Chrono Cross "A Synonym for Death" 6:54

Sometimes, I watch the clock go 'round. Why now in particular? Well, the Chrono series celebrates 30 years today! But before we get to Chrono, let's talk about death. :-D One day we all go, and in untold years from now, the universe itself goes -- you can't take it with you. Depending on your perspective, those thoughts feel either nihilistic or empowering, and I choose to go with the latter. Because our time is limited -- because death is absolute -- all I want for you is to be happy, to smile, laugh, love, and to better the people, places, and things that have meaning for you, so that you ultimately leave this life satisfied with who you've been and what you've done. Winding that all back around, it's not really me who wants to talk about death, I promise, it's minusworld! minusworld's take on Chrono Cross's "Chronopolis" ruminates on death, but make no mistake, it's presented in such a creative & artistic way that it's life-affirming. :-)

The floor's minusworld's to explain how the die has been cast:

"This was my entry for Dwelling of Duels' Mitsuda Month in July of 2022. Ahh, "Yasunori Mitsuda" Month, famous for the music on games like Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross. Chrono Cross is one of my top 5 favorite games ever. The music is phenomenal and emotional, the number of party characters boggled my mind, and the plot twist mid-game was one of the few times I've ever been surprised by a story. So, when the theme was announced I knew right away I really wanted to submit a truly unique take on a Chrono Cross song. Up until this point, I had been fairly conservative with my DoD arrangements, focusing just on figuring out tracking, editing, mixing basics, etc. With the feedback I'd received from DoD over the months and a game I really wanted to cover well, I decided to push myself for this arrangement. Despite its flaws, this track managed to clinch my first DoD medal at third place, much to my surprise. [...]

Sometimes, for DoD, I'll have a style in mind before the theme is announced and I'll look for a track that fits. I settled on a TesseracT-inspired progressive metal arrangement of the "Chronopolis" theme. I was initially considering shoegaze, thought "Chronopolis" would fit, and then realized I could fit some djenty guitars underneath the source tune's synths and piano for a TesseracT-inspired song. I recall agonizing over the structure of this track quite a bit, wanting to make sure ideas and sections sounded good and flowed together. I was able to recycle some ideas from an original song I hope to release someday, namely the slap bass in the second verse and the outro after the synth solo. Looking back, I realize I accidentally settled into what I now call the "generic prog song" structure: long intro, verse 1, chorus, verse 2 which has some significant variation on verse 1, chorus, prog breakdown, chorus revisited or alternative chorus, outro. Don't tell anyone about this, though. It's my best kept arranging secret. ;-)

The source for "Chronopolis" has roughly three sections: A, the synthy build with the blips or bells or whatever they are, B, with the floaty repeating piano line, and C, with the drums and piano fourths. A and B are similar musically, so I used ideas from both to make the long intro and verses. To make the funny percussive blips, I used NI's Kinetic Metal. The piano line from B was shifted to a clean, delayed guitar. TesseracT's polyrhythms are often spread across a lot of measures, but I'm too lazy for that, so the one I wrote for this is across 4 measures, 16 beats. The C section is adapted to the chorus with some rhythmic changes because prog. :-D [...]

I've only given TesseracT's newer albums post-Altered State a few spins, but I don't think I've ever heard a guitar solo in one, so I wanted a synth solo instead. My friend p4p3r steps in for a blazing synth solo at 5:20 which sounds amazing. I wanted to avoid putting a guitar solo in this track because I thought it sounded too harsh. p4p3r is a great keyboard player and we have similar tastes in music, so it was a great fit! Thanks!

The vocals on this track are me! Q-/ This was the first time ever that I sang lead vocals. I'm not terribly happy with my performance, but I am glad that I tried it! Fun fact: I recorded the vocals in the backseat of a car late at night so I didn't disturb my household. X-D

On the lyrics: I have an inner nihilist that I keep locked away most of the time that I let out to write these lyrics. ':-D They are, quite simply, some meditations/ponderings on death. The track title refers to the passage of time ever moving forward -- fitting for a "Chronopolis" cover. The lyrics gave way to the title: time (and the chrono- prefix) is a synonym for death.

Out of morbid curiosity (see what I did there?), I tried to make the lyrics as depressing as possible; they don't reflect my actual beliefs. ':-) Left unchecked, I tend toward nihilism... however, I don't actually want to be a nihilist, so I work toward and choose to believe something better. There's not much hope in the lyrics... but I hope it sparks some thoughts. After all, time moves ever forward... so we have to be prepared for the inevitable.

Anyway, enough rambling. Hope you enjoy!"

Music and art are here to make you feel life's entire range of feelings, so as long as you can pull yourself back up from the dark, you're allowed to go there. ESPECIALLY if it's prog rock form, am I right, which had judge Rexy embracing minusworld's musicianship:

"This one has the tropes of prog that I have come to expect - the structure, the creative drum writing, the guitar riffs, all of the rhythmic variations, especially the shift through all of those time signatures in the instrumental break from 4:24 onwards - there's a lot to love for me. Given how you've opened the track and presented the vocals with those introspective lyrics, I can see why you initially started in a different direction. Writing-wise, there's hardly a seam out of place for me to look through, so I am all for the ride here. Kudos. [...]

Very passionate and thoughtful work all around - let's see this get posted!"

What a ride! Fun (read: miserable & nihilistic, just the way I like it) lyrics that take me back to being an anxious, depressed college student. :-D This was extremely interpretive; love the transformation and expansion of the theme via the lyrics, and the vocal delivery's so awesome. Definitely had an "Attaboy!" moment seeing how he recorded them in his car, another insightful instance where fear's put it its place, limitations breed creativity, and creativity ultimately can't be held back. Beyond demonstrating a ton of musical range as a guitarist and performer, minusworld's got a mainstream songwriting career in the hopper if he wants it bad enough. On the instrumental side, p4p3r's solo has the meedily-meedily-meeeeeee energy we emos crave, and I could listen to minus's leads, bass work, and djenty stuffs all day. Yes, it's bleak, but it's a TRIUMPH, an eye-opening, stylish & singular way to interpret a memorable theme!

Before you fade to black and your time is up, scratch every itch, fill in every blank, and please don't forget to treat others well. Don't forget to treat yourself well too. :-)