ReMix:Submarine Attack "Into the Deep" 4:50

By Destiny, zykO

Arranging the music of 2 songs...

"Stage 1", "Stage 2"

Primary Game: Submarine Attack (Sega , 1990, SMS), music by

Posted 2004-07-27, evaluated by djpretzel


Been quiet lately as I had a busy weekend which involved turning twenty-five, migrating servers, continuing and I would say worsening an already erratic sleep schedule, and finishing up a piece I'd been working on for my [insert plug here] recently opened gallery on deviantART. However, there's some great stuff coming your way as of right now, so I think the wait will have been highly worth it. First mix of the night comes from Destiny aka Helen Trevillion, with some guitarage courtesy zyko. So, not only does Helen make some badass tunage and sing (err, 'vocalize') well to boot, but in this case she's gone into true old skool roots territory with some Sega Master System coverage of Submarine Attack. Rock on. The ReMixer writes:

"It's a remix of what is probably one of the most obscure games that ever existed on the Sega Master System - "Submarine Attack". That game was the first game I ever had and I loved it to bits. It wasn't the greatest game ever made, but I really did love the music. (I feel I can die happy now that I've fulfilled my task of remixing it. ^_~) It's barely a remix - I got a little carired away and it's flooded with original material, but nobody would know anyway, since presumably nobody knows the music from this game."

As I personally, though a die-hard SMS fanboy, was not familiar with the game, I took it upon myself to verify that Helen wasn't just submitting an original piece and going off on some totally fictitious story meant to confuse and befuddle us. Not that I don't trust her and everyone that submits mixes implicitly, but I needed to compare regardless and this was a great excuse to fire up Meka. While my controls were a bit messed up, resulting in many naval catastrophies, das boot was definitely doing its thing set to music recognizably similar to the piece Destiny submitted, and though her original contributions do add quite a bit, the gung-ho spirit of the original is definitely there. There's orchestral, Celtic, and middle-eastern influences here, along with the used (and abused) ubiquitous Enigma shakuhachi sample. If you're familiar with the sample in question, which is either the original, infamous E-mu shaku or one based off it, you might cringe a little to see it used yet again. Some of you won't have any idea what I'm talking about, but there are certain synth patches/samples that are very "known" in the recording world - the Van Halen "Jump" synth patch, the Roland 'Digital Native" D-50 patch, the classic DX7 electric piano, and yes, the E-mu shakuhachi sample. It's well-implemented here and seems higher-quality than the very first incarnation, but it still makes me think of Enigma or Peter Gabriel's Sledgehammer. At any rate, besides shaku you've also got lovely solo strings, lush layered percussion, breathy vocals, and zyko working his mojo on an inspired lead. There's some progression funkiness at around 3'15" that while transitory seemed a little odd. But I simply love what she's done with the melody, and zyko as well interprets a very set, quantized, but still GOOD tune into something with human edges, pauses, and a pulse. Most likely you have never played Submarine Attack, and perhaps the odds aren't amazingly high that you ever will. Nor arguably, should you. But it had some very solid, intensely melodic music, similar to the scores of plenty of earlier anime that I've watched, and Helen and zyko have taken that and injected all the life and scope the original demanded and deserved. Great stuff all around, don't pass it by out of unfamiliarity with the material or you'll be missing out big time.

djpretzel

Discussion

Latest 15 comments/reviews; view the complete thread or post your own.
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AJ-enova
on 2011-10-23 16:42:00

I've loved this track for so long I decided to make a short music video/animation for it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=leE9Nia6NfA

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OA
on 2009-12-04 11:22:07

Ah, submarine attack, a game I spent hours and hours playing. It's a true classic than anyone who lived in the era can remember. Actually, I am totally lying, and i've never heard of this game.

The mix, however, is pretty dang sweet, with great instruments and a solid melody, mixed in with excellent textures and a lush soundscape. There are a few weak samples, like solo violin thing, but most are really classy.

The variety of leads and counter-melody instruments is really nice, and this mix ends up being fantastic as a result.

Highly recommended, familiarity with the game or no.

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Marmiduke
on 2009-08-02 00:16:54

Ah, brilliance. It's so hard to choose a highlight in this, it's like every element of it is competing for the title of "Most Awesome".

Of course, the mix wouldn't be the same without the vocals. They are perfectly executed and applied, they don't overstay and bog down the music. Flutes are mad awesome, and the strings a great addition.

The electric guitar belongs, people! Seriously, I couldn't hear anything that left the guitar unjustified. It built and expanded the material in a great sounding way. And as for the transition, I can't think of how it could have been pulled off better.

As for the viola, I'm not as enthusiastic about. To me it was a little obvious sounding and reverby, but it in no way cripples the mix.

It's pretty apparent that this was a huge production effort, and it shows in every facet. It offers a killer, meaty arrangment with an uber professional sound, and it also does some serious representation for those little, overlooked bits of gaming obscurity. Just goes to show that you never know what something's going to mean to you unless you give a chance.

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Flare4War
on 2009-02-23 14:51:15

Yeah, this track is brilliant. What game an arrangement is from doesn't really tell you anything. Just have to give them a listen.

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Liontamer
on 2009-02-22 08:41:42
heard this at ormgas, and I wasn't going to listen to it bc i saw submarine attack, and was like wtf. Never again will i do that, this mix was awesome, of course it includes all of my favorite instruments. Personally I love the shakugachi flute, my fav sample, glad that alot of people don't use it. This is a top notch remix, coming from the most obscure game ever.

I learned long before this mix not to skip mixes from games I didn't know. This stuff is gold. It's full of great stuff the whole way through, including Helen's amazing voice, the electric violin and then weed's guitar solo really meshing well. This is strong sauce some of you are missing out on. Don't be dumb. Check it out.

