Wizards & Warriors "This Ain't Your Dracula's Castle" 5:10

Thank you Mario! But YOU HAVE UNOOOO!

Guard your Halloween hauls, and take your holy arms by the hand - the twins and ZackParrish, never far apart, are back with a dark rock, Castlevania-themed take on Wizards & Warriors!

• pixelseph: arrangement, guitars, bass, harpejji programming, saw synth programming, foley, mixing
• paradiddlesjosh: drums
• ZackParrish: acoustic guitar, harpsichord, organ, mastering

Per pixelseph:

"What if the "Title", "Press Start", and "Forest of Elrond" themes from Wizards & Warriors were more... Castlevania?

This was the question we sought to answer for the Dwelling of Duels' November 2024 contest, which was to remix pieces from renowned VGM composer David Wise. If you came expecting to hear "Bloody Tears" somewhere in here, you'll be upset to know there isn't a single lick of Castlevania VGM in this piece!"

The Castlevania influence is loud and clear! Its source interplay is hefty, but the thoughtfulness of the arrangement and the meatiness of the mixing could easily let it pass for a Smash Bros. version or a modern take on the Perfect Selection. Specifically, pixelseph cites Perfect Selection arranger/producer Naoto Shibata as a major influence. Judge XPRTNovice praised the structure and performances:

"Performance wise, this thing is off the chain. I love the arrangement. It's in your face, but not too much so. You've got just the right amount of howling guitars, you give the ear a break at just the right times from the WALL OF SOUND, and you've got some great complex rhythms in there on all the instruments. There's no rinse-and repeat here. The end of what I'll call "Act 1" at 2:30, man I love that guitar riff leading into the break that gets us to Act 2."

While "Title's" Bach-y use of counterpoint and "Forest's" driving riff are prominent, The "Press Start" influence may be easy to miss, given it's only a couple seconds long. XPRTNovice was quick to notice that, too:

"I'm going to remix a track that is 1.7 seconds long" is the ballsiest shit I've ever seen

....is what I would have said, had I not seen you *OUTLINE THE SOURCE USAGE* in the description below it. That is, in fact, the ballsiest shit I've ever seen."

In Pixels & Paradiddles tradition, notate the sources they do:

"Intro: :02-:50 ("Press Start")
Starts on a D min9 (acoustic guitar only), moves to a D Dorian pattern with some harmonic minor on the tag

A section (Verse 1): :50-1:27 ("Main Theme/Title Screen")
Source is EXTREMELY Bach-pilled. D Aeolian into D harmonic minor, as to be expected

B Section (Chorus 1): 1:27-1:36 ("Press Start")
Acoustic guitar, harpsichord, and organ run the D min9 pattern only; lead guitar implies the D Dorian pattern, rest of the band implies a D blues figure

A Section (Verse 2): 1:36-1:55 ("Main Theme/Title Screen")
Chord structure modified to fit a D Dorian pattern

B Section (Chorus 2): 1:55-2:13 ("Press Start")
Maintain D Dorian, little bit of D harmonic minor flavor on tag

C Section (Intro Reprise): 2:13-2:39 ("Press Start")
D harmonic minor blues time, BAY BEE

A Section (Verse 3): 2:39-3:06 ("Main Theme/Title Screen")
Source uses two chord progressions under the same melody; this verse takes the second chord progression. Lead guitar solo #1 begins here.

C Section (Guitar Solo 1): 3:06-3:25 ("Press Start")
Acoustic guitar, harpsichord, and organ run the D min9 figure

D Section (Bridge): 3:25-4:42 ("Forest of Elrond")
Another D minor blues section. Lots of room for organ/guitar soloing/noodling, especially in the break (3:58-4:20 (NICE)).

C Section (Outro): 4:42-5:08 ("Press Start")
Acoustic guitar, harpsichord, and organ run the D min9 figure. Lead guitar drops some serious Sabbath flat-5 spooky shit and we're out."

Speaking of the Sabbath, while the Perfect Selection came out in ‘94, it circulated on LimeWire in the 2000s erroneously attributed to Cradle of Filth, making "This Ain't Your Dracula's Castle" an easy-to-miscredit arrangement of an easy-to-miscredit source. Fans of mid-nineties VGM guitars and modern dark rock alike will love the flow, but enough talk...

...Haa ha. This shit ain't nothing to me, man.