ReMix:Metroid Prime 2: Echoes "Enantiodromia" 6:44

Newcomers The Respawn Collective (Apollyon, Yargami, and NuPharazon) send us a gargantuan, dark, cinematic/industrial arrangement of Metroid Prime 2 & 3, Metroid, Ocarina of Time, and a bit of the original Zelda. The sound design & variety in this mix are pretty mindblowing, and they also provided one of the most comprehensive submission emails I've seen:

"Arranged by Apollyon and Yargami, with vital arrangement and production feedback from NuPharazon

Sources:

• Hirokazu Tanaka - "Title" (Metroid)
• Kenji Yamamoto - "Darkness ~ VS. Dark Samus" (Metroid Prime 2: Echoes)
• Koji Kondo - "Middle Boss Battle" (The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time)
• Kenji Yamamoto - "VS. Dark Samus" (Metroid Prime 3: Corruption)
• Koji Kondo - "Title" (The Legend of Zelda)

Source usage:

• 0:07-0:53 - Metroid title theme, subtle "Dark Samus" noise elements
• 0:53-1:09 - Metroid title theme, "Dark Samus" melody
• 1:09-1:24 - "Dark Samus" melody
• 1:24-1:39 - "Dark Samus" melody, OoT miniboss melody A, MP2 "Dark Samus" percussion*
• 1:39-1:55 - Metroid title theme, "Dark Samus" melody, MP3 "Dark Samus" ostinato
• 1:55-2:25 - Legend of Zelda title theme
• 2:25-2:29 - MP2 "Dark Samus" opening
• 2:29-2:37 - OoT miniboss ostinato, "Dark Samus" noise elements
• 2:37-2:56 - OoT miniboss ostinato, probably inaudible MP3 "Dark Samus" ostinato
• 2:56-3:42 - OoT miniboss theme, minor "Dark Samus" noise elements
• 3:42-3:58 - "Dark Samus" melody/noise (also in bassline), Metroid title theme/not "Hazy Maze Cave"
• 3:58-4:05 - "Dark Samus" melody/noise, OoT miniboss melody A/ostinato
• 4:05-4:28 - MP3 "Dark Samus" strings/choir, MP2 "Dark Samus" guitar solo/intermittent alarms
• 4:28-4:44 - "Dark Samus" melody/harmonies, OoT miniboss melody A/ostinato
• 4:44-4:59 - "Dark Samus" melody/ostinato/noise, OoT miniboss melody B
• 4:59-5:07 - Metroid title theme, OoT miniboss ostinato
• 5:07-5:22 - Metroid title ostinato, OoT miniboss melodies A and B, subtle "Dark Samus" melody
• 5:22-5:53 - Metroid title melody/ostinato, indecisive "Dark Samus" melody can't stick with one key
• 5:53-6:24 - Metroid title ostinato, "Dark Samus" melody/ostinato/guitar/noise, OoT melodies/ostinato
• 6:24-6:39 - Metroid title ostinato and drone, "Dark Samus" white noise thing

* The vaguely chromatic high-resonance percussion from Metroid Prime 2's "Dark Samus" theme is in most of the song after this point, so I've omitted mentioning it in subsequent timestamps for reasons of redundancy.

Apollyon: First off, I apologize for the length of this submission email, but it seems logical for the judging panel to be privy to the rationale behind the various musical decisions and less obvious design elements. I tend to overthink things.

Right, starting at the beginning. After Yargami, the youngest member of the Respawn Collective and our most active gamer, discovered that Samus and Link had Dark Samus and Dark Link color schemes in the fourth Smash Bros. game, he informed me that we needed to have a duel between the two (which we still haven't gotten around to). As I started to compile a playlist, he humorously pointed out that their themes could almost fit over the top of each other (and, as we later discovered, are both at 125 BPM), and I took him... slightly too seriously. This has been a collaboration between the two of us, since NuPharazon (the third member of the Collective) had a heavy workload at the time, although she has subsequently provided valuable feedback on how to make the concept more accessible without compromising the various noise elements that form an integral part of the Metroid Prime vibe, as well a consistent demand for the guitar solo at 4:06 to stand out from the otherwise basically atonal section (her favorite part of both this ReMix and the original song).

