ReMix:Inscryption "Fear of a Blank Deathcard" 7:40

Let it be known, minusworld *cannot* be put into a box. He's got swingin' stuff, he's got funky stuff, he's got heavy stuff, and now he's got proggy stuff, as minusworld (with assists from jnWake & Shea's Violin) rocks out horror game Inscryption with dynamic twists & turns and inspired original lyrics! The judges had to listen to Jonah Senzel's original themes in order to evaluate this piece, but you would destroy minus's world if you spoiled yourself on what Inscryption entails, so heed his advice and DON'T:

"First off, a note about Inscryption: If there's a chance you will play this game, I recommend NOT LOOKING UP ANYTHING, even the OST. The track, lyrics, and links below reveal little about the game's plot by design.

This was my entry to DoD's Horror Month, where, to my surprise, it won gold! It only has minor mix tweaks from the DoD version like bringing the intro acoustic volume up so that the drums don't punch listeners in the eardrums as hard. ':-) Probably some other tiny things like nudges too, but it's very similar to the DoD version.

I wasn't initially planning to enter Horror Month because I rarely play horror games. I'm also nearly one year into dadhood, so entering DoD requires an arrangement to jump out at me because I don't have time to struggle through an arrangement. But I scanned through my game library anyway and realized I played Inscryption, which totally counts as horror. Inscryption's music is very atmospheric, so I still wasn't sure if I was going to enter, but at least I had a game.

While tempting to do atmospheric/ambient for Horror Month, I generally like to arrange songs -- something with hooks and a chance of sticking in listener's memories. This usually means melody, followable song structure, etc. I asked myself "what songs have a creepyish vibe to them?" and Porcupine Tree came to mind. Inscryption's music features an acoustic guitar prominently, and "Fear of a Blank Planet" begins with an AG riff and... the first part of the arrangement jumped out at me.

I didn't want to do a 1-to-1 mashup with "Fear of a Blank Planet", but I did want to capture the vibe. I have the unfortunate curse of knowing exactly where all of my inspiration comes from, which often makes me feel like I'm just copying other people... but, if you blend it all up, it sounds fresh, right? ...Right? Here's the list, if you find it interesting:

Part 1: "Fear of a Blank Planet" by Porcupine Tree
Part 2: "Hamburger Lady" by Throbbing Gristle
Part 3: "Sorceress" by Opeth, "Anesthetize" by Porcupine Tree, "Compendium" by Elder
Part 4: "Inmazes" by VOLA (The original thing I wrote here was much djent-ier, but I didn't like it and toned it back.)"

So many stylistic rabbit holes to go down, and lots of long songs there to boot; I think minusworld's throwing up more smokescreens to distract us and prevent us from ever finding out what happens in Inscryption. :-D Judge prophetik music actually played the game AND he's familiar with Porcupine Tree, so he's double-knowledgable and double-unspoilable:

"i can definitely see the PT influence right away on this one. i just played the game so the theme is very familiar to me as well. switching from the faster, more urgent verse to the broad half-time chorus is straight off of every single PT album, especially when layered with the strings in the transition back to the verse. great job getting the style down. [...]

this is, of course, great. the mixing is fantastic throughout - you could say that the vocals are a bit quiet in spots, but this is very fitting the style of the influencing tracks so i think it works great. i think the lyrics work well and don't sound too contrived. the themes from the game are interwoven throughout as well. excellent job."

And speaking of those lyrics, minusworld took a vocal turn - a first for him here - and knocked it out of the park! He says he's not great, but this is a very well-produced piece, and I genuinely felt his vocal execution was pro-grade. He explained his approach and the meaning behind his carefully chosen words:

"I am the singer on this. I'm not a great singer, nor do I like to sing, but I think my voice is able to fit the "wilting" vibe. Hopefully, it's not too distracting!

The lyrics are original. The public premise of the game, to quote videogamedunkey, is a deckbuilder "you play in a dark cabin with a serial killer". I didn't want to write lyrics about the game in order to avoid spoilers, so I did the very (un)original thing of writing about being metaphorically trapped... by yourself. Ultimately, the lyrics combine my own reflections on struggling to do things that are good for me (sleep, exercise, therapy) with indirect imagery from the game in a hopefully cohesive way. An example:

"Here they come again and again" - Imagery of enemy cards coming down the lane
"Your sins find you again and again" - Why is it so hard to fit in a simple 30-minute walk each day?
"Your choices wound again and again" - Imagery of... well, if you've played the game, you know."

Like prophetik, fellow judge Emunator's a Porcupine Tree enthusiast, thus his fandom for minusworld's outside influences bumped up his level of appreciation (so YOU should consider listening to them above):

"Ahhh, I remember hearing this during the DoD listening party and *immediately* picking up on the Porcupine Tree influence before the vocals even came in (maybe the title gave it away?) Either way, I can see the vocal style throwing listeners off but I can confidently say that you nailed the Steven Wilson style and it's a perfect choice for this arrangement. The guitar tones, time signature changes, and even the hard-left-turn transitions feel totally on-brand. I don't feel compelled to nitpick anything here because the concept and execution, by and large, is just so strong. I've heard a lot of different songs from you over the past few months that demonstrate a wide range of styles and skills, so it really shouldn't be surprising that you had the skills to pull off a dynamic prog rock opus like this all off within the span of one song.

Will be coming back to this one frequently, great work!"

A big tip of the cap to minusworld for a very ambitious and successful ode to both the horror game genre & prog rock! If prog's your thing, you'll loop this track again and again (again and again, again and again)! ;-)