ReMix:Metroid Prime 3: Corruption "An Endless Sleep" 4:25

It's been a long albeit productive day, thus I'd love some endless sleep right about now. Before putting pen to paper, so to speak, on this writeup, I had to go back and listen to OCR poobah DarkeSword's legendary take on this track and suggest you do the same, because the source tune in the hands of this community is awesome. Along with Pyro Paper Planes & Laura Intravia's ethereal version, we've now got another to finally make it a trio of coverage for this theme from the third leg of the Metroid Prime trilogy. The extra level of sophistication of ZackParrish's cinematic take on Metroid Prime 3's SkyTown came about from the "corrupting" influence of Shinesparkers' founder Darren Kerwin mandating some collabs with live performers:

• Harp - Harpsibored
• Cello & 2nd Harp - Chromatic Apparatus
• Vocals - Psamathes

The team-up was very fortuitous for this track, according to Zack:

"Wrote this as part of the album Harmony of a Hunter Returns. Wasn't a huge fan of the source track but the director REALLY wanted it on the album and nobody was staking a claim pretty far into the production of the album... so I took charge and worked on this track. Director also really wanted to use Harpsibored and Chromatic Apparatus for their harping abilities and, having never worked with a harpist before... and having a sudden change to work with two of them... I write two harp parts as a... sort of duet. I then did my usual thing stacking orchestral bits and bobs, atmospheric mumbo jumbo, a choir, etc.... ultimately put a cello part in there when I found out Chrom also played the cello (ace fellow, that one)... and then the director yet again convinced me to use ANOTHER person and put me in touch with Psamathes, so I swapped out the fake choir with her voice on... several tracks. [Psamathes] didn't disappoint and gave the track some much needed life in the second half. Eventually, I decided why not add some acoustic guitar as well, so took out the guit and recorded a couple of parts beside Psam's vocals. I'm sorry to all 3 of them for not submitting this sooner... they did awesome and I can't thank them enough for their contributions."

We're just glad Parrish came around to sending this along, as this snagged high praise from judges prophetik music ("there's a richness to this orchestration that's just so evocative"), MindWanderer ("rich orchestration and lovely choices for electronic enhancement"), and, most of all, the Metroid-loving Emunator:

"Absolutely stunning expansion on a source that I actually happen to like a ton. Metroid Prime 3's soundtrack didn't resonate with me in the same way as the first two, but this is definitely a standout, and your arrangement takes the atmosphere that was present in the original Skytown and takes it on a proper cinematic journey. The massive swell at the 2 minute mark, and the organic percussion loops that follow is easily a highlight for me. Psamathes vocals blend perfectly with the orchestral elements, feeling ethereal but not totally detached or formless. Live contributions from Harpsibored and CA also elevate this even further in my book. You did this one justice, Zack!"

Even though it's a straightforward melody, the source theme itself can feel formless, so I appreciate Zack & co.'s more overt direction. The harps by Harpsibored & Chromatic Apparatus are lovely, the power and poise of Psamathes' vocals shines through, and the gravitas of Chromatic Apparatus's cello can't be understated. Thanks to these critical collaborative buffs, ZackParrish delivers great instrumentation and prime performances with awesome soundscapes!