ReMix:Castlevania: Bloodlines "Satanic Spire" 4:14

You want some Bloodlines? We're gonna get you some Bloodlines... or more accurately, Greg is, with this sinister, shuffling, synth-laden arrangement off VV2 that even comes complete with its own blood-curdling scream. In case you have blood... that needs to be curdled:

"This one is from the Vampire Variations album, my "Discolored Wall" arrangement that I've been planning on making for roughly five years. The game was amazing, and this track always stood out as completely unique, which intrigued me. Dissonant, creepy and all-around insane, it posed to be quite the challenge to make something that reflected the mood, yet was enjoyable in its own right. Before being approached for the album by Chernabogue, I actually tried to arrange this track, but from the combination of Reason 3's lack of meter changing & tempo changing, as well as my own personal lack of production abilities, I felt a bit out of my league. Years later, I can't get it out of my head, and I found an opening for the exact track that I wanted on the album, so I figured it was finally time to take this track head on again. After a few false starts (and a few more sleepless nights), this was the result, and I couldn't be happier with it.

Creepy choir against the raw synths set the mood, and when it picks up, it's just full of electronic flavor. I don't know how to classify it, but it was damn satisfying to make. I hope you all enjoy it, and if you didn't listen to Vampire Variations vol. II, be sure to check it out! ;)"

Reason 3, eh? It's BEEN awhile :) I love the combination of delayed, swirling elements here - it strikes me as very Castlevania, but is cleaner & smoother than the original instrumentation. Some bitcrushed/lofi elements add a bit of edge & grunge, lest you think these vampires are afraid to get their hands dirty. Larry writes:

"I love standout Genesis music, and Konami's sound team always got the job done as far as maximizing the YM2612 chip. Michiru Yamane's source tune has the creepy, eerie factor turned up high, and I love it. When the title of it is "The Discolored Wall," the imagery is apparent: Everything's covered in red, there's BLOOD AND GUTS on the walls! OK, so they didn't actually do that for Castlevania: Bloodlines' Stage 3, but the Leaning Tower of Pisa level was scary nonetheless. In particular, how nerve-wracking is Stage 3-7? Climbing those winding platforms with all the scrolling going on can make your head spin, so leave it to Greg to come up with an even more frenetic version of the theme that sounds only slightly less creepy and now a LOT more uncontrollable once it picks up at 1:51. The chip sounds, vox, synths and driving beats all come together to form something downright sinister. It's a testament to Gario that he didn't let that one clutch arrangement idea go undone. What a great reward we got for his determination. Awesome as hell. ;-)"

Ditto all that; I feel like Gario captured a lot about what makes Bloodlines' music so great in particular, and differentiates it from other CV scores. Excellent, spiralling stuff that embraces & embellishes upon the source smartly & with a twisting, churning malevolence!