ReMix:Final Fantasy VI "Monument of Non-Existence" 8:36

We close out our BadAss: Boss Themes: Volume III mixflood with - who else? - Kefka. While not a man's man per se and not visually threatening in an overwhelming sense, unless you've got coulrophobia, Kefka still meets & fully exceeds BadAss criteria by being WICKED with a capital W. Lashmush (Rasmus Sorber) follows up his 2013 SMW2 debut from BadAss II & closes us out with an appropriately epic, extended metal arrangement:

"This was a big project, but a labor of love for sure. I'm a huge fan of FF6 and "Dancing Mad," so inspiration was overflowing! I tried to get the track into really heavy and extreme metal while still representing the original. Tier 3 got shaved down as I wanted the mood to stay dark and brutal, which was just hard for me to do if I kept it all in. All in all, I'm very happy with this track and, thanks to some healthy back and forth in the project forum, it turned into quite a beast."

Indeed; director Pieter "pu_freak" Van Os writes:

"To quote another evil clown bent on destruction: "And here... we... go!" Remember when BadAss 1 gave you a relatively calm track to get into the album? We give you seven seconds... After that, all hell breaks loose. Lashmush gives you almost nine minutes of epic, bombastic, orchestral rock that turns "Dancing Mad" into the "Imperial March" of one of Final Fantasy's best known villains. Perhaps with a bit more crazy guitar shredding and deafening blast beats, but those are never a bad thing.

Lashmush actually finished a version of this mix for BadAss 2, but you wouldn't recognize it as the same song anymore. Despite this being the first song to be finished for this album, Lashmush put many hours of work on this to make this the ideal opening of our album - one that will make you feel like an evil mastermind from the very start. And remember, this is only the beginning of BadAss 3..."

Yes, we're ending our flood with the FIRST track off the album, but it DOES pack quite a punch! Co-director Chernabogue adds:

"This track was chosen as the album opener so you don't forget our theme was "epic remixes." And Lashmush made sure his first symphonic metal behemoth would hit the listeners right in their faces. You have seven seconds before we launch into a brutal maelstrom of madness, filled with blast beats, guitar solos, and majestic orchestral melodies. Hold your breath..."

Just to clarify, we do NOT advise holding your breath for the full 8'36" duration of this ReMix, but you SHOULD prepare your mind for being blown and ready your face for considerable meltage. I'll skip the play-by-play and just say this: it's long, it's good, and it gives "Dancing Mad" the brutal & masochistic energies it deserves. Props to Lashmush, and congratulations to Pieter, Alex, and the entire BadAss III entourage for brilliantly trilogizing a musical ode to VGM evil with a fantastic third album!