ReMix:Flashback "Flashback from the Future" 4:01

Our resident Greek freak, 7DD9, returns with his sophomore ReMix, following up his diabolical Diablo debut by honoring another 90s classic, Flashback! Originally released for the Commodore Amiga, Flashback's main theme has always been a VGM banger, which 7DD9 tributed as part of the multiartist album The Holocube:

""Flashback from the Future" is a cover from the iconic and legendary cyberpunk game "Flashback" which was released in 1992 for the Amiga, re-written and remixed with synthesizers.

The soundtrack was written by Jean Baudlot, who sadly passed away in March 2021.

I approached the game soundtrack gently and with the respect it deserves on today's standards, as this game was (is) one of the best cyberpunk/sci-fi/dystopian games that I ever played and it brings many memories from my teenage years.

You can find more different versions and re-imagine of the original score on The Holocube (Flashback 30th Anniversary) compilation."

I enjoyed the addition of the belltones at 1:10 to vary up the feel, followed by some low-key countermelodic writing added at 1:33, another strong and creative touch to offer dynamic contrast. Judge prophetik music play-by-played things more in-depth:

"opens with a distant beat and some delayed arps. [...] the beat hits at 0:24 and is very synthwavey, with sidechained bass and some detuned leads. the initial presentation of the melodic elements are pretty straightforward. the fm lead that comes in around 1:10 is stylistically right in the pocket so that was neat. there's some nice glassy arps that come in later as well that i thought fit well.

there's a bit of a drop at 1:58 that brings in some nice wide pads as a contrasting element, and that functions well as a break. 2:21 brings back the kick and bass riff, and it starts to build back up again. when it comes back in at 2:44, this is to my ears the same as 0:24 exactly, and the subsequent section with the melodic lead is the same also until 3:27. there's a bit of a shift here to bring back the fm lead with some modulation on it, and that functions as an outro.

this is overall a pretty straightforward representation of the middle. [...] i like the slightly slower beat as the track settles into a groove right away and stays in it, and i think the variety of synths used was a positive."

7DD9 did stay melodically close as he mentioned, yet there's enough expansive writing and genre transformation involved to respectfully stand apart from Baudlot and Visserot. There's nothing wrong with working within a narrower dynamic curve as long as the arrangement is interpretive and substantive, so nice job to 7DD9 on the subtle, expansive development of this enduring, mood-setting theme. :-)