Posted 2014-06-04, evaluated by djpretzel


MEGARRANGEMENT!! CarboHydroM!! For OCR02900 we've got 20+ minutes (!!!) of badass Zelda rock from Christophe Blondel that you're gonna love. First, for such a monster, a source breakdown is mandatory:

0:00 - "Title"
0:21 - "Opening Demo"
1:15 - "Hyrule Castle" (1)
2:23 - "Overworld"
3:17 - "Kakariko Village"
4:43 - "Sanctuary Dungeon"
6:08 - "Forest"
6:40 - "Master Sword Demo"
6:55 - "Church"
8:04 - "Hyrule Castle" (2)
9:15 - "Dark World" (1)
10:12 - "The Goddess Appears" (1)
10:38 - "Dark World" (2)
11:08 - "The Goddess Appears" (2)
11:38 - "Dark World Dungeon"
13:12 - "Dark Mountain Forest"
14:59 - "Princess Zelda's Rescue"
15:36 - "Priest"
16:06 - "Battle with Ganon"
17:06 - "Credits"

Next, let's see what CHM himself has to say:

"So this big thing is my musical play through the Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. It's actually a fully re-engineered version of my 2005 Dwelling of Duels entry that goes by the same name. I went through this again for the sole purpose of properly celebrating 10 years of activity within this awesome remixing community.

The opening Triforce jingle is a short prologue showing the listener what to expect: I blended the original note sequence from the game with a transcribed version using high-quality sounds, to reflect the quality transformation of the whole arrangement.

The overall structure remains the same as it was, with most of Koji Kondo's original soundtrack being revisited in the gameplay order, but it underwent a full instrumental reworking along with in-depth harmonic and rhythmic upgrades. As a result, the song is also longer than before, mostly because of time signature and tempo adjustments. A complete breakdown of all the changes is probably unnecessary, but below are various specific ones I can think of:

- An organ is now playing alongside the other instruments during the whole song or so
- Both dungeons' themes now feature a more progressive approach
- Full reprogramming of the drums
- Emphasised ska section in "Kakariko"
- A few playful pauses or silly melody alterations such as the one in "Hyrule Castle" (2)
- Guitars play richer stuff than before
- Overall better production

Fun fact: to complete this, I've recorded more than 2400 instrument takes, as usual for the sake of hunting the magical accidents that uplift each part of the song - especially on the leads.

Thanks for taking the time to process this. :)"

A truly monumental undertaking and a stunning tribute to one of the very best Zelda soundtracks, this is a testament to the lengths & extents of musical fandom and an unrelenting wallop of awesome. Larry's got a lot to add so I'mma step out the way:

"Well, damn. Here's our 7th OC ReMix longer than 10 minutes and our FIRST longer than 20. How did it get here??? So KyleJCrb, as a heavy enthusiast and evangelist of rock & metal VGM arrangers, hosted an episode of Nitro Game Injection where he paid tribute to CarboHydroM with a show featuring several of CHM's arrangements as well as Christophe's latest original rock & chiptune album Prime Legacy (available on OverClocked Records). Kyle also clued me into the fact that Christophe was also going to be debuting a NEW version of his 20-minute Dwelling of Duels piece "Unsealed" for the show and once I heard it I DEFINITELY had to tap on CHM's shoulder to see if he'd be willing to send it our way. Sufficed to say, he was all about submitting it, and here we be, crowning a NEW king of "Longest OC ReMix." :-)

If Prince uf Darkness's 12-minute "Dancing Mad" mix or OverClocked Assembled's 13-minute Smash bros. medley didn't make it clear, longer tracks have been fair game at OCR for years now. We'll always want ANY tracks anywhere near this long to be very focused, cohesive and oriented towards VGM rather than mainly original, non-VGM writing, but "Unsealed" absolutely fits that bill and then some with smooth transitions between themes (easy to overlook), excellent personalization of the Zelda material, and impeccable mixing that lets the individual parts shine together with synergy.

