ReMix:Final Fantasy IX "The Throes of Death(guise)" 5:32

DOUBLE DOSE OF GARIO!! We've got another one-two artist combo, this time from Gario (Greg Nourse), as we start with this intense, dnb-ish EDM take on some FF9 battle themes, off of Worlds Apart. Director Fishy writes:

"I remember working on the final battle theme at the same time, trading WIPs with Gario. We stumbled on the fact that those sources overlap quite nicely, so we both pinched a few themes from each other's source track."

Greg provides some context:

"About a year ago, after finishing a track for another album, I decided that I needed to fill the void with something else. I decided to take a glance at the FFIX album, which was asking for a few tracks to be taken care of, including the boss theme from the game. I was... very surprised that no one had taken one of the best boss themes to grace the FF series, so I decided to take a shot at it. The result ended up being a solid electronic track with orchestral strings and some sweet, sweet synth guitar, and it's one that I'm proud to say is one of my best, to date.

The source was a challenge to say the least, though - while there are a lot of parts that are easy to create a drive behind, there are plenty more integral parts in the source that lend more to subtle, atmospheric intensity (which my track was not set up to tackle), so for a good while progress halted. One day, I got the bright idea, rather than try to change the pace of the track for the sake of subtlety and atmosphere, to instead add intense and interesting parts from other battle themes in FFIX, so I got to incorporating a lot of the final battle, as well as more subtle hints of the battle theme and "Dark Messenger" throughout. As a result, this track becomes a love letter to all of the battle music in Final Fantasy IX, and I'm not ashamed to admit my love for the battle music provided by that game."

This is (now) some of Greg's older material, but it holds up quite well, offering a rapid, spiralling, & unrelenting sense of conflict & urgency. Nice use of distortion & lofi FX and solid integration of chippish bits make this a bit of a chimera, and the somewhat gothic harmonic aesthetic channels Castlevania, at least for me. DragonAvenger writes:

"I can kinda see why not many people wanted to take the battle themes. I mean, they're good, but they aren't really that easy to work with. That being said, I think you approached the themes very well and there is a lot of good personalization here that really makes this track shine. The anxiety is palpable throughout, which keeps me interested to listen to more. The mix also feels shorter than it is, which shows that the arrangement is engaging."

Speaking of palpability, Palpable writes:

"Yes, the anxiety is me. Throughout.

...There's some creative takes on the original songs and it's not at all obvious that multiple sources are even used. The energy level was high, balance was good. A lot of attention to detail too, to go that extra mile."

The sources do blend well, and half the fun is just how interwoven things are, into one giant, electrified... battle tapestry. Enjoyably intense stuff from Greg - check it out!