ReMix:Castlevania: Circle of the Moon "Rude Awakening" 3:39

By Rize

Arranging the music of one song...

"awake"

Primary Game: Castlevania: Circle of the Moon (Konami , 2001, GBA), music by Hiroshi Mitsuoka, Sotaro Tojima

Posted 2002-11-25, evaluated by djpretzel


Rize's previous ReMix was some rockin' stuff, but being from the (relatively) obscure Legendary Wings, many might not have been familiar with the source material. I expect no such hesitancy this time as his latest is from the recent Castlevania CotM and features familiar CV tunage done guitar-style, with rolling rock drums and some mean soloing (see 2'40") and doubling and layering that provides a very meaty mix. I especially like some of the drumming here - plenty of rolls, accents, and crashes that follow the chorus in particular very closely. You won't find any surprises - no key change, time change, or introductions of additional instrumentation or processing, so from a certain perspective this is predictable. But predictably good, which makes a big difference. Great stuff and a textbook example of Castlevania well-adapted to the rock medium. I'd still like to hear what Rize could do if he paired his obviously ample rock skills with some electro and did some genre-bending fusions, but we don't get all that many straight rock pieces either. An improvement in terms of sound quality from his previous work (nice delay at the end), this definitely comes recommended.

djpretzel

Discussion

Latest 15 comments/reviews; view the complete thread or post your own.
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OA
on 2010-04-30 12:14:41

Straight ahead rock, and there certainly isn't anything wrong with that- nice solid playing, a pretty good solo, and for being 8 years old, it's really held up well.

Rize is a pretty awesome guitarist, and his appearances are somewhat few and far between these days, but each track he does is quality. :-)

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SoulinEther
on 2009-12-01 00:43:56

Rize is (at least now) definitely capable of better sound, especially with his drums. But this piece is not bad. It's (clearly) repetitive, and I'm not sure if the solo + ending is enough to redeem the whole piece, but this works if you really like the theme. It could be a lot more aggressive, in the sound and in the arrangement departments.

Still, I won't deny that I can replay the whole song in my mind, lol. It's worth listening to, but your mileage may vary.

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Non_existinghero
on 2006-03-13 17:36:20

Great remix! I especially dig the guitars (then again, I LOVE guitar songs). The drums sound a bit simplistic though, but that's the only complaint and it's not a big one.

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Magical Ninja
on 2005-08-19 00:45:38

Nice. And it really fits the catacombs theme from CotM.

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DJ Pili
on 2005-08-05 20:18:22

The name of the ReMix is just right! I burnt it to a compilation CD of heavy songs to wake up, and when I set this one to play, I jump when I hear it. LOL

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OchreJelly
on 2004-12-22 14:45:37

Straight-up metal is something rarely seen on OC, if you ask me. But this is a great rendition of the Catacombs song, either way. I like how it goes immediately establishes the original melody, and goes through the song in a straightforward manner, but it's got plenty of extra flourishes and additions to the original song to not seem tired or unoriginal. Nice work on the solo at the end.

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Jogilius
on 2004-05-28 04:20:45

Actually this could be a good song for "a rude awakening". That is, putting some kind of timer software on the computer that would start playing this song whenever you should be waking up. :)

Hmh, where could I get such software? :)

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Impassioned Havoc
on 2004-05-28 01:26:52

Very cool. We don't see much metal here on OCR, and we don't see a lot of CotM, either. So, this is a welcome addition to the archive. Well arranged (dare I say inspired?), and well executed. This is a solid, grade-A arrangement. Well done, Rize.

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Scrabble_Ship
on 2004-05-27 00:20:23

My favorite remix. A must have.

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Rize
on 2003-07-24 15:37:29

Surely you noticed the solo near the end? But you're right, I try to leave the original music unharmed until I've at least looped it all once. Then I solo :)

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Gnam
on 2003-07-24 14:08:30

Awesome, a rock/metal castlevania mix that's not vampire killer or bloody tears. It's a great mix, very solid, and it covers fresh material. I like how straightforward it is. Just guitar and drums, no flimsy synths, no techno/electronica stuff mixed in, not even any unwelcomed variations on the original tune, just a straight conversion from crappy GBA synths to rockin guitars. I wish there were more of these around.

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Blaster Atoms
on 2003-05-02 14:55:54

this song is the shizznitt.

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Baldrash
on 2003-05-02 14:49:01

My very first mix was from Mega Man 6, but it wasn't really mixed. It was just a rerecording of a tune with guitar in place of one treble track. I may fully remix that and release it on OCR as my next project.

That would rock. MM6 has one of my favorite NES soundtracks.

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Rize
on 2003-05-02 11:42:41

I haven't been able to get much done on my latest mix unfortunately. You see, the mix has a triplet feel to it, and I forgot just how much I hate writing drums in triplet feel. It probably has more to do with skill than anything, but I just feel restricted in a triplet feel.

I'll probably switch gears and mix something else (from this game/series or another entirely).

My very first mix was from Mega Man 6, but it wasn't really mixed. It was just a rerecording of a tune with guitar in place of one treble track. I may fully remix that and release it on OCR as my next project.

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The Coop
on 2003-03-26 01:24:04

Well made tune there Rize.

Metal mixes are kinda hard to come by it seems and this one was worth seraching for. Great guitar work and a well crafted piece all around.

:nicework:

Sources Arranged (1 Song)


Primary Game:
Castlevania: Circle of the Moon (Konami , 2001, GBA)
Music by Hiroshi Mitsuoka,Sotaro Tojima
Songs:
"awake"

Tags (4)


Genre:
Rock
Mood:
Energetic
Instrumentation:
Electric Guitar
Additional:
Time > 4/4 Time Signature

File Information


Name:
Castlevania_Circle_of_the_Moon_Rude_Awakening_OC_ReMix.mp3
Size:
4,569,722 bytes
MD5:
7a36209118a930f5f50207bb3c779f81
Bitrate:
163Kbps
Duration:
3:39

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