ReMix:Super Castlevania IV "Whipped into Shape" 3:37

By Sbeast

Arranging the music of one song...

"Rotating Room (Stage 4 BGM 1)"

Primary Game: Super Castlevania IV (Konami , 1991, SNES), music by Masanori Adachi, Taro Kudo

Posted 2015-10-31, evaluated by djpretzel


Sbeast (Scott Houghton) makes his OCR debut with this aggressive metal contribution to Vampire Variations: Volume III:

"When I first heard about Vampire Variations: Volume III, I immediately wanted to be involved with it, because I'm a big fan of the music from the Castlevania series. After listening to the Castlevania 4 soundtrack, I ended up choosing "Clockwork Mansion" because I thought I could come up with a good arrangement for it... oh, and Simon's theme was already taken. I came up with a heavy metal arrangement featuring some slap bass, a guitar solo, and syncopated, groovin' riffs. Due to the project requirements, I also made use of some orchestral instruments including strings, horns, piano, organ, and a choir to fill out and add interest to the song. Additional thanks goes to Chernabogue for some useful feedback which allowed me to improve the song even further."

Album director Chernabogue writes:

"Sbeast made it straight and simple: heavy metal, and light touch of orchestra - it works pretty well, plus the source is asking to be arranged in this way. Scott's remix sounds pretty massive and some variations in his arrangement were nice additions, like the little breakdown near the end. Excellent playing and spot-on production for a very aggressive remix."

Since Super Castlevania IV was an early SNES game and the first Castlevania on the platform, it was of course obligated to show off the hardware a bit, and this particular level made flagrant, arguably gratuitous (but still nifty at the time!) use of Mode 7 for the background. The music echoed this room-spinning, vertigo-inducing effect with an eerie, rising motif, which Scott employs in the brief intro before the aforementioned slap bass & rock/metal outfit enters and doubled electric guitar lead takes on the melody. He kicks it into double-time for reprising that intro motif, then pulls back into a funky, syncopated groove at 1'23" that captures the madness of the source & amplifies its attitude and presence. Some weird transitions on the SCIV OST, and I consider many of the pieces quite challenging for arrangers to grapple with; this ReMix does an excellent job of sticking fairly close but creatively adapting for genre & bringing some edge and oomph to the party. Great contribution to VV3 and great OCR debut from Sbeast - looking forward to hearing more!!

djpretzel

Discussion

Latest 7 comments/reviews; view the complete thread or post your own.
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Crulex
on 2018-03-31 19:05:43

Man, I am loving that guitar in this ReMix, and the orchestral elements add so much meat to it, it's like a metal feast. So much variation and change throughout the mix, and that section around two and half minutes in with the piano, drum and trailing guitar was so epically sinister. That was awesome. Very cool ReMix.

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nitrozsz
on 2015-12-28 13:02:06

Amazing introduction there, guys. And followed by that introduction is a pretty kicking rock arrangement in superb quality. Everything sounds so clean, and perfectly balanced. I love the subtlety of the background synths. And that piano solo from 2:26 to 2:41 is so great. Absolutely wonderful track. Definitely worth a download.

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Necrox
on 2015-12-24 17:00:02

I'm not familar with the source, but dang does that lead guitar fit. That solo is just menacing; great choice following it with the piano. The string section is another good arrangement choice. Very good metal mix.

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Slimy
on 2015-12-03 16:41:02

Completely awesome. The source works very well with guitars. The rotating room song was never supposed to sound completely menacing IMO. This is a great adaptation of the "suave" aspect of the original.

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timaeus222
on 2015-12-02 02:13:15

To be honest, 0:24 was where you really drew me in. Before that, I guess I didn't really get a feeling of hype. But once I got there, it kinda felt like not a menacing, but still rocking theme to a boss's rampage. I can see people liking it because it's not "ughhhhhhhhh more metal," but a semi-heavy side of metal.

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MES Records
on 2015-11-02 21:02:58

This is awesome. Love the smooth mix and guitar work. Great job!

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Liontamer
on 2015-10-31 07:33:33

What did you think? Post your opinion of this ReMix.

Sources Arranged (1 Song)


Primary Game:
Super Castlevania IV (Konami , 1991, SNES)
Music by Masanori Adachi,Taro Kudo
Songs:
"Rotating Room (Stage 4 BGM 1)"

Tags (8)


Genre:
Funk,Metal
Mood:
Aggressive
Instrumentation:
Electric Guitar,Orchestral,Organ,Piano,Strings
Additional:

File Information


Name:
Super_Castlevania_4_Whipped_into_Shape_OC_ReMix.mp3
Size:
6,516,154 bytes
MD5:
028cd32d54d8aac9f7b6a7c83912828a
Bitrate:
236Kbps
Duration:
3:37

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