ReMix:The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom "Strange Abyss" 3:14

Gaspode's used to coloring outside the box, but when you arrange music from Zelda: Breath of the Wild or, in this case, Tears of the Kingdom, the soundtracks' abstractions allows arrangers to go in some particularly peculiar directions. Knowing the potential of the raw materials he was working with, Gaspode has a fascinating breakbeat arrangement inspired by the sounds of Tears of the Kingdom's Depths! The ReMixer explains how he dove in:

"The Depths are a very strange place in Tears of the Kingdom. The vastness, the darkness, and the strange flora feels like nothing before in the previous Zelda title. The score of this area is more like a collection of experimental sounds and not music in the classic way. So, I found it interesting to remix such a piece. My idea was to create an energetic breakbeat which interacts as a counterpart with the different moods. Most of the song consists of this ever-changing beat, only at the end there are also some underlaying strings. Every sound or melody bit in this remix is inspired by »The Depth« & »Dive to the Depths«. For me, it was a very different remix style-wise and I tried hard not to fall into old habits with the composition."

Good on Gaspode, as I can sincerely say that nothing about this piece feels or sounds like any of his previous 15 ReMixes. We're just learning all about his depths as a musician now, aren't we? ;-) Judge Chimpazilla essentially described this SFX-laden, beat-driven soundscape as a well-oiled machine:

"I love this mix so much! I love the combination of sounds, the big filtered saw bass blast from "Depths" together with bells and mallets and the breakbeats. Lots of ear candy, attention to detail, a few reverses here and there. The composition is great, mixing and mastering are on point. The foreboding vibe of the depths is captured perfectly here. This mix is really well produced. It is a wonderful listen!"

Judge MindWanderer initially had potential concerns on how substantially the two source tunes could be invoked, but thanks to Gaspode providing the Js his in-depth source usage breakdown on where & when the sound patterns fell throughout the ReMix, MW was able to settle in and enjoy the track's energy & presence:

"Very interesting. I was pretty worried when I saw the source, since these minimalist BotW/TotK tracks are really hard to do anything with, but I think you pulled it off. It might be hard for a casual listener to identify if they haven't played TotK recently, but the connecting material is all there, and it's not hard to put together.

The arrangement itself is also pretty minimal, but it's filled with fun, energetic beats. Sounds great for what it is. There's still that feeling of emptiness, but with urgency. Nice work."

Once Emunator also heard Gaspode's successful unification of the SFX with original compositional ideas, he quickly co-signed with MindWanderer:

"Love this source material and what you've done with it, it feels totally identifiable without having to bust out a stopwatch or a magnifying glass. The ramping intensity over time is palpable, even if you can't pinpoint exactly where exactly it picks up, which contributes to the feeling of unease that you were going for. Emptiness, but with urgency, is a great descriptor."

As everyone else pointed out, Gaspode set the scene well right off the rip with subdued yet engaging & driving energy here from the percussion and synths. It's so impressive to fashion a legitimate arrangement from non-melodic themes like these, and Gaspode deserves credit for continuing to broaden his sound palette and show off lots of fresh genre approaches and instrumentation choices. :-) It's dangerous to go alone in the strange abyss, so take this track with you!