ReMix:Celeste "Al Otro Lado del Espejo" 5:06

ThePlasmas returns with another intense, metal mix for the site, this time courtesy of our friends over at GameGrooves, where this ReMix is part of Over the Summit, a larger tribute album to the superlative Celeste.

Mauricio writes that Celeste is "a very beautiful, awesome, and challenging game. I love the art style, the music, and the very wonderful story... I decided to transform a non-metal song into a very dark one, adding riffs, harmonies, and a straight-to-the-face bass/drum sound." And what a transformation it is – the game's composer Lena Raine shared a few thoughts on this ReMix's shift of genre, writing:

"This rules!! I love the big jam sections with the choir patches. Even though the original track isn't metal, this really captures the emotion & vibe of it in translation."

That translation extends to the emotional affect as well as the genre here in some fascinating ways. The source track, which underscores a sequence in the mirror temple that serves as the fifth chapter of Celeste, finds Madeline is at a low point: "Please get me out of here," she whimpers to herself. Instead of a scared person who doesn't know who they are, this ReMix gives us a vision of a confident Madeline ready to go save her bro, Theo; an army of nightmare fish couldn't stop her with this backing track behind her. Madeline (and the player alongside her) isn't hitting rock-bottom here per se, but climbing up and out of their own internal hall of mirrors. "The Other Side of the Mirror" is a fitting title in translation, representing the culmination of this journey through the self to something more, and shifting one of the game's most emotionally rough tracks into a moment of empowerment.

The judges clearly enjoyed this one as well, with prophetik music noting "this is an aggressive, intense take on a great original track. nice work! i love how in-your-face it is throughout without ever being overwhelming." Similarly, Emunator writes that "'badass' barely feels like a sufficient enough descriptor to cover what you've made here. You've taken perhaps the most unsettling original song in the entire Celeste soundtrack and ramped up the dread to new heights with sludgy guitar riffs and a deep bass tone that evoke the ice-cold heaviness of Deftones... What more is there to say? You done good."

Couldn't agree more here -- this is a fantastic conception of a soundtrack that's become one of the industry's most enduring. I teach the Celeste score to the Michigan State game development students each year, and they're going to get an earful of this affective shift of a ReMix the next time that lecture rolls around.