ReMix:Final Fantasy VI "Toxic" 3:26

A hearty welcome & congratulations to our THREE NEW JUDGES!!

Returning judge panel veterans Beatdrop (Dain Olsen) & Jivemaster (Joel Bird) join newcomer Redg (Brent Wollman) as part of a three-man JUSTICE TEAM that should help us cut through the queue more aggressively. We just posted a couple great mixes from Brent, and of course Joel had his Green Hill Sessions release on Overclocked Records, so to celebrate we've got Dain's late-breaking addition to Balance and Ruin. The story here is that B&R was pretty far along in development, and no one had taken "The Unforgiven," so we decided to see if we could get a last-minute addition to make the album more complete. Dain came through big time, with a hard-hitting electro/dubstep jam:

"Here's what I managed to come up with. Definitely not the easiest song to remix, given its content and repetitive nature, but I gave it my best effort."

Agreed that this is one of the harder sources on an otherwise quite approachable OST; really glad Beatdrop stepped up to the plate and that we could feature his work on the album. Palpable writes:

"Great stuff as usual, Dain. This was one of my favorites from the album. Keep rockin' my socks!"

Larry had a bit more to say:

"Dain moved away from the dramatic 5/4 tension of the original, shifting things to 4/4 while giving "The Unforgiven" a totally different energy thanks to dirty synths, beefy beats, and a more deliberate tempo. There's never a dull moment, as this one's full of great transitions including some pairs (e.g. :29 & :33, 1:09, 1:42, 2:48 & 2:52) that kept the track moving and mutating. My personal favorite section was the track coalescing around the 8-bit-style chiptune lead at 1:49. The wind-down, filtered ending at 2:55 was money too.

It's been great to have Dain back in the community, and it's an honor to finally work with him on the judges panel. I was actually Dain's replacement back when I joined in 2004, so for me it feels like circumstances came full circle. Along with Jivemaster also returning to the panel after more than a decade away AND Redg joining as our new blood, I'm really excited for the knowledge and perspectives on the panel. And finally a thinning inbox... ;-)"

Definitely a good call to 4/4 up the time sig & go with some really nice texture swapouts on the lead & bass synths, which grind, grate, & buzz in all manner of musical, infectious fashion. This is a good example of tackling a tougher source through brute force genre adaptation coupled with technical know-how, offerin' up a heapin' helpin' of in-your-face textures that do a good job compensating for the lack of a clean, memorable melodic hook. Smart approach, block-rockin' execution, and overall a fun, four-on-the-floor, instant-gratification EDM addition to Balance and Ruin! Congrats to Dain on the mixpost and congrats to Dain, Joel, and Brent on joining the judges panel - if you see 'em, make sure you pass on some props & encouragement!