ReMix:Chrono Cross "Hydra Shadow" 3:09

Rebecca E. Tripp sends us an exotic, suspenseful ambient/world/orchestral arrangement of "Swamp of the Hydra," from Chrono Cross:

"This is my contribution to the GameLark album At the End of Time: A Tribute to Chrono Cross & Chrono Trigger. I highly recommend checking it out!

"Hydra's Swamp" was my original favourite track in Chrono Cross! Something about it utterly mesmerized me and it took me nearly 10 years (since I started doing game remixes in general) to feel confident enough to tackle this gem. It's an otherworldly piece which blends genres flawlessly and I can only hope I did it justice with this (hopefully) organic-sounding world/orchestral arrangement."

I dig the didgeridoo-fade conclusion, and the mix of instrumentation is nice in general, with a deep woodwind roster, articulate hand percussion, ominous brass & string ensemble parts, and more. The chromatic turns & more sinister, serpentine nature of the melodic line make this something different from much of Rebecca's usual work/focus, as Sir_NutS writes:

"This is up to Rebecca's usual production standards so that's good, however, this one feels pretty different from her other works due to the unique instrumentation. There's more of an exotic adventure feel with this one than the usual soft and dreamy mood we get from her arrangements, and I think that's great! The arrangement as a whole works well and I enjoyed the change of scenery."

prophetik music did have some insightful critiques - perhaps chief among them the relatively conservative nature of the arrangement and a few spots where sample quality/believability was strained - but was sold in the end due to a specific bit:

"i absolutely love 1:29's three-against-two section. playing with time in a chrono cross remix is such a great example of using the source context to inform the remix, and to be honest listening to this part is what made me know that this was gonna be an OCR. it is instrumented perfectly, combining plectral and winds in such an expressive way."

Yes, and yes. Brad's other comments did raise some legitimate concerns, worthy of consideration & heeding in the future, but the panel was ultimately unanimous & transported by the hypnotizing, rich tapestry of interwoven instruments & ideas; good stuff!