ReMix:Final Fantasy II "The Last March" 4:34

The Rebellion continues, as Dr. Manhattan enters the fray! We haven't seen Hugo in over two years, which is far too long to go without his unique brand of impeccably-constructed, cleanly-produced, malevolent metal mischief. Brandon writes:

"Dr. Manhattan is neither a doctor nor a city, but his methodical riffs apply metropolitan levels of creativity that may leave you needing medical attention. If he did have a medical degree, he'd have a Ph. Drop D. Alright, sorry. I honestly didn't expect this result when I asked him to cover the song. He went so far beyond anything I could have imagined, and produced a song that, in my mind, stands among the shredding greats of our time. Between the structure, the solos, and the attention to detail with the effects, you just have to hear this remix. Stop reading this and listen."

Listen to the man and do what he says :) If you're somehow not yet convinced, Larry was on board with this piece working well within the context of the album (as well as echoing Brandon's doctor-oriented shtick at the end). He observes:

"This one's an excellent album contribution from Hugo that reminds me in places of ilp0's style, only more \m/. Of course, this is going to be a comparatively heavier sound with oppression being the name of the game here, but it's not necessarily an entirely dark piece. Rather, it's one where the brief lighter moments of piano & chromatic percussion give way to longer, more oppressive doses of militaristic drumming and aggressive guitar work. Particularly from 2:37-on, the imagery totally fit for me of a poor town being overrun by an unrelenting imperial army. Can the townspeople stand up and fight back? To me, it sounds like they're giving it their all. The fadeout ending at 4:06 focused solely on the guitars was money, by the way. What a prescription of pain from the good doctor... in a good way, of course. ;-)"

I'll just add that on a great album, this arrangement is probably the one that for me most vividly conjures images of rebellion & revolution & everything that goes along with them. Epic stuff; the machine has been thoroughly raged against.