Vocals aren’t my favorite, more because they’re mixed in a way that muds together with the instrumentation rather than standing out. But there’s the contrast of the sung vocals at 1:57 where things are more upfront, so that was good. Stylish, messy metal, full of power! :-) YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gario Posted April 8 Share Posted April 8 Honestly, I've heard plenty of this genre to know that much of this is standard death metal fare - sweet complicated guitar work and incomprehensable growls that make more sense the more you listen to them. I agree with Mindwander on some of the vocals being mixed too far behind the guitars. It's so much better at 1:57 when they take center stage, but even what we have elsewhere is plenty postable on OCR; I can still hear and understand the lyrics when they're more behind the mix, just oddly mixed. Overall this is exactly what I'd imagine if someone said "Death Metal Mole Knight", and I'm more than happy to see this where it belongs. YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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