ReMix:Xenogears "Omen (R3 Mix)" 4:04

By R3FORGED

Arranging the music of one song...

"Premonition"

Primary Game: Xenogears (Square , 1998, PS1), music by Yasunori Mitsuda

Posted 2009-10-19, evaluated by djpretzel


Now for some solid Gears action from R3FORGED, who we also haven't seen since 2006. He stuck with this 'Omen' mix over the course of the project and revised it, however, culminating in a masterpiece of glitched + tweaked percussion that builds layer upon layer of intensity. The drums start off purely electronic and are awesome enough as-is, but when the acoustic kit gets thrown in later in the mix, things get truly awe-inspiring. Ian writes:

"Starting with EDM, then shifting to Electro House, and finally ending with Akira Toriyama, this mix has been completely re-worked 3 or 4 times. This song has been carefully composed using excessive distortion and conscious stretching of the human ear's potential to give the listener the experience I had when I first heard the original. I hope the listener feels the intense sorrow that the original portrayed. I try to express this through an instrumental struggle with glitches and such. The odd time measure from the original composition was tough to give a "slow-train" feel, so I dropped it to 4/4 and reworked a lot of the runs."

There's a surprising level of narrative development here; the whole piece is almost like one big crescendo, getting more and more elaborate and contracting around the listener, then terminating with an eery, heartbeat-like pulse. It does Mitsuda's original full justice and really creates an immersive, transporting atmosphere. Album director Avaris writes:

"Ian stayed with us over the years constantly changing this track as his own personal style changed. What I love most about this mix is its intense feel while remaining down tempo. It's a passive aggressive attack on the senses. The electro-acoustic elements make this track infinitely repeatable and pure WIN. The 'intelligent' use of his glitching and audio trickery in this one is textbook R3FORGED at its best."

I haven't heard enough of Ian's work to testify as to whether this is textbook "him" or not, but I can definitely say that I'd LOVE to hear more. Another great track from Humans + Gears - stay tuned for more!

djpretzel

Discussion

Latest 15 comments/reviews; view the complete thread or post your own.
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Black_Doom
on 2015-12-15 00:48:07

Simply awesome! Love such moody works a lot. The glitched drumwork is surely a delight for my ears, and the distorted piano synths really give this mix an excellent downbeat atmosphere. Amazing work :)

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Paradoxone
on 2014-05-26 15:01:00

"Starting with EDM, then shifting to Electro House, and finally ending with Akira Toriyama"

I believe it's supposed to be Akira Yamaoka (Silent Hill) not Akira Toriyama (Dragon Ball). Since they both have a "yama" in their name, the error is understandable ;)

Anyway, great Mix! I love both Xenogears and Silent Hill, so it's great to see them come together like this! ^^

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Crulex
on 2012-04-11 14:43:01

Ooooh, cool! Dark electronica with a metallic foreboding feeling. Me likely. Not a feel good tune, but it does elicit feelings and that's a great thing when you can manage it. The heartbeat was a sweet touch that fit right in. A bit sharp in areas, but it's not that bad at all. Other than that tiny thing, great ReMix.

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Fridge
on 2011-02-27 05:05:01

So, on a project full of amazing tracks, this one has grown into my favorite. It's odd, since I'm usually an all-melody, all-the-time sort, but there's just SO MUCH to love going on here. The massive bass to start things off, the great glitched out percussion, the panned piano lead and counter parts, then the big further glitchy synth, the driving bass part 2/3s through, the rising frantic feel as it pushes towards the end, and then the drop out, and finally the heart throbbing conclusion... I love literally everything about this piece, and you can really feel the years of tinkering that went into getting every part in just the right balance. Thanks so much for taking the time to get this right, and just in case it wasn't clear, love the track ;)

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Modus
on 2011-01-06 23:06:54

This mix has been my favorite on OCR for a while now. A fusion of badass and beautiful, Omen is always repeated at least once on my playlist. I love the interaction between the glitches and the piano pattern that build and build until you have that drumset come in and bring it all home.

Excellent.

