ReMix: Lufia & The Fortress of Doom 'Metastatic Bloodline'
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- Game: Lufia & The Fortress of Doom (Taito, 1993, SNES)
- ReMixer(s): Darangen
- Composer(s): Aki Zaitsu, Naomi Kuroda, Yasunori Shiono
- Song(s): The Battle of the Island in the Void, The Island in the Void
- Posted: 2006-04-09, evaluated by the judges
If for nothing else - and there's a whole host of other reasons - you have to admire Darangen for his consistency: he's been putting out mixes on a pretty regular interval for quite some time now, and they've consistently been keepers. Here he turns his shredding attentions to Lufia:
"I've played with these themes for what seems like a thousand times already, but the originals still hit home with me no matter how many times I've listened to them. Plus I've always wanted to get a Lufia mix up on OCR. This isn't really a hard-rock arrangement, even though it has some grungy guitar-work. I don't really know what to classify it as, it's just music. Hope you like it."
Also has some Cream-style electric wah soloing, which is always fun. Shiono's Lufia scores are indeed memorable; it was impressive for Sunsoft to have gotten so many things right, including the music, with an entry into a genre which for them was relatively unfamiliar - same goes for Waku Waku 7. That being said, though, I think perhaps the biggest thing this mix has going against it is a similarity to many of the ReMixer's other efforts, most of which had something that set themselves apart, some salient element that made them more singular. JJT says it well:
"this doesn't have flawless execution or production, but that's not enough to sway my vote. the drum sequencing isn't spectacular, but the track has a good performance and a good arrangement."
Several judges took issue with the drums, which I didn't think were particularly good or bad, but I think on the whole the production wasn't out of the ordinary relative to Michael's work, which I hold in pretty high regard. Instead, I think the arrangement could have used something... more. So as not to speak in convenient vagueness, specifically the dynamic remains too static for too long a period - I think a drop-out and build-up would have emphasized the kicking of guitar posterior more than keeping things in-your-face the vast majority of the time, and sometimes the accompaniment gets overpowered. This is important, because by now we all know Mike can play, and I think the more his accompanying arrangements, i.e. the non-guitar elements, improve, the more complete his arrangements will become. In this case, the end result was still seriously rockin' and certainly not to be overlooked, and Lufia fans, rock fans, and most in general will dig, but the powerful guitars could have shared a bit more space and time with their supporting cast, so as to better the ensemble.
Discussion: Latest 15 comments/reviews; view the Great mix Darangen! :mrgreen:
- BomberKid on August 31, 2008
The sources are excellent, Lufia music is some of my favorites, and it seems to have a pretty strong cult following, with pretty good reason. It's a not-so-played game with very catchy music. Darangen does it pretty well with this rockin mix, where the main focal point is the dual rhythm guitars. The way it's set up is pretty good, with one riffing while the other hangs back and supports with some chords. With the panning choices, it's all pretty clear what's happening where, and i'd say the choices made were pretty sound.
The drums are super basic, but with all the guitar chugging, there honestly isnt that much room for a busy drum part. They are mixed up a bit near the end to swing a bit, but otherwise they are an exercise in "expendable band member".
The synths sound cool, and the production is nice. If you like Lufia you've already grabbed this years ago, but if you have never played, give it a shot regardless, you'll like it.
- OA on March 3, 2008
My favorite part is def the intro. Great choice on the source tunes, lufia has some incredible music. I really like all the variation in guitars and everything Darangen did with them. Gives the mix a very original feel.
- avaris on December 20, 2006
I like the rock/synth style of this track with the doubling guitars, as meccaneer pointed out, reminiscent of the Black Mages style. The light intro works well to contrast the kick-in at 0:17 and I was really impressed with the excellent lead guitar work.
I love the music from Lufia games and this mix improves an already great original, rocking.
- Dr. Wily on June 27, 2006
Firstly, I dig the doublin.' A lot of great metal and rock bands do this and it's pulled of pretty well in this arrangement. I've heard some gothic/industrial bands who's guitar uses entirely different effects in each channel - I like this.
Secondly, it reminds me of the Black Mage style; thunderous wails backed by tinny synths. Points! It's rock, man, pure rock. Not the effed-up versions usually assaulting our radios.
Thirdly, it's got the game-groove.
- meccaneer on May 26, 2006
zircon wrote: Also, the lead is only slightly panned left as far as I can hear. It's definitely not hard left.
I don't know, I hear nothing but choppy riffs when I adjust the volume control to the right speaker only. There's a synthy lead that kinda' flows to the right occasionally, but the lead guitar only comes out the left speaker.
- DJ Skratch 'n' Sniff on April 11, 2006
zircon wrote: Guitar doubling is a very common technique among guitarists for getting a wider sound. The usage here was a bit unconventional because usually the doubled track is played nearly exactly the same, whereas here, the tracks were somewhat different. I don't think it's a big deal though. Also, the lead is only slightly panned left as far as I can hear. It's definitely not hard left.
I think the strongest point of this track (and the reason why I'm rockin out to it so much) is the fact that the doubled tracks are not identical. You know that urge you get when you listen to a song in your head to improvise other directions it could take -- Darangen is doing it for us, and I love it.
One of the coolest people I met at MAGFest and an ever growing presense on my playlist, Darangen never ceases to amaze. Keep it up, bro. :)
- D-Lux on April 11, 2006
DJ Skratch 'n' Sniff wrote: Now, I don't claim to be a musical prodigy or anything, but why are there [i]two[/i] rhythm guitars (one panned left, one right) and the lead is panned all the way to the left? Does that make any sense? Maybe I'm just crazy.
Aside from that, I found this mix to be pretty drab. Nothing really stood out to me; just a bunch of "dun duns" and wailing guitars. I enjoy the sources tunes more... but, then again, I think the Lufia music (from the first two games [i]only[/i]) is great; even though the second game re-used just about every song.
Anywho, decent production; the panning really throws me for a loop though. I like the mix more than I'm making it sound, honest.
Guitar doubling is a very common technique among guitarists for getting a wider sound. The usage here was a bit unconventional because usually the doubled track is played nearly exactly the same, whereas here, the tracks were somewhat different. I don't think it's a big deal though. Also, the lead is only slightly panned left as far as I can hear. It's definitely not hard left.
- zircon on April 10, 2006
Mirai Gen wrote: Diggin it, [i]seriously[/i], but I really wonder, what's the track of?
I believe it's the "Battle of the Island in the Void" (during the opening when the game tells you about the Sinistrals and the 4 original heroes).
- Brycepops on April 10, 2006
EDIT: a week or so later, and I absolutely love this song. Darangen songs have this thing of growing on me. Keep it up, this is an awesome song.
- your the man now dog on April 10, 2006
Aside from that, I found this mix to be pretty drab. Nothing really stood out to me; just a bunch of "dun duns" and wailing guitars. I enjoy the sources tunes more... but, then again, I think the Lufia music (from the first two games [i]only[/i]) is great; even though the second game re-used just about every song.
Anywho, decent production; the panning really throws me for a loop though. I like the mix more than I'm making it sound, honest.
- DJ Skratch 'n' Sniff on April 9, 2006
Good game + good music + great remixer = Win
Keep up the good work Darangen. You never disappoint.
- Barnsalot on April 9, 2006
Heard this back in January for the Dwelling of Duels competition... just curious, Darangen, have you tweaked it a bit since then?
- OmegaDonut on April 9, 2006
- Ninja-san on April 9, 2006
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