The original DoD version of "Unsealed" was a tour de force of A Link to the Past's music, but this new, definitive version was tweaked, polished, and performed nicely to celebrate Christophe's 10 years in the VGM arrangement community. Congrats to Christopher on a decade of excellence and musical growth in this scene. Let's hope he's got at least another 10 more years in him!"

Can I get a secular, non-denominational AMEN?? Amen. Extra ReMix opened their whole series of mixer/site profiles with an excellent feature on CarboHydroM, and mixes like this help show why. This mix is large and in charge and by virtue of its sheer girth is resistant to traditional forms of commentary, so all I can say is:

  1. Enjoy
  2. Keep enjoying...
  3. (checks watch)
  4. Continue enjoyment...
  5. When you're done, consider supporting CHM by picking up Prime Legacy - 12 tracks for $2+!!
  6. Supreme props to Christophe for a decade of great music!

djpretzel

Discussion

Latest 15 comments/reviews; view the complete thread or post your own.
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Eino Keskitalo
on 2024-03-01 02:57:57

I finally finished playing through through the whole game to the end yesterday. Listening to this now as a celebration. ?

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TheChargingRhino
on 2017-01-20 08:17:54
On 6/10/2016 at 7:36 PM, TheChargingRhino said:

....Two years ago? Wow. If I can, could I remake this in FL? I'll credit you, of course.

6 months later. I WILL REMAKE THIS IN FL!!!! I WILL DO ITTTTTTTT....

Keep watch for it in the post your remixes thread!

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TheChargingRhino
on 2016-06-10 19:36:23

....Two years ago? Wow. If I can, could I remake this in FL? I'll credit you, of course.

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Chernabogue
on 2014-12-17 09:21:45

Finally took the time to listen to this one from A to Z. And that was quite a wild ride. Arrangement and production are really top notch. Bravo! :)

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Fb=MC2
on 2014-12-04 12:47:51

Well...

Yesterday I was extremely depressed about a lot of things.

Then I listened to this.

Then I listened to it again.

and again, and again.

About 5 hours later I was still listening to the same song on repeat, but I wasn't depressed. I like how you put nearly every song from the game in here and very close to the order they appear.

Also love the arpeggios

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TwistedAkai
on 2014-07-07 15:28:11

Welp. Time to dust off Audiosurf. Gotta see what I can do with the new version :-D

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Harjawaldar
on 2014-06-24 09:23:39

A classic:)

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Vortaka
on 2014-06-08 07:21:58

Very, very, VERY cool! Another tune that just jumped on my mp3 player!!! :)

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BorgMan
on 2014-06-07 09:18:24

That was very, VERY satisfying! Twenty+ minutes of my life I'm going to enjoy putting into this track again very soon ^_^ Superb mixing and flow make this a killer track and almost a mini album onto it's own. Great job!

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ZPedro
on 2014-06-06 14:58:31

Holy triforce, it's now on OCR; no, it's now infinitely better on OCR!

I have known and enjoyed CarboHydroM's original "Unsealed" for years now, and it was already suitably epic enough that I was wondering at the time why it wasn't on OverClocked ReMix. Well, that no longer matters, as this version improves on every parameter that might (or might not) have made it fail the OCR submission standards: this version of Unsealed is both more cohesive, with top notch transitions, and more varied than the original, with improved arrangement and production throughout, making it reach a level of epic next to which the original now sounds like an only somewhat epic work in progress.

Clocking at 20 minutes, you'd better be prepared for a lot of epic to hit your ears, and your brain, and your face. The scale of this track isn't the least epic aspect of it: if the "Symphony of the Goddesses" was the "Metal Rock of the Goddesses" instead, this would be its "Link to the Past" segment. And all done by one man with (as far as I can tell) the main instrument always live (well, maybe not in a single take…), in the spirit of Dwelling of Duels for which the original was created. Respect.

And… wait, why are you still reading? By now the download should be over, so go listen to it rather than read me ranting about it, I compel you!

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Rexy
on 2014-06-05 13:02:34

NOW WAIT A MINUTE CHM'S ZELDA 3 OPUS IS ON OCR HOW DID THIS HAPPEN OMG OMG SDFKLGFKLSDLPQDFKJF--

Having known the original DoD version back in the day (yes, I was another one of those that absolutely enjoyed his works even then), I'm gonna have to say that this is somehow a MEGA IMPROVEMENT of a godly enough track as it is.

