ReMix:Half-Life 2 "Portal Storm" 6:04

By Redg

Arranging the music of one song...

"LG Orbifold"

Primary Game: Half-Life 2 (Valve , 2004, WIN), music by Kelly Bailey

Posted 2019-01-14, evaluated by the judges panel


Wow. After a quiet 2017 & 2018, Redg (Brent Wollman) hits us with his heaviest, most accessible mix to date, embedding his signature sound design tricks into a badass metal take on Half-Life 2's "LG Orbifold" theme:

"Some cool leads and solid production. This was one of the first tracks I sat down with and really focused on the mix. I spent a stupid amount of time tweaking this thing trying to learn the secrets of \M/ production. I think it probably makes the cut."

I think the judges had an easier time grokking & approving this mix than Brent's more avant-garde/experimental pieces, and I'm guessing he'll find some new ears with it as well, as the presiding aesthetic is a relatably aggressive & dark metal cut. In-game vox/fx are sprinkled about, mostly in the intro, and he still works in some slick psychoacoustic warps & transitions, but the bones are more familiar and orthodox than many of his previous arrangements. It's a good look, and it gives his sonic attention to detail & knack for twisted, tortured, metallic textures a more familiar context. Gario writes:

"To be honest, I think this a a great arrangement for such a limited source, and the production values are really good, to boot (some great use of stereo seperation throughout, making the track sound very full). The performances are great, and the SFX are well used."

Sir_NutS hits all the highlights:

"Damn, this song has a perfect buildup to some face-melting goodness at 0:56. I wasn't expecting this going in that hard but I was pretty happy it did. There's an ample expansion of the original source here, and I'm honestly impressed that you managed to make such a long track and it never gets into repetition or staleness issues. The soloing is intense, and I loved that ending. Production is clean and full, the drums are punchy and each instrument has their own space to fill."

What he said. Just to be clear, I'm a big fan of Redg's more difficult, less traditional material as well, but I think he strikes a nice balance here which maintains his sound design strengths but pairs them with genre-forward structure & flow. Great stuff, takes you for a ride, and creatively extends the source into a brutal maelstrom of metallic mayhem!

djpretzel

Discussion

Latest 4 comments/reviews; view the complete thread or post your own.
avatar
CJthemusicdude
on 2024-04-30 12:27:23

Half Life 2 remix!! As much as I enjoyed the game, I slept on the soundtrack pretty hard. This remix is fantastic and really gives the original source that extra needed punch to make it impactful! I dare say this remix is better than the original. It ROCKS! ?

avatar
timaeus222
on 2021-08-11 02:05:16

Ooh, this is sick! I can't believe I missed this one. Probably coulda cut the last 6 seconds which were total silence, but that's okay.

avatar
X-Malleus
on 2019-02-01 16:54:36

Thank you so much Redg for producing some of the most original and creative mixes that this site has seen. As a huge fan of your weirder mixes and original compositions (I absolutely love Student), I'll admit this one is a bit too conventional for me, even if it is a cool song. Here's hoping that you continue helping the mixes on this site, and music in general, feel fresh and interesting!

avatar
djpretzel
on 2019-01-14 16:13:05

What did you think? Post your opinion of this ReMix.

Sources Arranged (1 Song)


Primary Game:
Half-Life 2 (Valve , 2004, WIN)
Music by Kelly Bailey
Songs:
"LG Orbifold"

Tags (7)


Genre:
Metal
Mood:
Aggressive,Dark
Instrumentation:
Electric Guitar,In-game FX,Synth
Additional:
Effects > Distortion

File Information


Name:
Half-Life_2_Portal_Storm_OC_ReMix.mp3
Size:
8,827,283 bytes
MD5:
03e94a181c9018b8da96db32ef48deaa
Bitrate:
192Kbps
Duration:
6:04

Promotion

8-bit Jazz Heroes - Press Start
View All

Latest Albums

View All

Latest ReMixes