The title of the ReMix refers to the Jungian concept of opposing an concept or group with such ferocity that one begins to unintentionally adopt its qualities as a sort of emergent "shadow" (not dissimilar to Nietzsche's "he who fights monsters" concept, in some ways). On a superficial level, this could describe both bosses' unusual (for their respective series) tendencies to analyze your attack pattern and use it against you, but it somewhat literally describes the titular Metroid Prime's repurposing of its archnemesis' armor at the end of the first game and Samus's gradual metamorphosis into a Dark Samus clone in the third. Additionally, the better-known Jungian concept of the shadow fits Dark Samus's status as an inexorable Chozo-tech-wielding hunter who specializes in planetary-scale genocide (a description easily leveled at Metroid's protagonist), as well as Dark Link's apparent physical derivation from Link himself (reading between the lines a bit there -- the Zelda series isn't generally known for its in-depth explanations, apart from the timeline they released a few years back).

Since the NES Metroid and Jean-Michel Jarre's Rendez-Vous came out around the same time and both started with big, spacey drone notes, I had a strong childhood association between the two (an impression I evidently shared with the modern series' composers, considering how much influence Jarre seems to have had on Yamamoto's Metroid Prime work), so I wanted the opening Metroid title part of the ReMix to have that same space-music vibe, albeit updated for modern tech. Thus, the drones at the beginning are loosely inspired by the opening notes of Rendez-Vous, one of the more shimmery synth choirs has similarities to an instrument from Équinoxe, and one of the pads is somewhat reminiscient of the phased Eminent 310 Unique from Oxygène, although it's mixed with enough other soundscaping that it's probably not noticeable unless you're specifically listening for it.

As for the actual workflow, I put down a sort of space music/industrial noise music foundation, then Yargami crafted a number of unique melodic textures to cut through all the ambient soundscaping I'd inevitably be doing... and also snuck in a bouncy synth bass that veered the song abruptly into DnB territory, which has ultimately made the end product less excessively ponderous and a lot more fun than my initial conception of it. Based on those elements, I did the overall arrangement, noise elements, and general production, during which time the song divided into separate movements and became a great deal longer than we intended. The minor-key NES Metroid part starting about five minutes into the song, in particular, I included as a joke because we had already mutilated the NES Zelda title theme earlier, but Yargami insisted that we leave it in. I suppose that's appropriate payback for my roping him into a huge ReMix he only facetiously proposed in the first place.

On a final note, I'm not sure if there's a specific process for deciding where to list ReMixes with sources from multiple games, but if artist intent is a factor, we recommend putting this one under Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, since most of its general vibe and a significant percentage of its musical content hails from that game. Thanks for your time, and we hope you enjoyed the music."

I don't even; I laughed, I cried, and I learned a little about life. Joking aside, it's not every day a mix title teaches me a new psychological term, or a group of kindred spirits channel Jung & Jarre together w/ Yamamoto, Kondo, & Tanaka. If this mix were nothing more than six minutes of flatulence, I would STILL be pretty damn impressed with this submission email, though obviously it would take on a newly comedic dimension. Far from it, though, as the triad deliver 6+ minutes of conceptual, Nintendo-lore cinematic sonic journey, with some especially-compelling ambient textures & suspense upfront, ceding to something a bit more cyberpunk as things develop. High-fives to all involved, both for making a gripping, completely unique arrangement that tells a story through its juxtaposition of themes, and then for explaining the work so eloquently & thoroughly; judges were unanimous, with prophetik music enthusing:

"there is some really expressive ambiance in the beginning of this track. i was so digging the vibe and energy that you built, and then suddenly you've got 1:55 which is so well handled. what an incredible transition. all of these transitions are so well done. i'm normally super leery of medleys with a ton of tracks because they usually don't lend themselves to real exploration, but you found ways to subvert my expectations of each theme's usage. i particularly liked the consistent usage of 'corrupted' versions of the themes to keep my ears active in a track featuring many varied styles. bravo. this is an easy vote for me."

Nothing wrong with easy votes; to clarify, the artists could have written the bare minimum in their comments and this would still have passed the panel & I'd still be thrilled to post it, but I really did enjoy reading about the track's backstory & having all the detail that was provided; kudos. Distinct, memorable, and rather awesome debut from Respawn Collective - would love to hear more!