How? Production values have improved a lot since its original DoD incarnation (especially on the drums, they feel so much less muddy and more punchy this time around), the drum writing has taken a huge step of variety (noticing this a lot in the Hyrule Castle 1 section) and the dynamic pacing has also taken a great expansion, something that I can note with the variety of guitar tones (especially rhythm) and writing used throughout. The more progressive flairs for the dungeon themes (that wobble effect for the Dark World one though o__O) were also a great creative touch as well and again contributes to the pacing as stated before. And in addition, in certain sections the lead was played much higher up on the tone register, which also contributes to the fuller production as stated.

Even the VST additions helped with this a lot, not only with filling in frequency space partially due to the organ use but also for giving certain sections a fresh new outlook. The church section in particular, which I remember was a muted buildup in the original, feels a heck of a lot more haunting hearing it re-done with rhodes taking the center stage and makes the transition into Hyrule Castle 2 feel surprisingly more epic than the original.

And even then, give or take the dungeon themes and ending (which also took that time signature based approach near the beginning as well as THAT FINALE!!), the core essence of the track has remained and thus this can be seen as an absolutely AMAZING remake. So if you loved the original when it made its way into the September 2005 DoD, by all means take a look into it and see what you think - you might be as impressed by most of us already here typing comments. Those new to the whole thing may as well just sit back and enjoy this musical run through Zelda 3, and what a run it certainly is.

I can see that CHM has learnt a LOT in regards to technique and production values over the past 10 years, and everything here has shown it. I am so proud of him right now :D

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pu_freak
on 2014-06-05 12:30:06

Oh wow, this is epic! I listen to the original Unsealed quite a lot, but this version has increased the quality even further. Awesome stuff, dude!

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paxl13
on 2014-06-05 10:29:13

WOW, This remix is absolutely AWESOME. It gives me some Earthbound Papas/Black Mages feeling. It is phenomenal-ly good! Thanks you so much for this!!!

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Crulex
on 2014-06-05 09:24:14

Holy crap it's finally on the OCR front page! I'm beyond happy see this legendary ReMix from DoD days past here, it sounds better than ever thanks to the reworking and remastering of it. To say that this is anything less than a classic would be a shame. I love the ska section in the Kakariko Village part, the chilling church part and the work that went into the Dungeons, Ganon and the Hyrule Castle. Even the transitions back and forth between the dark world and the fairies was a nice touch that I gotta note. Cool to see how much this has been improved and even though I loved the original, this is really awesome. If you're a Zelda fan, especially of Link to the Past, there is no reason not to download this. So freaking recommended.

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orlouge82
on 2014-06-05 00:58:30

Wow. I didn't think the original could be improved that much, but here I am in amazement as I was listening to the original nine(!) years ago. Fantastic stuff, and glad to see it on the top of OCR's front page.

Sources Arranged (17 Songs)


Primary Game:
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (Nintendo , 1991, SNES)
Music by Koji Kondo
Songs:
"Battle with Ganon"
"Church"
"Dark Mountain Forest"
"Dark World"
"Dark World Dungeon"
"Ending (Staff Roll)"
"Forest"
"Hyrule Castle"
"Kakariko Village"
"Master Sword Demo"
"Opening Demo"
"Overworld"
"Priest"
"Princess Zelda's Rescue"
"Sanctuary Dungeon"
"The Goddess Appears"
"Title"

Tags (11)


Genre:
Metal,Progressive Rock,Rock
Mood:
Aggressive,Epic
Instrumentation:
Electric Guitar,Synth
Additional:
Arrangement > Medley
Origin > Competition > Dwelling of Duels
Time > Duration: Long
Time > Tempo: Variable

File Information


Name:
Legend_of_Zelda_A_Link_to_the_Past_Unsealed_OC_ReMix.mp3
Size:
37,183,258 bytes
MD5:
f256afaac64cf6e71d49198e41cf5f1d
Bitrate:
239Kbps
Duration:
20:39

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