ReMix:Life Force "Vic Viper Serum" 4:56

I am the viper. I vish to vash and vipe your vindows. French newcomers LHEH (Anthony "Antox" Nemer, Riad "Slinkman" Hajjar) deliver an epic take on Konami SHMUP Life Force. While the "Serum" in the mix title here might have suggested EDM to fans of Steve Duda's ubiquitous VST, it's more of a rock/metal affair, although plenty of electronic textures do accentuate. The artists write:

"Hello! Please find our Life Force - "Poison of Snake" remix. This is the first remix we do as a band, Antox x Slink.

We decided to go for a mixture of rock & dark synth for the remix because it just felt appropriate for that specific boss fight. We hope you'll enjoy it! Many thanks!"

Right out of the gate things intro with raw, sinister, industrial sustained tones, as a rise/fall piano motif sets an ominous vibe. Chugs & drums drop at 0'48" in a satisfyingly brutal manner, but it's the pitch bend down into the depths of hell at the one-minute marker that made me smile :) Judges had some production critiques, but were nonetheless unanimous - Sir_NutS was feeling it:

"Unsettling chords for that intro, I like it. Actually, that tense feeling is all over this track, in varying doses, this track definitely has its own identity so from that standpoint it's a win here. Arrangement-wise I love what you did here, expanding the original phrases, sometimes overlapping them in chaotic ways that work in the context of the track's progression(i.e. around 3:16). There's a lot of attention to detail here and nothing is on autopilot. Lots of care went into the structure I feel, because it jumps around from breaks and intense sections as needed and not in a typical A-B-A fashion.

If I had any nitpicks, would be for the drums which feel slightly weak for what the arrangement requires in some spots but really nothing that takes away from the whole. This is excellent, and I hope to see it soon in the front page. Loved it."

S'good stuff; definitely has that evil+badass boss combination going on, and I especially liked the sound design surprises sprinkled throughout, like the aforementioned downward bends. Meaty snare gives everything a larger-than-life, epic vibe, and generally I think Anthony & Riad nailed the sound they were going for; bravo, strong debut, and hope to hear more in the future!