ReMix:Flowstone Saga "Hanagasumi ~ A Mist of White Upon the Lake" 5:57

Continuing our celebration of Impact Gameworks' release of Flowstone Saga, we have an incredible post-rock exhibition by current judge and collaborator extraordinaire Emunator! Post-rock is a broad genre that Emu's explored quite a bit in recent months, and his continued focus to refine his technique and approach really pays off in this track:

• Emunator: Arrangement, production, programmed guitars (acoustic, tremolo), mixing
• ZackParrish: Guitars (leads, distorted rhythm), electric bass, mastering
• paradiddlesjosh: Drums

Wes gives a breakdown of his song process here:

"I've been beta testing Flowstone Saga for several months at the time of this submission, which has generally meant that I've experienced the first 5 hours of the game about 10 times. I haven't yet made it far enough to hear this song in context, but when I was scanning through the soundtrack, I absolutely fell in love with this piece and immediately knew I had to arrange it. It's magical and emotive in a way that evokes classic JRPG soundtracks like Xenogears, and I couldn't get it out of my head. I asked Andrew if I was too late to get in on the Flowstone Saga arrangement bandwagon, and he told me I had roughly 2 weeks left before the due date. Challenge accepted - nothing motivates me like an impending deadline!

If this were a speedrun, I'd be gold splitting nearly every part of this project. I knew that, after years of toeing the line around this genre, I wanted to go full post-rock on this one, and OceansAndrew set the perfect stage for that to happen. I started off with a skeleton arrangement that I littered with programmed guitars and drums along with my usual ambient synth fare. The arrangement was locked in by day 2, but, in order to really make it convincing, I had to enlist Zack and Josh to bring some live band energy. I shipped off parts after lunch, took a nap, and by the time I woke up a few hours later, I was already receiving recordings from both of them. Absolutely clutch, guys, your work here is impeccable and SO much better than what I could accomplish solo. From there, I spent another 10 hours or so putting layers of polish in the form of synth layers, pads, and one-shot effects all over the track to glue everything together. It all happened so much faster than normal - I really hit my "flow state" on this one. ;)

Regarding the title: in-game, this song is used in a location called Eden Lake, which features a flow-touched sakura tree. In doing some research for potential song names, I came across the Japanese word "hanagasumi", which translates to "hazy curtain of flowers, cherry blossoms appearing from afar like white mist". I couldn't have asked for a better hyper-specific word to capture the overall vibe of this piece, and it helped me come up with the most over-the-top post-rock-ass title I could muster."

The judges were unanimous in heralding this track - with Hemophiliac noting that "[t]here is so much wonder, peacefulness, and romance in this track. This is a total slow-burn build up of dynamics and energy throughout”. I think there's an evocative nature to this track that really stands out. Chimpazilla agrees, saying that "[t]his really super lush and lovely, and showcases the talents of all three artists extremely well. It's a beautiful huge wide-open soundscape that tells a story extremely well.” Couldn't have said it better myself! I found Zack's guitar parts to be reminiscent of OST composer OceansAndrew's guitar work - a fun correlation that speaks to the singing quality of OA's original composition - and Josh's drum work to be the cherry on the top during the big payoff section. Superb work throughout.