ReMix:Quake "Slipgate" 4:21

It's taken 19 years, but we've *finally* got a featured ReMix of the original Quake (DOS/WIN), with its dark, intense soundtrack by Trent Reznor! mikedm92 (Michael Markie) follows up his 2017 ReMix of Wolfenstein 3D with a metal/industrial take on the main Quake theme, transitioning into unsettling ambience for the remainder, after an initial volley of shreddage:

"I wanted to take the iconic grungy-industrial soundtrack of Quake and put a modern metal spin on it, with more upfront chugging electric guitar and acoustic drums, while still retaining the dark atmosphere that the soundtrack is known for. I achieved the classic NIN guitar sound in the intro and interlude by removing the guitar cabinet from the equation, leaving the raw amp tone unmolded by the specific frequency shaping that cabinet speakers are known for."

Neat! This arrangement is basically a story in two parts, since the first half or so takes an aggressive, face-melting approach while the second half gives your melted face time to cool down & congeal as you descend into an ambient abyss of darkness. Fun! Sir_NutS sums it up nicely:

"Yep this is pretty good. Fairly close to the source though, Trent's scream of agony included and all, but the rhythmic changes on the guitars and the more developed drums take the original to a different, more modern-sounding path. Still, I wish you didn't follow the structure of the original, even going with the completely atmospheric last section. Some of the arrangement choices remind me of Mick Gordon's Doom OST, with the heavy, coordinated drum hits and guitar chugs."

Agreed on the comparison to Gordon's more recent work for id/Bethesda. This is definitely on the conservative side structurally and I'd love to see Michael break away from that a bit more in future submissions, but damn is it nice having a sleek, modern, & punch-you-in-the-face aggressive update of Reznor's classic Quake theme on OCR!