-
What’s in a Curse?
What's in a Curse?(Castlevania 3: Dracula’s Curse)So. Another three years, and another VG arrangement. A pattern is starting to emerge… Also, Dwelling of Duels again.
I feel like this my best work to date. What do you think?
-
Omnis Brutalis Lacrima
dwelling of duels, ffxv, final fantasy, final fantasy 15, final fantasy xv, melodic, metal, symphonicOmnis Brutalis Lacrima(Final Fantasy XV)So, it turns out that I entered DoD once again. And once again it’s been about three years since last time… Maybe I should do this more often. Who knows. What we do know, at least, is this: this song is done and it is here. We also know, that out of eight entries I placed third.
I had just recently played Final Fantasy XV (finished it in early February 2020), so this DoD theme of Yoko Shimomura was pretty appropriate timing-wise. Not many songs in the game that I really even considered arranging, but of the two I considered seriously I decided to give myself a bit of a challenge with this one (OMNIS LACRIMA). And personally, I think I did just fine. But then again, I may be biased.
As far as styles go, this is pretty straightforward “drums, guitars, bass” style metal, although with some string and brass stuff thrown in. It’s in the background though, so you probably won’t really notice or pay attention to it.
-
Oh, Books
Oh, Books(Castlevania: Symphony of the Night)So I entered DoD again, for the first time in years. Apparently it’s been three years. This time the theme was Symphony of the Night. Originally I thought about doing Wandering Ghosts but decided Wood Carving Partita would suit my style better. Out of 10 entries, I placed third.
Also I thought of entering only a few days before the deadline, so I was in a rush to finish the song. I thought I’d go back and add some synth stuff and change some lead guitar stuff to make it a bit more varied, but that didn’t happen. I decided it would be better to just think of this one as finished and move on to new songs. So this is the same version as DoD saw.
-
HOOOOO!!
HOOOOO!!(The King of Dragons)My entry for the beat ’em up month at Dwelling of Duels. This was actually a request made by a friend some time ago, and now was a perfect time to do it. I lost the MIDI data for the drums while working on the song, so I was only left with what was supposed to be a temporary stereo mixdown. Would have probably made some changes to drums otherwise. But oh well. Might even be for the better.
-
Terror Land
Terror Land(Mario Party 2)My entry for Dwelling of Duels’ brevity month. Songs had to be shorter than 60 seconds. Mario Party 2. Death metal. Carnival.
-
Fire Still Burns in My Frozen Heart
Fire Still Burns in My Frozen Heart(Ys III: Wanderers from Ys)Made this for the free MAGmonth DoD (december 2013, results were out early january 2014). Wanted to make something shorter, simpler, something that is not a medley. Just one song. This is what happened.
-
Mastering the Blaster
Mastering the Blaster(Blaster Master)So, a Blaster Master medley. Took part in the Dwelling of Duels Blaster Master month (November 2013) with this, and placed first. I purposefully left out Area 1 (way overdone) and Areas 5 and 8 (didn’t like ’em!).
-
Brain Shuffle
Brain Shuffle(Final Fantasy V, Metal Gear, Lufia 2, Super Street Fighter 2, Mega Man 2, Castlevania 3)Heyyyy another multi-game medley! This one includes music from the games listed above, obviously. Took part in the Dwelling of Duels 10th year anniversary month with this, and got 7th place (out of 53). I tweaked the mixing for this version, so it’s not quite the same as the DoD version.
-
Justice Ninja
Justice Ninja(Ninja-kun: Ashura No Sho)Originally my entry to May 2006 DoD (placed 9th). Features Dennis of Dissolution doing bass, and half of the guitar solos.
I actually did a re-make of this song in 2013, which is what you’re hearing here. Can’t remember exactly why, but I guess it was for posting on YouTube. Recorded new vocals, changed drum samples, and messed with the mixing. So guitar and bass performances, and drum programming are the same as in 2006.
If you really want, you can check out the original version, and an instrumental version of the same in the Treasury.
Lyrics!
The moon shines bright
On me tonight
As I run through a plain
In the night
You can try to run
You can try to hide
But I will find you and it
Will be your endPRE-CHORUS:
I am on a mission
For the Justice Division
Brace yourself!
Your time it is now!
Die! In the name of all that’s good
Evil shall be vanquished
Operating in secrecyCHORUS:
Out of nowhere I strike
Filling evil hearts with fright
Punishment goes where it is due…
Oh, I’m coming for you!
If your mind is not right
Silent death awaits you in the night
Justice Ninja will cut you downHow you live
Is up to you
But you should
Always be nice
Who you are
I do not care
If you do evil
You’d better beware!PRE-CHORUS
CHORUS x2
-
Quite the Adventure
Quite the Adventure(Final Fantasy Adventure)Entered June 2013 DoD (free month) with this one. My first DoD in years maybe. Got third place. Which was fine. The song is indeed what the title claims, quite the adventure.
-
Noble Creature of Snow
Noble Creature of Snow(Mega Man X3)I did this one for an OCR disk covering the music of the Mega Man X series. Originally done in 2010(!), it was only released two years after because it was such a big project overall. Anyway, releasing this now a year after that on my own site. You can check out the whole disk here.
-
Zanarkander
Zanarkander(Final Fantasy X)My PUNCHFEST entry from last night. Raped “At Zanarkand” for Demonstray. And that’s pretty much it. Besides learning the song beforehand, I spent 3.5 hours on this.
-
Fortress of Doom
Fortress of Doom(Lufia & the Fortress of Doom)My first ever PUNCHFEST entry. For PUNCHFEST X, held July 3rd.
This is a revised version, however, and not the one I had in the PUNCHFEST. I made some changes in the drums mostly, re-recorded some guitars that bothered me. Stuff like that. There’s still stuff to fix that I’m not going to fix, so here it is. Enjoy!
-
Fire And Stuff
Fire And Stuff(Lords of Thunder)My cover/arrangement of the Llamarada theme from the game Lords of Thunder. Nice game and it has a kickass soundtrack too. Unfortunately the mixing is pretty bad, and then so… ansgaros to the rescue! Well, it’s not a 1:1 cover by any means, I gave it my own flavor I do believe, but enjoy anyway! It’s mostly a pretty straightforward cover. It was named by a friend.
Made for the June 2010 duel at Dwelling of Duels.
There is a video of me playing this song on YouTube.
-
Cradel of Forest
Cradel of Forest(Silent Hill 4)Like it says, this one’s actually a re-mixed version. The original sounds so very bad. As the story goes, someone wanted to make Rock Band charts for this song and asked for separate tracks. I didn’t feel comfortable giving them the original mix, so I re-did the mixing and mastering. And that’s pretty much it. Sounds a lot better than the 2006 original though.
When I first heard the Silent Hill 4 OST I said to myself: “I’m going to make a power metal cover of this song! …..one day.” Then, 18 months later, when I saw that this month’s (September 2006) theme at DoD was Silent Hill I knew what had to be done. And did it. With this song I also secured my first DoD win!
The original mix can be found in the Treasury section though, if you really want to hear it.
-
A New Dawn
A New Dawn(Ys I: Ancient Ys Vanished)My proper entry for the Ys DoD. Turned out just fine in my opinion.
Man, I really should write these writeup things right after I finish the songs, when I still have something to say about them (see below for another example)…
Amazing guitarist, VG music arranger, and general musician-at-home!
Amazing guitarist, VG music arranger, and general musician-at-home!