OCR04832 - *YES* Final Fantasy 7 & Resident Evil 2 "Stay Away"

[Liontamer ⚖️]

Artist Name: Xaleph, Zack Parrish, Pixels & Paradiddles

Assignments:

Arrangers:

• Xaleph everything but the solo section
• Paradiddles 2:19-3:14

Mastering: Zack Parrish
Guitarists: Pixels and Zack Parrish
Bass Guitar: Zack Parrish
Drums: Paradiddles
Vocals:

• Xaleph (everything but growling)
• Pixels (growling)

Commentary:

Ok so... normally I don't sing a lot and I'm pretty self conscious of my voice.  I did a lot of singing when I was younger but not so much in the last 10-15 years other than in the car, at church, or in the shower.  We wanted this competition piece to be a curveball where it wasn't really clear who did it.  We also wanted the sages to do a song together, thought it would be fun!  We really enjoyed this song, would love to talk about the process of writing it, performing it, and all the in/outs beyond what I wrote here.  This song we tried to make it one of the more complex songs we've written given the ridiculous time signature changes in both pieces.  It was such a blast to write, perform, write lyrics for, and produce.

Crafting singable and captivating lyrics for FF7-RE2 proved to be a formidable challenge. The introductory section is set in 6/4 time, transitioning to a bridge in 5/4, and is followed by a loop of 8/4 (two measures of 4/4), 7/4, 7/4, and 7/4. I also re-recorded certain parts rather than merely copying and pasting to infuse more emotion. This complexity is partly attributable to my arrangement of the song, as we aimed to create one of the more technically demanding pieces to perform while maintaining its catchiness. The drummer, guitarists, and bassists all executed their parts brilliantly. In reference to the RE2 malformation of the G theme, the chorus vocals overlay this motif/theme atop the FF7 line. The intricate time signature changes in RE2, when mapped onto the equally complex signatures of FF7, required considerable effort to achieve a natural song flow.  We wanted this to be a hidden flex to those perceptive musicians, drawing inspiration from Tool, known for their complex compositions. We also have a more refined version of this song that we will release at a later time

Lyrics:

Stay Away
Music by Xaleph, Zack Parrish, Pixels & Paradiddles
Lyrics by Xaleph

Doesn't feel right
It's in my veins
Pressure hurts
Melting brain

My mind is split
Split inside
This headache burns

Breathing hurts
It doesn't feel right
Something's inside

Wide awake
(What am I again?)
Zombie
(Surging through my skin)

I don't like this virus
I don't feel like myself
I didn't choose violence
(Walls are turning)

Violence is pulsing in me
I just want to take a rest
I didn't choose violence
(Zombie)

Wide awake
(What am I again?)
Zombie
(Surging through my skin)

Wide awake
(Doesn't feel right)
Something's burning in my brain
(Split inside)
Cruel machinations

Stay Away
(Who am I?)
Walls are turning
(What am I?)
Fight the strain

Disorientation
(What am I again?)
...disorientation

Stay away
(Doesn't feel right)
Far away
(Split inside)
Stay away
(Who am I?)
Far away
(What am I?)

Wide awake
(Doesn't feel right)
Zombie
(Split inside)
Wide awake
(Who am I?)
Zombie
(What am I?)

Stay away
(Doesn't feel right)
Far away
(Split inside)
Stay away
(Who am I?)
Far away
(What am I?)  

Stay Away source breakdown:

“Hurry Up!” (Aka “Hurry Faster!”) from Final Fantasy VII
0:00-0:13 - Intro/A (6)
0:13-0:22 - B (8-7-7-7)
0:22-0:34 - A’
0:34-0:44 - B’
0:44-0:56 - C (7x3, 6, 7)
0:56-1:20 - D (6 - unused)

“The 2nd Malformation of ‘G’” from Resident Evil 2
0:00-0:11 - Intro
0:11-0:25 - A (RE2 motif)
0:25-0:33 - B (vamp to loop point, repeat from intro)

Stay Away
0:00-0:17 - Original material (shape resembles front portion of Hurry Up! A)
0:17-0:21 - Hurry Up! A tail
0:21-0:39 - original material/Hurry Up! A repeat, drums make small reference to 1:20-1:28 of “Jenova Absolute” from FF7 in tabla sample triggering
0:39-0:45 - Hurry Up! A tail repeat
0:45-0:56 - Hurry Up! B in band, variation of 2nd Malformation A section melody in vocal
0:56-1:22 - Hurry Up! A in full, played twice
1:22-1:43 - 2nd Malformation intro, transmogrified into complex time signature
1:43-2:13 - Hurry Up! B in band, 2nd Malformation A in vocal
2:18-3:14 - Hurry Up! C front end, variation of 2nd Malformation intro back half. Section inspired by drum solo section (4:06-5:06) of “Forty-Six & 2” by Tool
3:14-3:31 - variation of intro riff
3:31-3:52 - Hurry Up! B without vocal
3:52-4:12 - Hurry Up! B in band, 2nd Malformation A in vocal
4:12-4:29 - repeat of 3:14-3:31

