ReMix:Dark Souls "The Fall of Artorias" 5:09

By RoeTaKa

Arranging the music of 4 songs...

"Gwynevere, Princess of Sunlight", "Knight Artorias", "Nameless Song", "Seath the Scaleless"

Primary Game: Dark Souls (Namco Bandai Games , 2011, PS3), music by Motoi Sakuraba

Posted 2015-02-13, evaluated by the judges panel


Alex has been chewing bubblegum, running out of it, and proceeding to repeatedly kick ass after his return last November from a seven-year hiatus; I don't know where he went for those seven years (Tibet?), but I like to imagine a stirring narrative in which he traveled across multiple continents on foot, made friends with the local peoples & explored their rich cultures, and came to know himself better both musically AND as a man. In reality he was probably, you know, just... doin' other stuff... but my version sounds cooler, and at any rate his new musical presence is a force to be reckoned with. His preceding arrangement of Demon's Souls was not only his strongest work to date, by my reckoning, but also a mix I'll be revisiting for years to come and which stands out among thousands for its dramatic & striking atmosphere. He returns to that franchise with another dark, orchestral arrangement, this time from the sequel:

"This arrangement is about the great Artorias and his companion Sif who journey to the Abyss, and inevitably Artorias is consumed by it. I had some ideas about a story, but I wanted it to be a bit vague like the game itself, something for you to imagine.

Note: On the OST, "Moonlight Butterfly" is titled "Seath the Scaleless" and Sif is titled "Gwynevere, Princess of Sunlight" for some reason. "Knight Artorias" is not on the official OST as it was part of the DLC Artorias of the Abyss.

Sources:
0:00-0:50 - Moonlight Butterfly (Seath the Scaleless)
0:50-1:36 - Knight Artorias
1:43-2:30 - Sif, the Great Grey Wolf (Gwynevere, Princess of Sunlight)
2:40-3:20 - Knight Artorias
3:27-3:48 - Sif, the Great Grey Wolf (Gwynevere, Princess of Sunlight)
4:30-5:12 - Nameless Song"

Redg writes:

"Love it. The melding of themes works very well. I enjoyed the narrative. You've done good work with these samples. There is a great sense of space & fullness + subtlety in articulation throughout."

DragonAvenger adds:

"Yeah, I'm hearing a good amount of source myself. I definitely think this one is good to go. Love that Alex kept the overall ominous tone of the originals here; really suits the pieces well. Alex also did a great job making this come together without being noticeably medley-itis. To me, those are the best medleys! Production is solid, with a lot of nice layering between strings and choir elements and piano. Nice work!"

Really wide soundscape; right from the opening chords and pauses, the tone is set, and as piano, harpsichord, oboe, church bells, and additional instrumentation & articulations are brought in, the mix opens up and breaths even more. Wolf howl... well, not 100% sold on it, to be honest, given the otherwise classical instrumentation, but it's a nitpick. Choral components figure more prominently in the mid-section, and there's a nice build & progression that evokes the ascension of a grand tower. The last two minutes are almost more like denouement & epilogue, as things are generally calmer and more resolved. As Alex mentions, there's a narrative here, but it doesn't hit you over the head; it's classy, it's subtle, and it's transporting. Another fantastic mix from RoeTaKa, who didn't just come back with one or two mixes, but an armada of music which has thus far been refreshing, exhilarating, and much enjoyed!

djpretzel

Discussion

Latest 5 comments/reviews; view the complete thread or post your own.
avatar
Chernabogue
on 2015-12-03 02:42:51

The start sounds more ominous than it is for Alex's other DS remixes. This one is more cinematic and sounds more powerful -- yet you can still feel the tragic emotion within the remix. I'll agree with Eino on the fact the choir sounds a little MIDI-ish (in terms of arrangement, not samples), but it's far from being a problem. The harpischord is a very nice addition -- the remix sounds like a baroque/waltz piece during some parts. Really nice work. :)

avatar
Crulex
on 2015-02-16 13:23:58

This has a royal medieval darkness about it that I would expect from sources called "Knight Artorias" and "Gwynevere", and it's backed up more so by the bells and the choir, which sounds amazing for this arrangement.

avatar
evktalo
on 2015-02-14 06:48:11

Strong and evocative arrangement. I wasn't as convinced of the choir as the rest of it; it sounded the most "sample-y" part to me, plus I kind of didn't feel like it was "necessary" to bring the choir in just for the few ahs, felt a bit like autopilot grandeur if that makes sense.. but it didn't matter much in the scope of the whole song.

The different parts were interestingly quite separate from each other (especially in the beginning), but since the direction the music was taking (the narrative, I suppose) was consistent, it all fit together really well. :nicework:

avatar
MusicHunter
on 2015-02-13 15:32:07

Geez this song is ominous and dark and full of fear for the one they call artorias but i love it. it makes me scared of facing him all over again and again and again.

avatar
Liontamer
on 2015-02-13 10:32:13

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

Sources Arranged (4 Songs)


Primary Game:
Dark Souls (Namco Bandai Games , 2011, PS3)
Music by Motoi Sakuraba
Songs:
"Gwynevere, Princess of Sunlight"
"Knight Artorias"
"Nameless Song"
"Seath the Scaleless"

Tags (10)


Genre:
Cinematic,Symphonic
Mood:
Dark,Solemn
Instrumentation:
Brass,Choir,Harpsichord,Oboe,Orchestral,Strings
Additional:

File Information


Name:
Dark_Souls_The_Fall_of_Artorias_OC_ReMix.mp3
Size:
8,247,569 bytes
MD5:
13b1b268859e543054dc6688ad84ffc9
Bitrate:
211Kbps
Duration:
5:09

Promotion

8-bit Jazz Heroes - Press Start
View All

Latest Albums

View All

Latest ReMixes