ReMix:Killer Instinct "Dawn of the Instinct" 3:34

Stranger Things meets Law & Order in this slick, gritty, cinematic + synthwave take on Killer Instinct, from Paul Hadame. This is Paul's third featured mix, following up from DKC3 back in 2015 and a DKC1 sequel in 2016. Great to see more music, and the vibe continues to favor large, expansive soundscapes & ambient elements. This reminds me at times of the Streets of Rage intro music, which in turn reminds me of Law & Order, and then whenever I hear a pulsing analog bass of a certain tempo, it does tend to conjure the Stranger Things intro, however generally. Beyond those aesthetic reference points, Paul's laid down a larger, more ambient world for the KI source to inhabit; Rexy notes some of the changes:

"I'm down for the direction you took the framework. It's got some gorgeous textures, effective use of reverb to give it a hint of a post-rock vibe, and that wet guitar feels surprisingly lush despite the risky ambiance in play. The source material is also clearly there, but the track only uses the pads and melody from it, and they worked well to contribute to this spacious soundscape.

...As for interpretation, there is plenty of it going on via the other instruments with the added original guitar melodies, filtered arpeggios, and other additional pads on top of the source representation."

As a sidenote, ReMixer, composer, & sound mangler extraordinaire N-JekteD (Mick Gordon) went on to score both the Doom reboot AND the Killer Instinct reboot with some truly blistering sound design & energy - small world! The guitar here is deliciously synthetic, and the whole initial intro - up until the ingame vox sample at least - definitely conjures some hard-boiled true-crime teledrama, albeit of a more futuristic variety, at least for me. The fadeout ending is a bit of a bummer; the material itself doesn't facilitate it, but in addition the fade curve is a little abrupt, sounding more linear instead of exponential. prophetik music adds:

"i think that this is a great example of how to take a song and do almost the same thing, but not quite. i appreciated the fx clips and the consistent dynamic contrast that was presented throughout, and the space that's been allowed to exist really gives a great backdrop for when the rest of the mix is going. i also really like the attention paid to the lead to keep it interesting and varied."

Roger all that; no one was feeling the ending, but everything else is large & in charge, giving "The Instinct" a synthwave/cinematic makeover of sorts, for increased gravitas & impact. More great work from Paul; enjoy!