ReMix: Castlevania: Circle of the Moon 'Time's Anxiety'

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March would seem to be the month of birthdays, as right after Liontamer and Sephfire comes Sir GrayLightning (honorary knighthood), with a Rexy collab hook-up on Castlevania: CotM. I heard an initial version of this and had some advice on the processing that I'm glad was taken to heart, as initially some of the winds were a little dry. The overall arrangement is delicate, composed largely of same-tempo interweaved melodies over quantized arpeggios that do convey a strong sense of time, an intricate clockwork of composition. That is not to say the whole thing feels like it's "on tracks" - although I do think a bit more variation in tempo and less quantization would have helped, as things are, the piece has enough emotion in its arrangement and dynamics to counterpoint whatever humanization of note timing and length might be lacking. Flute, oboe, electric piano, mixed bells (it's GrayLightning, man, what did you expect?), assorted percussion, solo and ensemble strings, harp, some patented 'epic brass' french horns (same patch used here for those playing along at home), and some other goodies I'm sure I missed round out a very broad timbral palette. Rexy did the initial arrangement first and then GL rebuilt it from the ground up; I think you can hear her particular arranging style and his predilection for mixed instrumentation (which is usually drinkin' heavy from the keg of chromatic percussions)... whether or not the collaboration resulted in a piece that resonates more than a solo effort from either artist would have is arguable, but this juxtaposition did produce unique offspring that probably wouldn't have come about any other way, and in over six minutes, develops and explores thoughtfully and with variation. There's a certain elegance to the very steady pacing, call-and-answer melodic line, and discrete space afforded each element that gives the piece focus and clarity. It's not the most elaborate arrangement compositionally, but the diverse throng of instrumentation that's been applied balances that out. I'd like to hear either live, unquantized recordings of solo parts or mouse-editing to achieve a comparable effect in the future, as I really think it'd more effectively contrast flowing lead parts against more metrical accompaniment. That being said, this is an enjoyable and deep ReMix, one that both mixers can be proud of and which gracefully adapts the Castlevanian source material. I'm running low on happy b-day shoutouts lately, but I can always spare one for Gray, so while he's enjoying his newfound 24-dom, check out and enjoy his and Rexy's latest mix.

― djpretzel