ReMix:Battletoads "Arctic Mayhem" 5:35

It's been eight years since our last Battletoads (NES) mix, and Black Ace (Alexey Bakhmetyev) is here to end the amphibious drought with a ginormous d'n'b/chip EDM arrangement of David Wise's "Ice Cavern":

"My remix of "Ice Cavern" theme from Battletoads NES game. Hope you enjoy it.

Второй раз я рисую трек на зимнюю тему и второй раз - это происходит в разгар лета!

Снова я издеваюсь над боевыми лягушками, и снова - в друндубасовом стиле, не забывая при этом про гитарное рубилово! Получилось весело и задорно! Редкий случай, когда трек мне (почти) нравится! Посмотрим, понравится ли он кому-то ещё."

For fun, Google translate offers the following:

"The second time I draw a track on a winter theme and the second time - it happens in the midst of summer!

Again I mock war frogs, and again - in the Drundubas style, without forgetting about the chopped-up guitar! It turned out fun and provocatively! A rare case when I (almost) like the track! Let's see if someone else will like it."

Why play Battletoads when you can mock war frogs? :) And for that matter, drumandbass is over, and drundubas is definitely the new hotness. We know what Alexey meant, and I certainly dig the track - it's got the insane, over-the-top production & unbridled energy of past Black Ace productions, and gets playful with the transitions between d'n'b & chip bits. Rexy evaluated, and digs it as well:

"Just by the Angels with Even Filthier Souls sample at the beginning, it's made me wonder how we didn't consider it for posting last December - but I digress. Alexey's wild DnB romp through an equally cool Battletoads source demonstrates his continued exploration of different EDM sub-genres, even though this was initially released on his social media four years ago. It still has strong production values, surely. There's a clean mixdown, a palette that feels like Pendulum crossed over with Anamanaguchi if we're looking for similar instrument choices, a beefy selection of guitar tones with subtle articulation work, and careful use of effects to glue everything together. It's a more straightforward affair, but the sub-genre called for it and allowed the subtleties to slip on like a glove.

The arrangement, however, did call clutch on source use. By stopwatching usage of the melody, I sensed that it barely consumed 50% of the track - enough to consider it dominant. Others may add the use of chord structures on top of it, but regardless, it still has some well-shaped framework throughout. The builds and breakdowns are well placed, the guitar solo at 3:13 is a refreshing change of pace, the genre adaptation is safe yet appropriate, and there's a lot of detail going into varying the drum work - such an integral part of DnB. Despite the risky source usage, it works as a complete package, shows another side to Alexey's arrangement prowess, and makes me wonder what other kinds of directions he'd explore in the future - I'm excited!"

I as well, for more drundubas or whatever else Alexey conjures up, really - he's got a flair for maximalist, high-energy EDM & tackling some compelling, lesser-mixed sources, and that formula has again resulted in fantastic work; enjoy!