ReMix:Final Fantasy II "Culminating Domination" 4:22

Unless plans change, our Final Fantasy II: Rebellion album should be coming out on Monday, June 8th - mark your calendars! In the meantime, we've got an unrelated (but still awesome), hard-hitting FF2 metal arrangement from Knight of the Round... this time functioning as a full band that's ready, willing, & able to collectively melt face! Founder & original solo KOTR member Justin Taylor writes:

"When I last submitted a track to OCR, KOTR was my solo project. It's since grown into an active band that plays shows and conventions (such as MAGFest). Having 3 others to help with the writing process has helped further shape our sound (as well as make it a hell of a lot easier to write). This remix ended up being a little more on the groovy/slower side as opposed to some the thrashier stuff I've done in the past.

Guitars were once again recorded with an Agile 8 string, tuned to drop E-flat. This time around, we used 100% digital amplification. I used my Line6 POD HD Pro to record all guitar parts, then re-amped the signal through Line6 POD Farm. Bass was recorded DI with a SansAmp Bass Driver. Drums were programmed with Superior Drummer 2.0, then the kick and snare were sound replaced with Steven Slate drums. Enjoy!"

Justin Taylor - Rhythm/Lead Guitar
Justin Wilbanks - Rhythm/Lead Guitar
Jeremy Scheisser - Bass
Kevin Baumann - Drums

Groovier/slower side, eh? Still feels pretty aggressive to me - but I ain't complainin' :) I enjoyed OA's good-natured ribbing (is it me or does that sound like a disturbing euphemism?):

"Nice and clean recording, but you guys aren't heavy enough. 8 string guitars are for children and the elderly, and real men have at least 20 string guitars, or at least having the entire band play bass. Your additional droptuning isn't fooling anyone!

Seriously though, the track sounds great, and the arrangement is super personalized. There was a good mix of original material with source, and the mixed meter stuff sounded intelligent and well integrated. The keyboards were very tasteful. and while there were a lot of original-sounding interludes, there was a good deal of expanded-upon source. Nice work gentlemen, A++ would groove again!"

Chimpazilla had some extremely minor production nits to pick but was generally lovin' it:

"I'm finding the bass lacking definition just a *teeny* bit, but it's balanced well. Other than that, the track is produced and mixed very well, writing and arrangement are good, nice wide soundscape, drums are awesome, guitar work is crazy good, track has great energy, fun listen! Works for me!"

There's a lot more FF2 - and more metal - to come with the release of Rebellion, but meanwhile you can think of this mixpost as a high-energy shredfest of an antipasto, to simultaneously whet your appetites AND melt your faces. Great to see Knight of the Round back on OCR, and in full force!