ReMix:Dynasty Warriors 3 "Anachronistic Axes" 4:24

Shocked its taken this long, but we've finally got much-deserved coverage from the Dynasty Warriors franchise! Makes total sense it would come from a Dwelling of Duels compo, where guitars reign supreme, as minusworld and friends team up to beef up a trio of tracks from Dynasty Warriors 3!

• minusworld - arrangement, production, guitars, bass, VSTs
• Development of Avoid - guitar solo at 2:59, additional rhythm guitars
• Biggoron - keytar solo at 3:27, keytar leads

We're thankful minusworld's extensive hours playing the series implanted the "Jump into the Battlefield" earworm into his cranium:

"I spent many, many hours farming gate captains in Dynasty Warriors 2 and 3 for stats. As a result, the Hu Lao Gate theme is seared into my brain. When I started submitting to Dwelling of Duels, this song was on my short list to cover when the right DoD theme fit.

The source tune is such a banger that I didn't want to change much. The structure is pretty simple, using the tried-and-true method of turning an ABC game loop into ABC twice, but with solos!

• Intro: Map Theme (aka "Oppression v2")
• Primary source/ABC: Hu Lao Gate (aka "Jump into the Battlefield v2")
• Interlude: original bit + DW3 opening cinematic
• ABC with solos

I always found the juxtaposition of ancient China with 80's rock hilarious, which spawned the title "Anachronistic Axes". In keeping with that title, I wanted this track to be a celebration of the axe! The guitharmonies in the source tunes were already a great bedrock. I added a Mr. Big-style interlude between the ABC parts, invited Development of Avoid for an insane guitar solo, and also invited Biggoron specifically for a keytar solo... since the keytar is axe-shaped. B-) Hope you enjoy!"

minusworld indeed didn't alter the structure of the themes much, just covered them with character, bolstering the interpretation case with the inclusion of multiple themes and through timely solos and expanded part-writing from his collaborators. As the judges panel collectively agreed here, if it ain't broke, don't fix it, just augment it! Hemophiliac sealed the deal:

"Sweet huge guitars! Fantastically MASSIVE double tracked guitars.

As was said previously, this is structurally conservative. However, the usage of multiple sources and solos are great at making this your own interpretation. This definitely could have had more of your own flavors and spices on this, but to me there's just enough arrangement to put this over the bar. The production is clean and all the parts are coming through cleanly.

The 2:11-2:14 stutter transition was great. The transition at 3:27 could have been smoother, but that's like asking for a hot beverage to be even hotter somehow. Again, very excellent and tasteful solos from both guitar and keytar. This brings the axes to the party and everyone has a great time."

Huge respect to DoA & Biggoron for strong performances in their own right, including the soloing sections that nudged the otherwise conservative treatment over the top for personalizing the arrangement approach enough. (Keytar stuff makes me think of Tim Follin's music too. :-D) Ain't nothing negative about minusworld's axe-laden approach! ;-P