A Short Hike "Ash" 5:18

San Diego's Slowly Crushed makes his OCR debut with a take on the charming and cozy 2019 indie game A Short Hike! While the game's plot is set in the summer vacation season, it's always struck me as the perfect autumn game. I live a short drive away from the beautiful Gatineau Park, and while it is open year-round, to me the park's nature trails are superior this time of year as the leaves turn to gorgeous shades of red, orange, yellow, and golden brown. It's maybe not a surprise that Canada's fall colors directly influenced A Short Hike's warm, earthy palette.

While "Ash" earned the top spot in Dwelling of Duels' Forest vs. Jungle Month back in May, this track too seems well-suited for the time of year when nature turns its colours in preparation for the snowy season. The arrangement opens with the feel-good acoustic piece "Somewhere in the Woods", before burying the chilling "Snow, Lots of Show" in powerful - dare I say, crushing - post-rock guitars.

Dynamic transitions are the name of the game here, right from the get-go. The song opens with blown bottle and tender acoustic guitar leads over an atmospheric bed of bird song, before pounding your ears with bombastic tom hits. These drums along with the layered hand claps sprinkled through the first half of the song owe a debt of inspiration to the 2008 Sigur Rós track "Gobbledigook". That song is easily the most whimsical in the Icelandic post-rockers' catalog, and a fitting match to A Short Hike's initially cheery, carefree atmosphere.

The ostinato from "Woods" anchors the shift into "Snow"; a change-up so effective that judge pixelseph commented "it didn't even register that we'd changed sources!" Just as the game turns frigid as you ascend Hawk Peak, Slowly Crushed's arrangement ratchets up the tension as the acoustic guitars give way to reverb-soaked electric guitar drones and panned slide leads. The heavy toms make their return, this time accompanying ever more distorted guitar tremolos, building to a glorious crescendo at 3:30 that's as intense and heavy as it is stunningly gorgeous. Goosebumps-inducing post-rock right here, folks. The electric guitar leads shimmer with reverb, and the rhythm layers are punishingly heavy. The mix feels immense and enormous yet never loses focus.

And then, just as quickly as it came, the snow storm is over! We've survived the treacherous, icy climb and we coast back down to the relaxed vibes of "Somewhere in the Woods", this time with a sparser, more pensive arrangement, offering listeners time and space to reflect on the journey we just completed, as the bird song from the intro reappears to signal our return home.

"Ash" has an almost narrative structure - mirroring the player's hike, climb to the peak, and triumphant descending flight at the climax of A Short Hike. The 5:18 run time breezes by, with the arrangement quickly hopping from section to section, never staying in one place for longer than needed. And yet, despite all the variations in both mood and musical intensity, this piece never feels anything less than cohesive. While part of that is down to the strength of composer Mark Sparling's original songs, Slowly Crushed has poured in quite a bit of himself into this arrangement, making this Hike a rather impressive one that is well worth your time.