OCR04851 - *YES* Doom "Doomonic Monarchia"

[Liontamer ⚖️]

Artist Name: Mike Norvak

I made this remix on a 190BPM midtempo style as some of my other ReDoomed tracks. Probably a bit dated or weird choice to release it in 2025 when EBM is loosing force with more 90's sounds taking makin stage but I still love the energy and darkness of this genre, however the use of Acid FM sounds instead of virtual analogue or wavetable synths gives it a fresher approach IMHO. I think this remix can actually work on OCR with the hype of the upcoming Doom: The Dark Ages, I hope a release date has been announced when you read this, so please consider this submission bearing that in mind 🙏

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Games & Sources

Doom (1993)
Robert C. Prince
At Doom's Gate

[prophetik music ⚖️]

opens with a really big distorted bassline. there's a huge fat kick that comes in right away as well, and then we get down with the phatness at 0:20 when the backing elements come in. it gets pretty dense and messy quickly - i love the opening riff and the bassline once the track gets moving individually, but they're in the same register so it gets hard to hear everything clearly. it stays dense and progresses through the chord structure for a bit until we get to 1:21 and there's a bit of a break from the bassline. at 1:42 there's some stabs and the timing on several of them is off - it's notable right away with how regimented everything else has been. this is clearly in a pattern because the same timing issues come back several times. the mix gets very over-dense again around the 2:10 mark and it's hard to really hear anything by the end of it.

2:32 is the first real break we've had, and this is really needed as the track is so oppressively mixed (honestly fitting for a doom track!). 3:02 brings in another completely sick bass tone (seriously, you've got like four in this track that are so great), and then we get a recap of the opening section (not copypasta but fairly close). the track trucks along for over a minute doing mostly the same thing, and then suddenly drops off with no beat and meanders a bit before ending suddenly without any prep.

i'm honestly pretty torn about this. on one hand, it's very over-dense and cluttered in several sections, and the timing thing at 1:42 is offputting immediately when you hear it. on the other hand, it's got some absolutely dynamite synth choices and i actually like how oppressively heavy the mixing is, as it fits the game without sounding bad - it's just super heavy, the kick especially. i'd like to hear from someone else before i call this one as i'm really on the fence about it.

 

 

?

edit 3/20: i want more things to happen in this track, like kris said. there's a very static, blocky quality to it, and it's hard to judge this without seeing all of the crazy automation and fun things each of these big synths could do. but we don't judge on potential or how close we are to attaining that potential, we just judge on what we have in front of us. this is an aggressive, forward mix with unique synths and a punchy approach. what's here is over the bar. it ain't perfect, but that's ok.

YES

Edited March 20 by prophetik music

[Chimpazilla ⚖️]

The more I get to know midtempo the more I like the genre.  I'm a sucker for huge, heavy sounds, a pounding kick and deeeeeeeep sidechaining.  The sound design in here is extremely good, lots of unique bass and synth sounds.  The mastering on this track is heavy as heck but I don't hear any overcompression.

There's something about this track that bothers me.  While everything here is very cool, I'm also finding it more static and repetitive than I'd like.  Once an idea is established it just stays in the same gear for a long time.  The squelchy synth beginning at 0:20 is so cool but it never really develops.  I'm waiting for that sound to filter and pan and go all in and out of my ears doing unexpected things and it just stays right where it is the whole time.  I find myself imagining all the cool things that sound could be doing but isn't and it's leaving me wanting more.  I don't know how to better describe this.  It's not wrong per se, just unrealized potential.

Starting at 1:41, I am hearing that lead synth pattern is slightly off-timed compared to the percussion.  Maybe it is the delay on it?  I can't be sure but there's this awkward off-timed thing for me.  (edit:  I see proph had the same gripe about this timing)

At 2:31 we are at a breakdown.  Cool sounds, again, but they aren't *doing* anything other than what they start out doing.  At 3:02 there is the coolest sound I've heard yet, soon to be layered with many other very cool sounds.  The mixing of all of this is rather good even though it is dense.  I can hear everything clearly.  But the soundscape is so repetitive to me.  I feel weird even saying that but it's true.  As busy as this soundscape is I feel like it is holding back from busting out to some really fun places.

I hate to add another ? to this vote but just like prophetik, I'm just not sure yet.  Is this over our bar, probably.  I'm going to think on this.

edit 4-7-25:  Listening again, I stand by everything I said.  The sections are long and static, but they do change as the piece moves along.  It's too cool not to pass this, so let's go.

YES

Edited April 7 by Chimpazilla

[Hemophiliac ⚖️]

Mr. Norvak is back once again with more dark and heavy EDM. After getting through a complete listen through, the number one thing I'm happy to see is that this doesn't suffer from lack of repetition like some of the other submissions of yours I've heard in the past. Good job changing up the sections and adding contrast where it's needed.

The master hits pretty hard, but I'm not hearing any over compression or artifacts. The bottom is nice and thick but not too overpowering.

The biggest complaint I could make here is the relative lack of dynamics, even in the sparser sections it's still pretty loud and powerful. More dynamic changes within a section could do wonders to help evolve the soundscape. However with the overall lack of dynamic changes the contrast in sparser sections was good enough for me not to feel the piece is too static.

The sound design is good with clean production, and there is lots of personalization here.

YES

[pixelseph ⚖️]

I'm a Norvak novice, and I can certainly see things to love in this work! Everything in the source is represented in this track and then some, like the key change around 1:21 and the brief polymeter phrasing around 2:52.

Nice little shuffle on the hats starting @ :31 to play with the grid established by the basses at the start of the track. The change-up @ 1:21 is refreshing, though I wonder how much more dynamic shift could have been attained there - @ 2:31 gives us our first taste of a break from the oppressive beat and I would have prefered to have it a minute sooner. Just a minor nitpick, though. That syncopated bell synth @ 2:52 is cool as hell, hitting us with some 9/8 against the 4/4, and is easily my favorite part of the track.

Recap of the A section @ 3:15 feels good with the additional leads on top to fill the space. Trucks around the tried-and-true "root | 4th | root | 5th | 4th | root" blues motion before dropping us into the outro @ 4:20. I'm not a fan of the lack of prep on the out, given how much time is dedicated to working around the blues harmonic motion, but it doesn't sink the whole track for me.

Like proph said, we don't judge based on potential but on what is. The production is loud but clean, the arrangement is clever, and the oppressive Doom vibe is on lock.

YES