prophetik music Posted January 25 Share Posted January 25 Track credits: * jnWake - keys, synths * Shea's Violin - cello in Part 3 * minusworld - arrangement, production, guitars, bass, vocals, VST programming Notes First off, a note about Inscryption: If there’s a chance you will play this game, I recommend NOT LOOKING UP ANYTHING, even the OST. The track, lyrics, and links below reveal little about the game’s plot by design. Song links are to specific songs, not the whole OST. This was my entry to DoD's Horror Month, where to my surprise it won gold! I wasn’t initially planning to enter Horror Month because I rarely play horror games. I’m also nearly one year into dadhood, so entering DoD requires an arrangement to jump out at me because I don’t have time to struggle through an arrangement. But I scanned through my game library anyway and realized I played Inscryption which totally counts as horror. Inscryption’s music is very atmospheric, so I still wasn’t sure if I was going to enter, but at least I had a game. While tempting to do atmospheric/ambient for Horror Month, I generally like to arrange songs -- something with hooks and a chance of sticking in listener's memories. This usually means melody, followable song structure, etc. I asked myself “what songs have a creepyish vibe to them?” and Porcupine Tree came to mind. Inscryption music features an acoustic guitar prominently, and Fear of a Blank Planet begins with an AG riff and… the first part of the arrangement jumped out at me. I didn’t want to do a 1-to-1 mashup with Fear of a Blank Planet, but I did want to capture the vibe. I have the unfortunate curse of knowing exactly where all of my inspiration comes from, which often makes me feel like I’m just copying other people… but if you blend it all up it sounds fresh, right? …Right? Here's the list, if you find it interesting. Part 1: Fear of a Blank Planet by Porcupine Tree Part 2: Hamburger Lady by Throbbing Gristle Part 3: Sorceress by Opeth, Anesthetize by Porcupine Tree, Compendium by Elder Part 4: Inmazes by VOLA. (The original thing I wrote here was much djent-ier, but I didn’t like it and toned it back.) I am the singer on this. I'm not a great singer, nor do I like to sing, but I think my voice is able to fit the "wilting" vibe. Hopefully it's not too distracting! Lyrics The lyrics are original. The public premise of the game, to quote videogamedunkey, is a deckbuilder “you play in a dark cabin with a serial killer.” I didn’t want to write lyrics about the game in order to avoid spoilers, so I did the very (un)original thing of writing about being metaphorically trapped… by yourself. Ultimately the lyrics combine my own reflections on struggling to do things that are good for me (sleep, exercise, therapy) with indirect imagery from the game in a hopefully cohesive way. An example: “Here they come again and again” - Imagery of enemy cards coming down the lane “Your sins find you again and again” - Why is it so hard to fit in a simple 30 minute walk each day? “Your choices wound again and again” - Imagery of… well if you’ve played the game, you know. Verse moonlight creeping through the haze sunlight haven’t seen in days lamplight flashing in their eyes s’alright i’m prob’bly gonna die nightmare not asleep, awake despair feel my body shake elsewhere no one looks for me my prayer divine absentee Chorus torpid eyes belie the guise don’t surmise there’s someone inside Verse haunted by’an early demise not dead i’m just hypnotized sage words barely a disguise to hide there’s no one inside hopeless nothing exciting faithless what’s there to believe graveless no rest for these bones spineless hitherto unknown Chorus 2 vapid ways earn ceaseless praise dearth betrays there’s no one inside B Verse trapped inside this prison nothing but decay No. Stand up, won’t take it I won’t waste away Ahhh Here they come again and again Your sins find you again and again Ahhh Your Choices wound again and again Again and again and again and again (Again and again and again …) Outro I I wanna feel alive I wanna feel the sun I wanna see the sky I I know I’m gonna die But I’m gonna try To live this life Chorus Gleaming eyes Lift toward the sky No disguise There’s someone inside Games & Sources Inscryption Source Map Part 1 Intro - Deathcard Cabin melody 1 Verses - Deathcard Cabin prog variation Chorus - Deathcard Cabin melody 2 (timestamp: 118s) Part 2 Moon Theme Part 3 Chugs - Leshy's theme melody 2 (timestamp: 129s) Prog Build - original Part 4 Lydian riffs - Leshy's theme melody 1 Chorus reprise Intro reprise Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prophetik music Posted January 30 Author Share Posted January 30 i can definitely see the PT influence right away on this one. i just played the game so the theme is very familiar to me as well. switching from the faster, more urgent verse to the broad half-time chorus is straight off of every single PT album, especially when layered with the strings in the transition back to the verse. great job getting the style down. i like the intensity at 1:30 switching the acoustic guitar riff to electric. 2:30 is the start of the moon theme - i admit i was wondering how you'd work this in, but this is probably the best way to make it work. there's a heavy emphasis on effecting voices here, and while i can't make out what's being said, someone else may be able to. this doesn't overstay its welcome in the scope of the overall work so i'm good with such a disjointed sfx break. 