Super Metroid "Infected Waters" 5:59

The third edition of DarkeSword's Game Set Mash!! has officially kicked off, a Koshiro-centric compo featuring mashup arrangements of Streets of Rage vs. Etrian Odyssey! It's time to celebrate with a pair of successful GSM2 Metroidvania tracks by Team Metroid, second up with Xaleph (+ Emunator & ZackParrish) bubbling up an intricate EDM experience for Super Metroid and Aria of Sorrow, even including vocals from Xaleph's daughter Audiomint:

• Xaleph: composer/arranger/lead
• Emunator: composer/arranger
• ZackParrish: composer/arranger/guitarist
• lunarice: sound design/SFX/synth design
• Audiomint: female voice/sound acting
• Lucas Guimaraes: sound design/SFX

Are y'all ready for a story??? Not every ReMix comes with one, but gather 'round the fire for this'un, as arrangement lead Xaleph maps out the beats of the track's intended tale:

"So, what's the story of the song?
We're Team Metroid, so I'm 100% going to do this from a Samus perspective
I was initially going with more of an ice/frozen theme and then deep sea to make it cold, but that's not going to work with the Castlevania approach
Samus is in a cave - gets ready to dive into the water (Intro)
Samus is in the underground water, tension builds up (Buildup 1 + 2)
Samus gets to an air pocket, albeit tiny (Breakdown 1)
Samus goes back in the water, it's more crazy (Buildup 3)
Samus finds an opening out of the water above her and it's part of some ruins with a holy shrine (Breakdown 2)
The next part of the water is where holy water has mixed with the cave water - she dives in
And things go crazy here (Buildup to Outro)
And then final outro
She is out of the cave and is looking back at that crazy situation of dark alien waters + holy water (Outro)"

With our story now set, Xaleph's all business with a source usage breakdown as well, just so you can appreciate all the musical Metroidvania intertwinement going on:

"0:40-2:05 - "Maridia"
1:06-1:33 - "Purification" melody comes in and out (volume controlled) - high bells/sine wave
1:59-2:12 - "Purification" melody
2:15-2:56 - "Purification" melody abridged (shortened and given the supporting rhythm for the beat)
2:27-2:30? - the stab synth is the "Maridia" melody part/structure sped up and different rhythm/style
2:54-2:56 - I finally finish the "Purification" melody line that started at 1:59 to complete the phrase
3:22-3:35 - very soft mid freq "Purification" melody in staccato - double hits like "Purification" has it
3:35-3:48 - same melody bumped up an octave
3:52-4:46 (Breakdown 2) - it's combined melodies from both, low guitar playing "Purification" mid/top playing with "Maridia"
4:47-5:26 - electric guitar playing "Purification" very fast + synths that support "Maridia" melody
5:26-end - both parts playing again till end (modified to fit both songs) (thank you, Emunator, for the MIDI)"

After a picturesque opening, the way this fires up with almost a popcorn-y "Maridia" intro sets you up for this being good. You're just not ready for HOW good. Judge Chimpazilla immediately got it:

"Awesome intro, and when the psy hits it is truly excellent. The melody is played so delicately, as it should be in psy. The soundscape is huge, and the sounds vary as the piece moves along. Matt's daughter's vocals are heavenly, both plain and gated. I'm loving all the foley throughout the piece. So many snippets of sounds! Awesome varied arrangement. Mixing and mastering are the best they could be. FABULOUS TRACK."

You've gotta love Audiomint arriving at 1:06, gated and effected for max EDM-ness. (Your dad is cool, Mint! OK, maybe not, but he IS talented! :-D) ZackParrish's Castlevania geetar turn at 3:52 was also a thing of beauty! prophetik music's play-by-play picked up on those important details and so much more:

"lots of opening foley and neat sound design elements. love the gated vox pad with the very slow bell arp from the maridia theme - that's a really neat combination. bass here is great - i look forward to the bass work on every track xaleph's on. there's a break at 1:33 that eventually features some audiomint, which sounds great. beat's back in at 2:15 and it's really trucking this time. the purification melodic content really fits this more aggressive approach well. [...] overall this is really catchy.

3:10 backs off the melodic content a bit in exchange for some more sfx and storytelling. [...] huge vibe shift at 3:50 - this is more diablo than anything, with the long-tail guitar work and arpeggiating elements. i love how this combines the two themes. the pulsing bass here helps drive this forward really well. there's some guitar arpeggiated elements at 4:46 that lead into a electro-rock section that literally had me do the pacha perfect face. the hyper-compressed vibe of this section is great, it's so robotic after all the organic sfx and sounds that have been used. there's some bleeps and bloops to finish it off and we're done.

i love the *story* of this track. there's a ton of vibrant mind-pictures that you can hear from each section, and there's so much energy flowing throughout. it's also very refreshing to just be able to not worry about the mix or the overall master and just enjoy the flow that you've got going on. superb job, this is a new favorite."

Whether proph was directly reacting to Team Metroid's imagery or simply activated in hearing his own, this piece's pacing, dynamics, and vibrance are all genuinely inspired. As always with these all-star collaborations, there's a lot to love. Nice job, everyone. :-)

Ready to take a dip in those iffy-looking waters? Sly psy goodness awaits!