ReMix:Chrono Trigger "Zeal" 5:03

Room for one more! Our debut thruple becomes a quadruple as ymK (Kris Camago) pays tribute to several Chrono Trigger sources in a sleek, progressive house package:

"I am submitting an original remix mashup of Chrono Trigger. I'm titling this "Zeal." The style is melodic progressive house and is a mashup of several Chrono Trigger songs, mainly Schala's and Crono's themes, with Gato's theme as a lick.

I started producing about 4 months ago and I've been loving it so far. I have several inspirations, but this remix was inspired by my love for melodic and progressive house music. This song takes you on a slow, progressive, and melodic journey that eventually builds up to an epic end.

One of my goals is to make video game remixes with EDM elements and I want people to groove out to tracks like the one I have created.

Anyways, I hope this is OCR quality. Have a listen. Thanks for your consideration!"

Community member Zack! recently asked on our Discord server, "Fun data question, what game has the most first-time remixers?" - we actually didn't know the answer, but Liontamer made the reasonably safe assumption that it would be Chrono Trigger, since it's also the game that has the most OC ReMixes. So Larry thought, "Let's pad the numbers some more!" and queued up our latest featured ReMix, keeping our small streak of mixposts from newcomers alive. Judges were unanimous, and Gario laid out the pros & cons rather nicely:

"Chrono Trigger, "Zeal," but it's not... a Zeal remix? Tricky!

Ooo, this is pretty smooth - I like the soundscape on this one, and the arrangement does some nice trickery with the texture by making that backing arp set to double time - gives the arrangement a nice kick. The arrangement is fairly clean, too, with a nice mix to top things off in the production department.

The largest risk this arrangement runs is getting static with many of the elements of the track being used for significant stretches of the track, but there's some decent effort taken to break up the overall arrangement so that the instruments and textures don't wear their welcome out. There's still only so much that can be done with Schala so it still feels a hair long in my humble opinion, but that's not something I'll knock.

The only criticism that I can really lay down is that the ending sounds a bit abrupt. Could be intentional, but considering how wet the instruments sound throughout this could've benefitted from letting the instruments ring out for a beat longer. Otherwise, pretty solid stuff, could use a home on the front page."

For me, the undulating cinematic synth growl was a unique differentiator which added mood/atmosphere and made the melodic repetition less of an issue - sounds like an Omnisphere patch, even if it ain't :) It might pull the octave glide one too many times, but it does sound neat - some modulated reverb/space would have upped the ante further. Emunator adds:

"The bendy bassline introduces some movement not present in the original source, and the unexpected mid-song breakdown adds some much-needed dynamic contrast before the final build. The choice to end on the triumphant Chrono Trigger melody capitalizes on the buildup that preceded it."

There's definitely development, over time, and from a production angle I like the satisfyingly thick kick & crystalline, shimmering bells. Using "Gato" as a cameo/riff is playful AND functional, and overall I think the creativity & technique here make for a fun ride and a(nother) great debut mix! Hope to hear more from ymK in the future!