Liontamer Posted July 11, 2024 Posted July 11, 2024 Artist Name: Ivan Hakštok This was my entry in the June 2024 Franchise Fusion Month on Dwelling of Duels. I've had the idea of combining Termination and Those Who Fight Further for years now, and once the DoD theme was announced I immediately thought it might be the time to finally tackle that idea. The end result is this epic/pirate metal thingy which I find quite enjoyable, and I hope you will find it enjoyable too. :D Edit (11-27-24): Hello! If it's not too late, could I ask for FF7: Remake (source tune: The Airbuster) to also be included in the credits for this? I wanted to include it in my original submission but I thought it might be redundant since that source is also a cover of Those Who Fight Further, and until today I kinda completely forgot about it. There are parts of my arrangement which are based on the Remake version instead of the original so I just wanted to be 100% clear on that. Thanks! Games & Sources Ys 2 - Termination Final Fantasy 7 - Those Who Fight Further Final Fantasy 7 Remake - The Airbuster
prophetik music Posted July 18, 2024 Posted July 18, 2024 sir this is a wendy's hearing these side-by-side makes the inspiration super clear. opens with some very quiet pads and some arps that are reminiscent of both sources, and a few carmina burana hits. percussion and orchestral elements are in at 0:36, and i really like the running lines in the strings right off the bat. guitar's in soon after with a highly technical set of runs, and we get some Ys right off the bat before the iconic FF7 run. there's a break at 1:36 with a shift to acoustic/celtic, and i love the whistle here! it fits the concept so well. we're back to wendy's soon after though with a guitar-led romp through the Ys material accompanied by orchestral stabs and some rolling rhythm guitar. 2:25's ensemble riffing is really fun, and the section right after with the melodic material in the backing orchestral elements is a nice little shift. 2:43's a great showcase of your guitar skill and tone - love the high note to finish it - and we're back to some rhythmic elements before the FF7 riff is back. this has been a few minutes of balls-to-the-wall and i wouldn't have minded a break right before this section, but we're pell-mell back into another solo and this is also super technically proficient. there's a short break at 4:05 with some extreme riffage in the keys and bass under some not-particularly-realistic sounding horns, and a half-time section with the choir is soon after. 4:54's the final payoff chorus with everything going. something's added in super-panned at 5:06 that sounds both out of time and really strangely not part of the ensemble - i really didn't care for that. everything else here is pretty fun though. it does maybe one time through the riff pattern too many, and then has an outro starting at 5:45. this is an obvious win. the arrangement is great, the mastering is superb throughout outside of a few specific nits, and the energy is unmatched as is expected from a hakštok track. great job. YES
XPRTNovice Posted September 15, 2024 Posted September 15, 2024 Audibly chuckled at Brad's graphic of the loudness. You certainly squeezed the shit out of that lemon. I also audibly yelled "fuckin A" at the first choir hit. Excellent entrance. Guitar playing is on point. The lead up to the first drop at 1:07. Is awesome and this is giving me such incredibly good Blind Guardian vibes that if you told me it was their track, I wouldn't even bat an eye. The instrument at 1:40 (tin flute, eqsque) is an awesome choice, very contrarian to the style and weirdly fits perfectly, BUT I think that given that you have so much other incredible performances in the rest of the song, its synthetic nature threw me off. It's such a small part that it would absolutely be worth your time to get someone to play that live, because it would add an incredible element to just that one moment. In the parts later in the piece where the tin whistle (I'm still not sure it's that) is in the background, it's camoflaged enough that it can survive, but when it sticks out, it really sticks out to my ears. Your guitar solo could stand to come out a bit more at 3:45. It's excellently performed, but it's just a touch back to my ears that I start losing some of your great noodling, especially behind the close-in-the-freq-spectrum trumpet stabs. My only other nitpick is that your combination of sounds for the excellently performed guitar countermelody at 5:20 ish is clashing with the tone selection of your hardpanned rhythm guitars. I lose the finesse of it, and it's such a good idea (and such an excellent contrast). I think there are a few ways to solve it, but I'll let you play with it if you want. If I it were my piece, I would probably automate an EQ carve-out of the ryhythm guitars to make room for that noodling because the noodling is more important. This thing is an absolute fucking banger. YES
Chimpazilla Posted October 7, 2024 Posted October 7, 2024 Those first two hits made me JUMP out of my chair, like for real. Wow! Got my attention there. The soundscape quickly builds into one of the most epic soundscapes I have ever heard. I love the triplets that everything is playing. The mix is a wall of sound but the mixing is clear enough to hear everything. The guitar work is phenomenal in this arrangement. Oh when the tin whistle comes in, that's a great contrast, love it. The mixing sounds very good considering such a dense soundscape, things are well placed in the soundstage, although I agree with XPRT that the guitar solo is on the quiet side (which is a shame because it absolutely rocks). My biggest nitpick is with the brass that begins at 4:18, the attacks on the patch are not keeping up with the fast writing so that sounds uncanny and behind the beat. I also agree with XPRT when he said "This thing is an absolute fucking banger." It is indeed! Truly excellent track, let's go. YES
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