ReMix: Descent II 'Revelation'

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What's this? A non-Final Doom Dj Redlight ReMix? Not that Ashley's three FD mixes to date haven't been consistently fantastic, and not that another one would have been in any way unappreciated, but I'm also stoked he decided to vary his diet a bit and give OCR its first Descent mix, from the game's sequel. The ReMixer writes:

"I've just finished this mix, shock horror its not final doom =P It's from descent 2, incidentally the first pc game I ever owned and still one of my faves. The original track was from the closing credits of the game. However the game had two soundtracks, an industrial/metal CD soundtrack and a midi soundtrack, both of which were completely different. I always preferred the latter and hence its the midi version of the credits that I remixed."

I played Descent (DOS, baby), Descent 2, and to a lesser extent Freespace, and found the degree of mobility liberating. I'm still a little surprised the FPS genre has remained largely grounded, as this series proved very early on that true three-dimensional mobility was quite doable, even if you did get a little dizzy at times (I am a leaf on the wind. Watch how I soar.) I didn't particularly recall the music from Descent 2, but it's been a pretty dern long time, so that's not saying all that much. At any rate, Redlight gets the green light on this mix, as he's taken a strong melody, not unlike the type of guitar-led theme you'd hear set to a gritty 80's-era crime drama as the credits roll over a vast cityscape, and technified it with verb-drenched, slightly crunchy synth leads, cleaner, bubbling, underlying cross-panned synth patterns, and an appropriate electro-drum track with a thick kick that syncs up w/ the bass. The whole thing ends up sounding a little like Yuzo Koshiro's slower stuff from the Streets of Rage series, in particular the opener from the very first game. Larry writes:

"Great arrangement compared to the original in that it's not hugely interpretive on the surface, but subtely evolving much like Shna pointed out. On that point, sections like the one starting at 2:39 really showcased that understated evolution.

Up until 1:40, I was somewhat worried that you just had generally original passages on top of some motifs from the original, but that wasn't the case here at all. If chill bias is wrong, I don't wanna be right. But in all seriousness, this definitely had the goods and genuinely had a great deal of expansiveness and creativity. The remix was appreciated much more after comparing it with the source material."

I just got done watching the very first episode of the original Bubblegum Crisis OVA, and can't help but think how well this would fit some of the interludes; it really has a deliberate, floating, urban atmosphere... Ashley, you don't have to turn on the Redlight. Sorry, just too tempted to throw that in there. I really love the breaks at 1'36" and the like - these are the type of textural and melodic additions that similarly pattern-oriented mixes neglect and end up sounding repetitive due to lacking. At any rate, I've spent more time describing the tone and overall atmosphere here than describing the particulars, but I'm fine with that - if you know the ReMixer's work, you'll have a feel for the competent production and general slickitude. As a downbeat electronic groove with a strong melodic core, Ashley's first deviation from Final Doom, and OCR's first ReMix from the Descent series, Revelation is great work.

― djpretzel