Games & Sources

Final Fantasy VII - Hurry Up! (Hurry Faster!)

https://musescore.com/user/27353615/scores/8336132

Resident Evil 2 - Second Malformation of G
A Section: 7/8, 9/8, 7/8, 9/8
A->B 7/8, 4/4
B: 4/4 x 8
C: 4/4 x 3, 2/4, 5/4
(back to A on loop)

Also - we did have a reference to FF7 Jenova Absolute, though it was not a part of the mashup.
0:21-0:39 - original material/Hurry Up! A repeat, drums make small reference to 1:20-1:28 of “Jenova Absolute” from FF7 in tabla sample triggering

[prophetik music ⚖️]

opens with a slick bass groove. vocal elements at 0:10 are quite sharp in terms of frequency - siblants especially are quite bright. there's some Hurry in there and then it's back to the original lick. we finally get some full voice at 0:46, with some full band sound. it's surprisingly light under the voice part - there's guitar mostly in the right ear, bass and drums, but nothing that i'd call rhythm guitar or a pad that i can hear. it drops down again for a verse/spoken section at 1:00 or so, and this works through some more alternate sections of spoken word and singing. the singing is hard to hear cut through the band sound - it doesn't look like there's much formant boost on some of those sections, i'm wondering if boosting ~2200hz would help it cut.

the band section after this is super technical and sounds great, i especially like the tom work. the chorus following has a lot of sections with the singer singing higher notes and not much underneath them - this doesn't sound particularly strong since there's little to connect the two elements. there's a build with some growls through 2:15 which is a transition point. the Tool influence is immediately recognizable when it comes in, hard to miss on the drum solo with repeated guitar parts over top. this is pretty darn close to the original Tool influence.

the tom section ends with more call/response of singing and growls, and there's some off-signature Hurry elements as an interim section here. a bit more call and response, some rhythmic elements, and it's done.

if i am honest, there are sections of this that i don't care for pretty strongly. i felt that the sections with the vocalist up high and there being little to no harmonic support underneath (like at 1:50) really felt unbalanced. from a technical standpoint, the vocal elements for the most part were executed competently, but there's a few times where approximants like the 'w' sound in "wide awake" at 2:10 or 3:16 took too long to come out and sound schmeared as a result. the band-only sections are technically proficient (3:09 is insanely flashy), extremely fun to listen to, and influenced heavily enough by the Tool source track to the point that there may be concerns from some judges. separately, from an arrangement standpoint, the arrangement is freaking nuts, guys. this is a beyond awesome adaptation of two really fun originals, and they're interwoven enough that it's not just one's the verse and the other's the chorus. i mentioned a few times that i feel that support was needed to lash everything together, but from a 500-foot level, this is bananas. lastly, from a mastering standpoint, my main complaint was the heavy siblant sound from some of the spoken word elements - beyond that, this sounds super clean and well-handled.

i think there's a few missteps. but overall this is an incredible concept with some truly superlative execution on the instrumental side and overall excellent arrangement. nice work.

 

 

YES

[Emunator ⚖️]

Matt, your Maynard impression is pretty damn on-point, and you also came prepared with the FX processing to nail the iconic Tool sound. Major shoutouts to Seph on the screams too, I didn't know you had that in you! I remember commenting in the DoD listening party (before I knew it was you guys making the track - I should have known!) that there were some sections that felt particularly imbalanced in terms of volume, but that appears to have been totally ironed out in this version, because everything is crystal clear and sitting in just the right spot. The bass and guitar tone, in combination with the vocal processing, are the perfect mix of sludgy, aggressive, and clean at all the right moments. And it should go without saying that the instrumental performances are incredibly tight across the board - I can tell you all had a lot of fun with this.

I have a few minor gripes with the mixing. I didn't really pick up on this before, but the vocal sibilance is really coming through hot on my current listening setup, and could use a bit of taming on the consonants. The kit drum, specifically the kicks and (to a lesser extent, the toms) feel mixed a bit too clean and clicky, almost like you would mix for an EDM track rather than a rock track. Everything is distinct and the clarity is excellent, but something doesn't sound QUITE right for the genre and I think the clarity on the kickdrum is the culprit. That's all I got for you though - the rest of the mix is really, really good.

Easy yes on all fronts, you guys are powerhouses at your craft!

YES

[Hemophiliac ⚖️]

I love how Xaleph is always willing to xpand and play with time when it's appropriate. The arrangement is good, FF7 is dominant here. The ending call and response between singing and growling is a neat way to wrap everything up.

2:37-3:14 was a particular highlight for me because of how the familiarity of the FF7 source's melody is broken up in creative ways to fit the time. Unexpected and it fit the track very well.

Sure this isn't the cleanest mix ever as the other J's have pointed out, but it gets the job done more than adequately. This might not be my particular cup-of-tea, but I can see the good qualities heavily outweigh the negative (basically nitpick stuff with the sibilance of consonants)

YES