ReMix: Final Fantasy VI 'Seized with Fury'
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- Game: Final Fantasy VI (Square, 1994, SNES)
- ReMixer(s): housethegrate
- Composer(s): Nobuo Uematsu
- Song(s): The Decisive Battle, The Fierce Battle
- Posted: 2005-05-23, evaluated by the judges
NOOOOOOOOOoooooo!! ... or rather: yes. While Anakin Skywalker impersonators may have much reason to melodramatically shout negations, this latest ReMix from none other than Alexander Liss, alias housethegrate, should bring balance to the force. Let me stop and briefly express my own thoughts on Episode III, since no one asked: better than I and II, but not by far, and still not in the same ballpark as the original trilogy. In other news, I went to see professional deception artist Ricky Jay last weekend, which was quite the shit, and also had Ethiopian food for the first time, which - once I figured out the sans-utencil delivery method - was also goodstuffs. Also, I heartily recommend checking out VGDJ, a new ocremix podcast that Aurora and Rayza cooked up and will be working on.
But I should probably talk about Alexander's excellent mix now, no? Firstly, one should be aware that housethegrate and Ashane, who recently had his own mix posted here, are brothers, e.g. Terry and Andy Bogard, etc. - very cool and certainly unique to have two sibling mixers. house's mix is from FF6 and merges orchestral elements with rock in a fast-paced construction that varies between following the original tunage being arranged and deviating a bit more. It's hard to argue with the production and technique on the drums and guitar side of things, with a good mixup between distorted tones and mellower stuff, and the arrangement itself does some fun accellerando towards the end and is powerful and emphatic. There's a general feeling of energy and tension, and things keep moving at a pace that's not frantic but definitely driving. The mix is bookended by ambient storm effects which do come off a bit cliched, but in the intro it's mitigated by the faint sound of a detuned saloon piano and a following moan/scream, which are both atmospheric details that lend a complete, produced feel to the overall work. Of the arrangement factor, which was really the only significant point of contention on the panel, Brandon writes:
"The key for me is that the sections that are close to covers are just that: sections. My vote would be an easy NO if house had tried to pass an extended version of material like the first 1:33, but what we have here is far more expansive. The other material in this six minute mix shows good amounts of creative expansion on the theme and is well executed (1:34-2:50, 4:50-5:15)."
Speaking of Alexander's guitar work specifically, Jesse adds:
"He knows how to play with few notes, which makes his (very) impressive chops sound that much more tense and kickass than if he were shredding for six minutes."
There's moments like 4'30" where there's a chromatic, Phantom-of-the-Opera meets Texas-Chainsaw-Massacre quality, and clocking in at six minutes to the second, there's quite a few moments in general that are memorable, musical, and impressively executed. There's certainly some legitimacy in the more critical comments from the panel - that what's constituting arrangement is almost wholly the lead guitar, that some of the individual orchestral samples aren't always picture-perfect, etc., but it ultimately passes the litmus test of not sounding overly similar to the original, bringing something new to the table, etc. and also happens to be very accessible and at several points to kick copious quantities of posterior. Good to see solid submissions from both Liss brothers, who will both hopefully continue conjuring and crafting such opuses.
Discussion: Latest 15 comments/reviews; view the - Mirby on July 30, 2008
Seriously, this is one of the best mixes I've ever heard. Every time I listen to it, I can't believe this isn't a professionally orchestrated work. Ochestration - awesome. Guitars - awesome. The perfect mix of both - sublimely awesome. Even if nobody else comments, I'll keep coming back with better things to say every few months.
- ManicRoth on September 17, 2007
- HoboKa on February 3, 2007
This remix of the song "The Decisive Battle (Boss theme)" from the game "Final Fantasy VI" is a piece of art. In fact, it was so good, that I got chills down my spine, and that's never happened before.
Giving us a remix that's describing the boss-battle that well, and providing a artistic realism that Nobuo himself would be honored to hear, it's no wonder why this song is on this site, a "créme de la créme".
I give this 10/10, and I hope to hear a lot more of your music.
Regards // Emil aka n3uroticuM
- n3uroticum on December 17, 2006
Way to go!!@!11!!!!
- Orangejuice on October 2, 2006
The game itself really, REALLY bored me when it comes to Final Fantasy 6... but at the very least... it had a great soundtrack! This remix does what a few remixes can pull off and takes the original song... and makes it much, much better! Clip out a few sections of this remix here and there, and you'd get an awsome replacement for the original boss music! (I've actually seen someone do this for a game... it fit extremely well. Hehe.)
From fast sections, to slow sections, to more creative sections this remix continues to please. The dynamical changes are appropriate and can catch you off guard if you're not paying attention, as the song can very suddenly get much louder or much softer at any given time.
I would absolutely LOVE to see this remix performed live, even if it would be extremely difficult. You'd just have to leave out the intro effects... those would be kinda hard... :P
This is another one of those remixes I can leave looping for hours on end if I'm doing something fairly fast paced... it's also great to listen to when I literally am seized with fury. It lets me rid myself of the energy through the music instead of doing something violent. This song also succeeds in sending a chill down my spine and making my fur stand on end (Don't ask). This only tends to happen when I listen to songs that I particularly enjoy, so good job on this excellent remix!
As is the norm with the heavy rock songs I really enjoy... highly recommended to the rock fans out there, and highly unrecommended for the dislikers of rock.
- Pink on September 27, 2006
Marstead wrote: I dig the Castlevania reference at 2:34! It is snuck in in a subtle fashion and fits well.
Aside from that, this remix rocks!
I never noticed the Vampire Killer reference! This mix just became more awesome.
- BlueMage on April 20, 2006
- Dragonfire on April 20, 2006
Aside from that, this remix rocks!
- Marstead on April 15, 2006
So I'd just like to say that this is the song I've been using, for at least three months, as the alarm on my alarm clock in the morning. That opening disembodied scream is [i]perfect[/i] for getting me out of bed.
- OmegaDonut on April 4, 2006
- mrp on April 3, 2006
Really, really thoroughly.
Made of awesome, sir.
- Fusilliban on March 22, 2006
- My iPod
- My PSP
- My Xbox
- My PC
- 2 CD's
- My Ex's iPod (If she didn't remove it.)
- My Cell Phone
In short, I'd have to say that I agree with the rating of 11/10 this game was given, and I hope house's brother doesn't take bragging badly.
- Vitamin FF on February 7, 2006
- The Tromboner on December 30, 2005
11/10
EDIT: Ok after hearing a few mundred more times.....
THIS THE ABSOLUTELY BEST!!!!!!! I can listen to it I don't know how many times in a row, but I'm pushing 450 now....... Arrgh.... Its is absolutely amazing.......
- SakakiAzu on December 30, 2005
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