ReMix:Final Fantasy IX "Terranian Faith" 8:24

Having debuted with a dark vision of Pokémon, Black SeeD now sets their sights on the PS1's final Final Fantasy with their black metal passage through Pandemonium! Enthused by the feedback and success of their OCR debut, Black SeeD returns to reapply their bleak brand of sorrow to more VGM:

"After my last submission getting approved ("A Scent of Lavender"), I decided to submit another song from my album, because reading about the judges' opinion was really interesting for me. I think I'll submit my other songs as well (in two weeks, that's the rule!).

This is the first track of my album of remixed video game tracks in an atmospheric black metal way (you can find the whole album here: https://blackseedbm.bandcamp.com/album/farplane-of-memories). The goal of this track, and the album in general, was to work with songs on which I felt that I could emphasize melancholic themes with my favorite music genre. This time, my goal was to play around with the theme and the chords without giving in the full melody until the end, to enjoy it more when it's finally closing, while avoiding frustration by moving around the arrangement. I also threw in "Janitor of Time" (this track has so many names) as a kind of bridge, again putting off the closing of the melody. As this song was first thought of as an album intro, the intro takes its sweet time before blasting, but I feel it makes sense for this song.

In my album I simply named it "Pandemonium", as it's the first song, giving the album theme. For the submission, I've named it "Terranian Faith".

I hope you'll like it! Thanks a lot!"

"So anyway, I started blastin'." Black metal's not for everyone [/points to self], but damned if we don't take a trip here! :-D The source tunes are gloomy to begin with, thanks in major part to the organ, so if you're one of THOSE people who don't want a happy theme to be dour, that's not what's going here; no matter what you like though, jump in! Judge prophetik music provided insightful play-by-play his vote, sharing his stream of consciousness during this extended ride:

"two similar sources. intro with pads and guitars is nice. the chords have a lot of complexity and passing tones naturally, so it's nice hearing the dissonances highlighted. the arpeggiated guitar parts starting at 0:54 are nice also, continuing to outline the chord structure from the original. the use of pads with a vocal component is also nice since it reflects the organ in the original (and the overall Renaissance music concepts shown throughout the game). at about 2 minutes in, i still have only really heard the melodic content once, which is great patience.

the first big hit at 2:17 is just as fulfilling as expected. it's very heavy down low, as expected from the style, with a big push on the the 100-200hz band which is probably why it feels a little more oppressive than i'd expect. the kick especially is extra boomy, sounds like there's more verb on the entire kit than you may want given the technicality of what the kit's doing.

as one does, we get like a minute straight of blastbeat under the lead guitars playing melodic content. there's a break at 3:41 for some arpeggiated lead parts. this builds back up to 'just' 16th-note double kick but ultimately does start to scale back into a break that lasts until the 5 minute mark - again, impressive patience with the arrangement. the break at 4:35 has a real post-rock feel to it.

at 5:01, we get Garland's theme coming in and the unique chord progression that is that track's hallmark at 5:20. this bangs its way through the chord structure a few times at varying levels of intensity before another break at about 6:24. the instrumentation here is a clear callback to the second minute of the piece, and is a good setup for the last ~1:30 which is intense in parts even considering the rest of the track. there's a real post-rock vibe here especially at about 7:20, with the lead guitar's tone sounding like it's doubled by the earlier synth lead.

i didn't find the overall mastering to be problematic. honestly, i thought this did a great job keeping melodic material clear and able to be recognized, and didn't have the drums so overwhelming that it took over the soundscape. it's certainly noisy and low-mid dominant but not enough for me to vote against it. i notably didn't feel fatigued at the end of 8 minutes of track, of which probably five are audio sausage, so that's pretty impressive all told.

i think that you absolutely achieved your goal here. you wanted a melancholy, broody, intense track, and you accomplished that. nice work."

Definitely an achievement unlocked here, blastbeats and all, which black metal enthusiast Siolfor the Jackal was also on board with when I had him check Black SeeD out. Even with the wall of sound approach during the arrangement's densest areas, fellow judge DarkSim also found time to appreciate the quieter moments:

"The long intro really teases - we get some lovely acoustic guitar with melancholic pads and beautiful chords, and there's a nice bell synth in there as well to augment the melody. The hit and few notes at 2:17 briefly brought to mind "While My Guitar Gently Weeps", but then all thoughts of that slow rock jam were obliterated at 2:45 when the blasting begins!

Mixing is excellent throughout, even during those hard bass drum workouts. Ankles of steel right there. The feel of the track overall is melancholic, urgent, and desperate. It's a pretty intense listen, and at over 8 minutes long, it does require being in the mood for it. If you are, though, you're gonna love it."

Love DarkSim's Beatles comparison re: that transition, a very apt one before the tone changed entirely and began the slow burn towards maximum intensity at 2:45. If you need to be in a certain mood to fully dive into this genre, just don't forget to come back to the light after your stay in the dark! We've also got more metal in the chamber from Black SeeD for the future, but encourage you to experience the full Farplane of Memories album right away!