Pokémon Crystal Version "Into the Icy Caverns" 3:30

It's about to get chilly in here... or is it heavy? timaeus222 beefs up a pair of classic Junichi Masuda Pokémon themes, RBY's "Team Rocket Hideout" and GSC's "Ice Path"! timaeus explains how he led us into the darkness of these crystalline caves:

"It's been a while since I've made a dark ReMix. If you know me, you know I love to use Zebra2, but, for the past 6 months, I've been inspired to experiment with 2 new synth releases thanks to zircon mentioning them: Pigments 6 and Serum 2.

Using the new Serum 2 and Pigments 6 in my synth arsenal, we've got some insane sound design in this one! I already knew Serum back when it was on version 1, so I got into Pigments first and was pleasantly surprised. I was drawn to the granular synthesis for a while, but what really got me was the comb filters, so I took this opportunity to learn how comb filters can create resonant instruments like bongos and flutes, and metallic instruments like sitars, cymbals, and drone textures.

I decided that "Ice Path" would be really cool to ReMix (hah, get it?) and give a harmony overhaul, along with plenty of comb filter sound design. My favorite part of "Ice Path" was always the sick bassline, but it seemed to just play ALONGSIDE the melody instead of WITH it, if that makes sense, so my aim compositionally was to create a whole new life out of an old song.

To do that, I brought back metalstep, an old genre that I rarely explored in video game ReMixes outside of "Challenge Accepted!" in 2013 and "Mind Flip~" in 2015, and combined "Ice Path" with "Team Rocket Hideout", using Pigments and Serum for most of the basses, Pigments for the synthetic bongos, and Zebra2 for the first bass and the leads.

This is about as balls-to-the-wall as it gets. It's metal, it's aggressive, and it's loud, but you know what's especially true? You're about to headbang. :-)"

Prodigious panelist prophetik music was caught providing Pokeymanz play-by-play:

"some creepy bass effects to start, but the ice path bass line is clear right away when it comes in. there's a filtered build that's clearly going to go hard, and it hits at 0:41. band sound is a big, aggressive vibe that feels like it's in half-time, and there's some really fun gating and effecting to keep it feeling like that even through the initial break at 1:09. [...] the team rocket theme comes in right after this and really fits the feel well - what a great combo.

there's a bit of a break at 1:36 that's more of a drop and build - again, excellent work combining in the team rocket theme here - and at 1:55 we get a transition back to the ice path melody. [...] there's a big fall-off after this section at about 2:40, and we get some sfx before a slam transition back to team rocket for a few seconds before we close out on the ice path bassline again.

this is a fun ride! i really like the approach and how intense it is without relying on a fast tempo to bring the energy. there's a ton of details hidden in here that are fun to explore. excellent work combining two great themes."

Gotta co-sign timaeus bringing the BIG NRG here sans the need for speed, energy that also caught fellow judge paradiddlesjosh, who admitted "Okay, Timaeus, you got me: I was definitely headbangin'. :-D" Very cool approach giving these themes a grimier sound and a harder edge. ("hah, get it?" redux) It may not be for everyone, but I loved the bongo accents first thrown in here at 1:08. Really interesting shifts in the textures in tandem with the theme tradeoffs as well. A small detail worth noting, but what great tension with the usage of the heartbeat SFX at 2:42; very menacing! timaeus222's overall sound design and mixing hit hard and had a wide sound. Really strong way to personalize the treatment of the sources, timaeus -- this sounds like you had a blast experimenting with some bold sound choices! :-)