ReMix:Bloodborne "Undone by the Blood" 5:08

Well-timed mixpost today, as RoeTaKa (Alex Roe) JUST released Night of the Hunt, his second original album inspired by the Bloodborne soundtrack!

Whereas his first Bloodborne-inspired original album, Borne in Blood, was created before the game was even released, this new album was fully influenced by Alex's considerable knowledge of the actual game score. If you're as big a fan of the series' music as he is & you've enjoyed his mixes, you'll definitely wanna check this out! This latest Bloodborne ReMix of his continues his expansive line of dramatic, gothic, & darkly cinematic blends of orchestral & choral work, this time really emphasizing the latter with a lot of mixed groups, male/female tradeoffs, etc., and working in some beautiful organ as well:

"A remix of Gehrman, "The First Hunter." "The First Hunter" instantly became a favourite with everyone and I have to agree, it's a particularly moving piece for a final battle. I found it quite difficult to arrange this because I knew it would be hard to meet the high expectations of Bloodborne fans.

While trying to come up with ideas, one of my YouTube subscribers said I should try arranging it in the Gothic style I had done with my album Borne in Blood. Borne in Blood is an original album of music I made in anticipation of Bloodborne and was completely inspired by the hype and what was shown of it at the time (as well Demon's and Dark Souls). I know the title is a bit silly, but I just wanted people to know from the get-go that this was about Bloodborne. I still get told by people that, even though the game is released, they still think of this album as if it were something official or tied to it in some way which is very humbling and means a great deal to me. I even sent copies of the album to FromSoftware themselves around the time the game released.

Anyway, back to the remix. Shnabubula also gave me an idea that I should try to tie it to Gwyn's theme from Dark Souls and I thought it was a good one. I started it off with piano to reflect that a little as a nod to Gwyn and I thought it would be fun to hear Gwyn in a Bloodborne style later on. Later at 3:14, I used the song, "Gwyn, Lord of Cinder," in the arrangement. It was really fun to hear it in this way and fit nicely since both songs are in 3/4 time. I wanted this song to feel quite big and grand yet still have some of that emotion from the original. I feel like this is one of the most fulfilling songs I've ever done. I hope you enjoy it!"

It's big, it's striking, it's substantial, it's suspenseful... a highlight for me was the choral work, which goes way beyond aahs and oohs (hrrrm... the choir equivalent of "bleeps & bloops"?) and really integrates both male and female singers in a critical & effective fashion. Organ seals the deal on this being decidedly gothic, and while the suspense does build over time, there's a good dynamic contrast and narrative flow that's more than just one big crescendo. At just over five minutes, I agree with Alex's own assessment that he used those minutes well and that this is a very satisfying arrangement. Larry writes:

"Whereas Alex arranged several themes by Ryan Amon the last time he submitted a Bloodborne arrangement, this time Tsukasa Saitoh's music is honored along with a quick reference to Motoi Sakuraba's Dark Souls work as well! Nice job from Alex with this Gothic orchestral piece; in particular, the tension of the string writing is money and was the main aspect of this that grabbed my attention.

Pretty comfortable integration of "Gwyn, Lord of Cinder" for half a minute at 3:14, further proving that Shnabubula has probably never had a bad musical idea in his life. :-) At this section, note the choir part getting more powerful compared to earlier on, adding further dynamic contrast to keep the piece from resting on its laurels, and setting the stage for a strong close.

Whether RoeTaKa's directly arranging Bloodborne or simply inspired by it for original material, his orchestrations are well worth your time. Be sure to show him some love by getting both Borne in Blood and the new Night of the Hunt albums to encourage Alex to keep scratching his FromSoftware music itch!"

This is all true; Alex's arrangements for this series have been stellar, this is another high water mark & an amazing ReMix, and if you've got a hankering for more music in this gorgeous dark & gothic style that he's perfected, his original albums should absolutely be your next step! Highly recommended.