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avaris
on 2006-08-23 13:47:49

heard this at ormgas, and I wasn't going to listen to it bc i saw submarine attack, and was like wtf. Never again will i do that, this mix was awesome, of course it includes all of my favorite instruments. Personally I love the shakugachi flute, my fav sample, glad that alot of people don't use it. This is a top notch remix, coming from the most obscure game ever.

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nikstar
on 2006-01-15 23:34:54

the first time I heard this song it had to of been on a winamp list with over 1500 other songs. I didn't know what game it was from, but from the sound I imagined a really dramatic, intense rpg. when i figured out it was Submarine Attack for the Sega Master System, I was, needless to say, suprised. This song is awe inspiring and beautifully conducted, I appreciate everyone second of this song and am amazed at great music that can come from relative obscurity.

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Claado Shou
on 2005-08-27 07:14:42

Awesome work. I've heard this song before at various times in the day, but hearing it at 7:00 in the morning (EST) makes it sound so much more mystical. So I thought I'd post to say that.

Great stuff, y'all. Powerful music, and I ADORE the guitar work. I don't care what the others say, that guitar adds a brand new avenue of musical intuition and experience for the source material, and shows that anything, no matter how set it is in one style, can be translated to anything its remixer desires. This should be the definition of a ReMix, right here, this song. Good jorb.

~.C.S.~

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Wanderer
on 2004-11-12 00:07:05

The VGmix version of this song is a top 20 remix for me, my favorite Destiny song. Seeing that zyko did the guitar for this song, I was excited by the possibility of this song being even greater. The synth section of the original is awesome, but real guitar could have been even better. However, and I'm gonna be brutally honest here, I think zyko's guitar just doesn't fit very well here. Juxtaposition works well only when you have two parts put in equal comparison, the guitar just seems to interrupt everything Destiny builds up in this song. The way it's used here, I never get the impression of juxtaposition, rather, I feel the guitar should be a complement of the rest of the song. Meh. I'll just stick with the original.

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Flame Stallion
on 2004-10-10 19:55:43
No offense to zyko, but I felt the guitar solos at 2:09 and 4:10 were completely out of place. The off-beat rhythm and generall overkill style of playing did not jive with the rest of the piece at all.

Apparently people don't recognize a good guitar when they hear it, and apparently I'm going to be a major dissenter on the issue, but I'd argue that the introduction of said guitar at 2'09 is what makes this track work so well. It's called juxtaposition, people! Taking two things dissimilar in nature (viola/elec. guitar) and putting them side-by-side to highlight the contrast. IMHO, it works EXTREAMLY well here. The result? One of the greatest remixes on OCR to date. The vocals were just awesome as well. They conjur up images of an Elvin princess singing to herself in the woods, or something to that effect... 10/10, easily. :)

Exactly, thank you. That's what I was getting at. People need to look at this with an open mind, which I seem to have no trouble doing since I didn't even notice the difference when it went from happy flutey stuff to the electric guitar because the contrast fits so well. Heck, I hardly ever notice transitions on my first listen, especially when it's done as well as it is here.

Edit: By "I" I mean, "Corporal Eschebone". I'm just posting on a different account for no reason at all. :)

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Fenrir
on 2004-10-06 08:55:13

I admit that I downloaded this off the main page and forgot to listen to it. But when I finally did, I was absolutely blown away. This mix was one of the most calming pieces I'd heard in quite a bit, and I found myself listening to it on repeat while I wrote papers. I applaude Destiny and Zyko for their brilliant work on this mix.

I felt that the guitar was just fine, by the way. Maybe that's just because I like pieces that mix typically orchestral and rock instruments (The Rock soundtrack comes to mind).

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tyler_lucero
on 2004-10-06 05:45:36
No offense to zyko, but I felt the guitar solos at 2:09 and 4:10 were completely out of place. The off-beat rhythm and generall overkill style of playing did not jive with the rest of the piece at all.

Apparently people don't recognize a good guitar when they hear it, and apparently I'm going to be a major dissenter on the issue, but I'd argue that the introduction of said guitar at 2'09 is what makes this track work so well. It's called juxtaposition, people! Taking two things dissimilar in nature (viola/elec. guitar) and putting them side-by-side to highlight the contrast. IMHO, it works EXTREAMLY well here. The result? One of the greatest remixes on OCR to date. The vocals were just awesome as well. They conjur up images of an Elvin princess singing to herself in the woods, or something to that effect... 10/10, easily. :)

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SirRus
on 2004-10-05 21:42:54

I love this. Great work both of you, I hope to continue adding Destiny-zyko collabs to my playlist.

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shrimpchips
on 2004-09-30 15:07:30

I was honestly surprised at how beautiful this track was, and how eloquently it all flows together. Funny that this sounds, better than alot of professional game music. Kudos to you.

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Cadmus
on 2004-09-28 11:58:57

the voice part in the key change/transition at 3:15 is awesome. very well done.

Sources Arranged (2 Songs)


Primary Game:
Submarine Attack (Sega , 1990, SMS)
Music by
Songs:
"Stage 1"
"Stage 2"

Tags (7)


Genre:
Mood:
Instrumentation:
Electric Guitar,Strings,Vocals: Female,Woodwinds
Additional:
Origin > Collaboration
Regional > Celtic
Regional > Japanese

File Information


Name:
Submarine_Attack_Into_the_Deep_OC_ReMix.mp3
Size:
4,731,485 bytes
MD5:
e29a3adb0e3fc9dc432ef999e1b7e73d
Bitrate:
128Kbps
Duration:
4:50

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