ReMix:Metroid "Kraidiance" 4:02

Hi from MAGFest! Being a parent certainly changes ones priorities, so it's my first time in six years that I've been able to attend. My first MAGFest was back in 2007 (with an attendance of ~950), and being back at MAG has me reminiscing about ye olden days of the scene. My introduction to fan-arranged VGM of any kind was in early 2000 when I first heard Minibosses' rock version of "Kraid" (and subsequently looped it dozens of times during that weekend), so I've got a soft spot for this one! Like Dirty Delay before her (which predates her joining the judges panel, so understandably missed), Chimpazilla adapted "Kraid's Chamber" for 4/4 as well as put a club-worthy electronic spin on it:

"Hey, guys! "Kraid's Lair" has always been a theme that I have wanted to remix. It is simple yet haunting and translates to many musical styles. I have never yet heard a version of it done in 4/4, only in the original 6/8.

I have been experimenting with different types of techno, and I had intended for this remix to be in a "melodic techno" style. I think the genre sort of got away from me as I added more and more elements to this mix, but I think the techno-hybrid-electro-mutt I came up with sounds pretty good nonetheless. I wanted the mix to have that "empty yet full" spacious feeling with lots of dynamics, energy, and changeups/surprises throughout the piece.

This is one of those tracks that wrote itself over the course of just a few days, as I was having so much fun with it as I worked on it. I hope everyone will enjoy this!"

Extra kudos to Kris for creating her own visualizer video, thanks to training from Hemophiliac! In the best way possible, most folks will never even notice the time signature change without it explicitly being pointed out because Chimpa's adapted rhythm sounds so intuitive and second-nature. Great presense to the bass synth at :15, and a small thing, but I like the ethereal sound to the source's countermelody during the bridge section at 1:24. Much like her recent Skyward Sword ReMix, Chimpa's arrangement is chock full of groove; dare I say, she oughta extend this with club-appropriate transitions and see how many DJs spin it, a la Xaleph.

I've got to keep things super brief to (desperately) catch up on sleep after a 10-hour drive just to get to MAGFest, but my enthusiastic recommendation would be for listeners to skip around anywhere and everywhere in this track to pick apart and appreciate these sophisticated textures -- there's a lot of great detail work! Chimpazilla's sleek "Kraid" rendition radiates a level of catchyness and high-quality ear candy that even Hip Tanaka will dig! :-)