ReMix:Super Castlevania IV "Dark Cellar" 6:24

Another newcomer to OCR that Vampire Variations: Volume III is bringing in, Existence Zero are:

• Vishal Soni - bass & drum programming
• Jorge Gurreiro - lead, rhythm guitars
• Mark Crabtree - orchestration
• Eric "Bloodaxe" Gillingham - guitar solos

And they've got a face-melting metal arrangement of the Stage 8 BGM for you, with chugs, shreds, & machine-gun drums aplenty:

"Whilst normally traversing the furthest reaches of cosmic war, Existence Zero has returned to Earth and plunged into the darkest depths of Castlevania. There could be no response other than to confront the ravages of vampyric insanity with an unadulterated barrage of crushing brutality. Yet somewhere, buried amidst the devastation, we uncovered a sinister seam of malign beauty, like noble blood running along the stone floor of a dungeon that has heard countless screams..."

I like these guys already :) Many of the sources on the SCIV OST are melodically sparse and thus present certain challenges, but I think EZ have done hard work in creatively expanding & filling in the gaps to create a satisfying metal arrangement that pulls no punches. Chernabogue writes:

"Existence Zero participated to all of the Vampire Variations albums, and it is nice to see how they progressed since the first volume. Vish was very excited about arranging this track, and you can hear his band had great ideas in mind: the softer/cleaner guitars contribute to the album's pace. Despite its length, the track doesn't get repetitive thanks to the use of different variations on the theme."

From the strong, rolling kick/tom intro pattern to the searing, cross-panned solo @ 2'42" to the break & bass riff @ 3'43", there's a lot going on here, and the group keeps things varied and compelling for 6+ minutes, which is impressive. Great & substantial rock/metal debut from Existence Zero, who've made their presence known on each entry in the Vampire Variations trilogy!