ReMix:Secret of Mana "Flying Fortress Foray" 3:35

We continue our Resonance of the Pure Land mixflood by kicking into high gear with an adrenaline-filled hard rock/metal take on "Leave Time for Love" from GaMetal (Jonny Atma), who writes:

"My first experience for this song, outside of the game that is, was when I recorded a giant SNES medley back in 2015, which was compiled of fan-submitted entries. Until that point, I had sort of forgotten about it to be honest, haha, but since then it's always popped up in my head here and there. When I was contacted about being a part of this album, this was the first song that came to mind, and, being the rather underappreciated song that it is, no one had chosen it yet. So I had to take it!

I didn't really go all-out, super-heavy or anything for this track. The original, for me, invokes sort of a feeling of triumphing over sorrow, so I wanted to keep that going here. I also dropped the key down a half step from the original, with a full step up key shift for the end of the song. The key shift sort of symbolizes the triumphant part. xD

As for my connection to Secret of Mana, I loved this game! I used to be all about SNES RPGs and the like, I remember years and years ago (like, early 2000s, haha), looking up lists of top SNES games searching for ones I hadn't heard of or played, and SoM was one of them. It's easily one of the best games on the system: superb gameplay, great story, and, of course, amazing soundtrack. I always recommend it to people when they ask about old game recommendations."

This is mostly straight-up ripped jeans hair band guitar hero material, with plenty of face being melted, meaty fills on drums, and some synth worked in for good measure. Solo acoustic guitar breakdown/interlude? Don't mind if you do! Everything feels right, there's a driving, positive energy, and I especially dig how agile and dynamic the drum writing is, mixing things up & never getting in a rut; really nice work, there. Album director Jorito writes:

"Time for some power metal! The track that plays during the last dungeon of the game is, to me, full of hope and optimism and brings a sense of hype, of "let's do this." Jonny did a great job at retaining that sense of energy and hope, but also gave it his own spin with some excellent solo work on both synthesizer and guitar. Not too heavy or brutal, it just strikes the right vibes and it's totally enjoyable!"

I concur; it's not angry or sinister, it just wants to ROCK. And rock it does, with generous synth solo portions as a bonus & amped, infectious energy levels overall. Great stuff from Jonny, who never disappoints & who comes through with a standout arrangement of a lesser-mixed source!