3:47 is the leshy theme. vocals are a bit more exposed here due to the range, but i can definitely hear your influences here as well. i liked the way that you played with time a few times here to keep it not quite what you expect. the anesthetize reference at 5:14 is great, and within the scope of a 7+ minute work i don't mind some development that's original at all. 6:17 is a much more (initially) straightforward blow through the leshy theme again. the vocal lines and harmonies here are great, your voice sounds the best in the track here. it's shorter than i'd have expected for this section. 7:17 is kind of where the track hits the outro, and it's done quickly after that. even a bigger fill going into the final hit would have been great. also i'd love to have heard the djentier version to be honest! this track kinda doesn't have enough gristle to really fit the cabin's gameplay. this is, of course, great. the mixing is fantastic throughout - you could say that the vocals are a bit quiet in spots, but this is very fitting the style of the influencing tracks so i think it works great. i think the lyrics work well and don't sound too contrived. the themes from the game are interwoven throughout as well. excellent job. YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MindWanderer Posted February 29 Share Posted February 29 Really clever idea, which you realized expertly. I had a hard time making out the vocals every time they were sung alongside the overdriven guitar, which is usually after 0:57. I couldn't make out the lyrics at all after that point. It suffers from medley-itis a little bit. The Moon "theme," at a minute and a half long, is very long for a non-musical interlude. After that, it basically transitions into an entirely separate song; it doesn't have any connective tissue with the Deathcard theme that I can identify, other than clearly being done by the same artist. If this were an album, I'd be 100% confident this was a different track. I love everything else about this. The medley-ish-ness of it is my one big hangup. Our standards say, "Medleys must sound like a single song, not multiple songs pasted together." This absolutely sounds like two songs pasted together, if not three. I can buy The Moon as an overly-lengthy transition, but the Leshy part doesn't sound like it's part of the same song as the Deathcard part, at all. That makes it a standards violation. I would pass this in a heartbeat if it were submitted as two different songs. Unfortunately, as-is, I feel like I have to vote NO (please, please, resubmit!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hemophiliac Posted May 7 Share Posted May 7 This is a very well produced piece with great performances. The themes manage to intertwine very well, even the Moon in a macro sense (it's just the transitions that make it awkward). I appreciate the vocal harmony. The cello blends in so well during part 3, why don't we see more cello in metal? The organ was also another beautiful compliment during that section as well. It's a great choice to fill out some top-end frequencies without departing from the vibe. The singing feels fitting for the style and the backing supports it. You could make an argument for brining up the vocals 1-3db, but it wasn't a detractor for me. For me the weakness of the piece is the transitions: 2:30 key change was awkward for me, 3:47 was a fade, and 6:13-6:15 is a sudden new instrument introduction in a different vibe then everything else. Those didn't amount to crashing the car for me in the end. YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chimpazilla Posted June 6 Share Posted June 6 This is produced extremely well. I agree with the other Js that the vocals are quiet, and hard to make out against the grunge guitars, which could be corrected by notching the guitars at the fundamental vocal frequency, and/or lowering the guitar volume slightly, whenever they both play together. I don't find this to be a dealbreaker though. The instrumental and vocal performances are extremely good. What an awesome arrangement. I love the little time-sig shifts. 6/4 intro, jumping right into (I'm not even going to try to name the time sig, I count 8-7-8-8, then it changes again to ??? and then 4/4 and then ??? and it all flows so well and sounds so goodl). Yeah, this is a bit of a medley, and the section in the middle is vastly different from the rest of the piece. But I like that kind of thing! For me, it still flows well and tells a unique story. It's a prog-rock opera, and I am totally onboard for it. The more I listen the more I like this. Let's do this. YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emunator Posted June 12 Share Posted June 12 (edited) Ahhh, I remember hearing this during the DoD listening party and immediately picking up on the Porcupine Tree influence before the vocals even came in (maybe the title gave it away?) Either way, I can see the vocal style throwing listeners off but I can confidently say that you nailed the Steven Wilson style and it's a perfect choice for this arrangement. The guitar tones, time signature changes, and even the hard-left-turn transitions feel totally on-brand. I don't feel compelled to nitpick anything here because the concept and execution, by and large, is just so strong. I've heard a lot of different songs from you over the past few months that demonstrate a wide range of styles and skills, so it really shouldn't be surprising that you had the skills to pull off a dynamic prog rock opus like this all off within the span of one song. Will be coming back to this one frequently, great work! YES Edited June 27 by Emunator Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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