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Emunator
on 2009-12-12 20:33:16

The incredibly strong beats and glitching effects of varying degrees of subtlety really craft an enjoyable piece of music. The distorted piano works well, though some of the skipped notes felt a little awkward. The pulsating noise at the end was a really cool touch, but I wish it was a bit shorter or incorporated while the rest of the song was still breaking down - having that many seconds of almost-silence puts a definite gap in the album that I'm not really a fan of :?

Overall, though, it's a definite highlight off of the Gears disc, it really captures the essence of dark electronic music :-D

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delbuster
on 2009-12-12 20:18:49

yeah, it's pretty cool. I like comparing this to Back 2 Skala, my favorite OCRemix, haha. The thing here is that the beats evolve, which is great.

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Soul Splint
on 2009-11-30 13:17:16

Same thing happened to me. The first listen I really paid attention to everything and just thought, meh, it's pretty good. But I left it on repeat and started doing something else, and I caught my head bobbing along on the second playthrough. So I 'listened' closely again, and now I'm impressed with how the elements were merged; it's going on a CD as soon as I get a chance. Feels very...subfusc. Nice work R3FORGED!

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Sir_Downunder
on 2009-11-30 06:41:00

I'll be honest and say that I originally gave this a pass at first, but now that I listened to it, I have to say its one of the best songs I've listened to for a long time.

The song really drew me in at the start with the hard pulsating beat, piano was nice'n'light and when combined with the drums and glitches had a dark edge to it.

Heartbeat at the end? Creepy, and effective. I like it :nicework:

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DragonAvenger
on 2009-11-01 12:40:10

I am extremely surprised that this mix doesn't have more reviews than it does now at this point. This really captured my attention from the beginning with the pulsating beat. It's literally echoing through me, in a totally awesome way. Not so awesome for my cats though :/

I love the depressing feel of this mix overall. That feeling is portrayed perfectly, and I can easily see why this would be called "Omen." Glitching throughout is subtly but very effectively done, along with most of the other effects.

Nice work!

EDIT: Oh yea, and heartbeat = creepy.

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Bahamut
on 2009-10-26 22:37:10

I'm not such a fan of this song - the bass really kills it for me as far as listenability goes. Otherwise, things seem pretty well crafted, but I'm prone to headaches from a huge amount of bass in comparison to the rest of the song.

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Reforged
on 2009-10-24 11:09:49

Thank you, everyone!

I appreciate all input, positive and constructive, and the fact that you're listening at all makes my day. Thanks again!

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ChaosPlayer
on 2009-10-24 09:48:44

A+ Must listen :nicework:

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Studio Eden
on 2009-10-23 08:06:04

I can't begin to express just how amazing this song is. I've had it on repeat for the past hour since I was able to download "Humans + Gears" and, needless to say, this is one of the most haunting songs, to me, in the entire game soundtrack. When I first heard it playing the game, I was overtaken with a sort of nostalgic emotion that I didn't understand. All I know is that my heart rate sped up and I could hardly tear my eyes away from the TV screen.

The same goes for this song. I'm listening to this and it instantly reminds me of the somber edge the original track had. The glitches, scratches, and hard hitting bass beats of the song really brought a new sound to this track. The piano and echoes, along with the different melodies overlapping each other, truly bring out the best in this piece. As stated, it has an intense crescendo effect and the heart thumping at the end of the track left me breathless.

Since Nano Wrimo is coming up, I can honestly say that this is one of MANY tracks from my OC Remix collection that will be going into my writing playlist. Excellent job R3FORGED! I look forward to hearing more of your material in the future.

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metalsnakejuice
on 2009-10-23 06:49:46

Seriously this rocks. Loved every second of it.

Sources Arranged (1 Song)


Primary Game:
Xenogears (Square , 1998, PS1)
Music by Yasunori Mitsuda
Songs:
"Premonition"

Tags (3)


Genre:
Mood:
Dark
Instrumentation:
Electronic,Synth
Additional:

File Information


Name:
Xenogears_Omen_(R3_Mix)_OC_ReMix.mp3
Size:
6,965,629 bytes
MD5:
7dc29632a26e1ba6656337bff755ed88
Bitrate:
225Kbps
Duration:
4:04

 

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