ReMix:Metroid Prime "Prime Directive" 3:57

Metroid Prime Metal!! Very glad that newcomer Manji (Christopher Mole) resubmitted this progressive metal/rock arrangement of the "Menu Select" theme; we see a lot more ambient/cinematic ReMixes of this game's OST, but this rougher & edgier approach works great with the source:

"It's only been three years since I last submitted this... time flies! The idea came from my endearing love of both the Metroid Prime series and heavy, progressive metal - I'm a big fan of Metroid Metal and their versions of Metroid tunes, and, after a repeat playthrough of the original game in the Prime series, decided to try and record my own version. I last submitted this in late 2012 and got some solid feedback from the judges about both the arrangement and the mixing, so I took it away, did some rejigging of the arrangement and then eventually got round to re-recording the whole thing - I hope it meets with your approval this time!

All the guitars and the bass were recorded from a shiny new Kemper PowerHead using my Schecter Hellraiser (lovingly named "Cherry") and a 4-string bass belonging to my partner (named "Sid"), and the drums are sampled.

As I noted in my last submission email - I absolutely adore the Metroid Prime soundtrack, and it's a large reason behind my enduring love for the game. It was subdued at some points, driving and terrifying at others, and it meshed perfectly with the exploratory nature of the game itself. Although I generally blacked out in abject horror whenever a Metroid latched onto my face, so I have no idea what the music during that sounded like...Thanks very much!"

It was worth the wait :) The artist's passion for the series comes through, the arrangement uses its four minutes very wisely and explores a lot of ideas, and I love the blend of heavier sections with portions that almost sound Western, like the Wild Guns mix we JUST posted from Mak. I'm glad that the panel's feedback was helpful & clear, because its implementation has definitely resulted in a stronger mix which, while they had some reservations, the panel unanimously approved. Sir_NutS was again on point & very specific with his comments:

"Oh I love this source! I read through the complaints in the old voting thread, although I couldn't check the original submission. I think the drums aren't quite where they need to be yet, especially the kick which gets lost in the busy sections, the track overall has a busy low end, but this is satisfactory. The guitars sound fairly clean and powerful.

The arrangement represents the source pretty well while also supporting it with plenty of new elements and there's a fair amount of interpretation going that flows in a natural way. I liked the break you introduced at 02:51, it was the perfect moment to bring that in as the arrangement has very high levels of energy all the time, if it was like that through all the song it would've tired the listener but you knew better and that break was also executed well with some expansions on the original melody."

Indeed; the writing kept my attention throughout, I was digging the edgier, more immediate feel that the production brought to a soundtrack that is known for sleek, ambient spaces - a nice contrast/juxtaposition. Glad to have Manji on board after all these years & I'm happy we can feature this mix as a result of the revision process!