ReMix:Signalis "{This Title Intentionally Left Blank}" 7:30

Now for something a little different: a collection of carefully-set art songs based around the endings of Signalis! Alongside TheManPF (guitar, VST string arrangements), Andromeda (vocals), and Nicole Chang (harp), bassist extraordinaire Zach Chapman comes in with three plus one really unique, thoughtful expressions of one of the more interesting games to have come out in the last several years. He writes:

"Hey, you. Signalis is a disgustingly amazing game. Go play it. I absolutely adore Signalis, and the music is a big part of that.

This song was made for Dwelling of Duels' October 2023 Horror Games Month competition. This track was structured to be split into four sections - each one revolving around one of each of the four endings of Signalis. Each one covers a different song from the OST that thematically fits each ending, and the lyrics all reflect the endings in questions (from the POV of the protagonist). The first three endings are the main endings, all achieved in a similar way and all pretty easily understood. There also are no happy endings in this game, so I tried to write them all pretty slow and melancholic as well.

The fourth and final section is for the secret ending of the game, which is incredibly convoluted and hidden, and equally weird and hard to understand. I wanted to reflect this with the music as well -- the first three sections are all similar in instrumentation and feel, while the fourth is completely different. It's all synths and electronic instruments, the mood shifts, and the vocals are in German, as a lot of text in Signalis is in other languages (mainly German, Korean, and Japanese).

To further fit this into the ending theme, I added sound FX as if the song is being played on a cassette tape and a long break between the third and fourth sections, reminiscent of a secret track the end of an album, which obviously felt appropriate for the secret ending. The cassette also fits Signalis as well, as it has the same sort of 70s/80s sci-fi aesthetic as media like the original Alien.

References:

The title itself is a reference to a thing in Signalis that happens often -- sometimes during important scenes, the screen will flash to a blank screen with text on it saying different things. "Compartmentalizing Trauma" is one that flashes during a particularly brutal scene, and "Violent Scene Missing" replaces a scene of your character killing a boss. The most common, however, is "This Space Intentionally Left Blank", which I believe is a visual representation of the characters trying to repress or deny something difficult. I often struggle with naming songs, so I thought it would be a fun reference to use that as the title.

At 1:46, the lyrics "I've given my blood, and kept my faith through this hell strong" are a reference to a similar line in the song "The Patient" by my favorite band, Tool -- "But I'm still right here, giving blood, keeping faith".

At 2:17, the harp plays a rendition of the melody of Swan Lake, a famous ballet referenced in the lyrics at the time. I also made sure that there was a bit of dissonance when it did as well so it would feel just a little off-putting and "wrong", to reflect some context from the song in the game.

The lines in the fourth section of the song are also a poem called "Cassilda's Song". This poem is from The King in Yellow, a famous book featured in Signalis. I made some minor changes to the poem to fit the world of Signalis better, and translated it into German.

Throughout the song are a lot of references to Signalis itself, but this list would get too long if I included all of them. Those are the more significant references."

What a fascinating approach. Hemo and I both picked up on the stylized lieder approach right away, and the really incredible artistry behind Andromeda and Nicole Chang's performances especially sell Zach's vision. Chimpazilla called out the backing specifically in her comments, stating, "I like the concept, and the vocal is gorgeous. The soundscape is often sparse and simple, beautiful and delicate."

This is certainly different than anything else you'll be listening to today! Enjoy some stellar performances by some great community members as you digest such a unique offering.