OCR04111 - Xenoblade Chronicles "The Shimmering Ether of Satorl"

[Liontamer]

What did you think? Post your opinion of this ReMix.

[Emunator]

I'm going to share my judge's vote again as a public review, because I really fell in love with this track when I heard it on the panel! Truly one of the best arrangements I've heard this year.

...

I have to say that this floored me on first listen. From a production standpoint, I'm impressed at how spacious and open this feels when considering how much you have going on and how heavy some of your riffs are. When mixing metal, it can be tempting to just smash the volume of everything as loud as it can go and brickwall your master, but I admire your restraint in choosing to leave some room to breathe, and I think your end result is all the better for that decision.

Arrangement-wise, this reminds me quite a bit of SixteeninMono's debut mix from 2016. Like that submission, your arrangement feels like a slow burn towards an intensely-satisfying climax, but the journey to get there is just as fulfilling. The whole song is full of beautiful textures and nuanced but powerful guitar performances. Some personal highlights include the harmonies from 1:09-1:15, as well as the entire breakdown and build that starts at 2:05, which went in a really unexpected minimalist direction but makes perfect sense in context of the rest of the arrangement. And I can't sing enough praises about the climax at 3:06, which provides an incredible emotional catharsis to cap off an already-stellar mix.

I know I spent my whole vote basically gushing over this, but it really is one of my favorite songs I've heard since returning to the judges panel. I really hope you send more our way soon!

[CJthemusicdude]

I enjoyed this!  A nice guitar journey that mostly stays in the soft and serene while having a few moments of power.  All throughout, the energy remains the same though and this was very well made.  Great job!