BadAss: Boss Themes: Volume III Comments from album director Pieter van Os (pu_freak), assistant director Alexandre Mourey (Chernabogue), mastering engineer Truong-Son Nguyen (timaeus222) & ReMixers Album freely available at http://badass3.ocremix.org Welcome to the beginning of the end! BadAss 3 is the final boss of the boss themes albums, so to say. Like the previous volumes, BadAss 3 consists of awesome renditions of various boss themes, from popular series such as Final Fantasy to more obscure games like Vectorman and Wild Guns. But make no mistake: this is not not BadAss 1 or 2. As with a good trilogy, the first one is to introduce people to the concept and vibe, the second part is the meanest and darkest one and the final entry is the epic finale. In Boss terms: BadAss 1 were the level bosses, BadAss 2 is the mean, tough-as-nails general you will have to defeat before you take take on the final mastermind: BadAss 3. This is also reflected in the vibe of the albums. BadAss 1 had general evil-sounding boss remixes, BadAss 2 had more of a focus on meaner, darker and grittier mixes, while this volume has epic orchestral rock or creepy mind-twisting remixes. This album won't punch you in the face with the raw power than Volume 2 had, but rather attack you mentally, by conquering your soul with bombastic powerful songs and driving you insane with the twisted ones. You WILL feel evil after listening to this. Find you inner Darth Vader or your inner Dexter and enjoy the epic conclusion of the (first?) BadAss trilogy! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- And there it is, the final entry to the BadAss trilogy. After being assistant director of the first two volumes, I was now taking the helm as project director with Alex (Chernabogue) as my trusted assistant. Since I became the assistant director for BadAss 1 (after already being a ReMixer when it was still called Crescendo to Chaos under different management), I never stopped working for BadAss. The preparations for volume 2 started just before the first volume was released, and this volume was also being worked on before the release of BadAss 2. In other words, I've been busy with directing BadAss since May 2009 (and involved as a ReMixer since May 2006); it's been a part of my life for quite some time. Of course, I wouldn't be doing this if I didn't enjoy it as much as I did! This time around, I wanted to change the genre and feel of the album a bit while still keeping it in line with expectations for a boss themes album, just like David L. Puga (director of BadAss: Volumes 1 and 2) did with volume 2. As I described it in the project thread at the OverClocked ReMix project forum: "Instead of gritty and mean as with BA2, Volume 3 will be more adrenaline-pumping, epic, and twisted. People should feel dark and evil when listening to this album. This could be done with epic and bombastic songs, but also with really creepy or twisted songs. This means more orchestral influences (such as low choirs or strings) or more dissonance/eerie arrangements." And, man, did the artists deliver! - Pieter van Os (pu_freak) I participated to the two first volumes of BadAss (one track on volume I, and the trailer for volume II), so I knew I had to do something for BA3. Pieter contacted me at the end of BA2 to help him finish the trilogy, and it was a true honor to co-direct another OCR album, with such a great team of remixers and staff members. This album also contains three new tracks from me, the biggest number I've done for any album yet! Thanks a lot to Pieter (pu_freak), Eino (evktalo), and Tim (timaeus222), plus to all the artists that participated. We are BadAss! - Alexandre Mourey (Chernabogue) When it came time for BadAss 3 to roll around, knowing it was going to be the last volume, I realized I had to really help it go out with a bang. Since it was the last volume, to me, it had to be as perfect as it can be. Seeing as how the theme was to be accomplished with epic, bombastic, creepy, or twisted atmospheres, I figured the production should also be pretty aggressive (usually), and that's where I come in. I was the mastering engineer for this album, first and foremost, but I was also willing to do the mixing for some people as well, so thank you to the people who were patient with me while I worked to mix their tracks both in the way that I would objectively be happy with and in the way that they had preferably envisioned in the end. In my humble opinion, I think that, out of all three volumes, Vol. 3 has some of the most talented and imaginative artists working together and making so many tracks that clicked nicely. I truly believe that the best of these artists' abilities was brought out during the refinement process. Even with the aggressive (or just full-sounding) final production, generally speaking for most of these tracks, I think the dynamics are still there to augment the creative, evocative, and/or immersive nature of these arrangements. It was a blast working closely on this with pu_freak and Chernabogue, and I hope to do something like this again in the future! ...Are you feeling BadAss? Will you strut like you mean it? ARE... YOU... READY?! *spazzes out* - Truong-Son Nguyen (timaeus222) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1-01. Lashmush - "Monument of Non-Existence" Boss: Kefka Palazzo (Final Fantasy VI) Composer: Nobuo Uematsu Source: "Dancing Mad" pu_freak: To quote another evil clown bent on destruction: "And here... we... go!" Remember when BadAss 1 gave you a relatively calm track to get into the album? We give you seven seconds... After that, all hell breaks loose. Lashmush gives you almost nine minutes of epic, bombastic, orchestral rock that turns "Dancing Mad" into the "Imperial March" of one of Final Fantasy's best known villains. Perhaps with a bit more crazy guitar shredding and deafening blast beats, but those are never a bad thing. Lashmush actually finished a version of this mix for BadAss 2, but you wouldn't recognize it as the same song anymore. Despite this being the first song to be finished for this album, Lashmush put many hours of work on this to make this the ideal opening of our album -- one that will make you feel like an evil mastermind from the very start. And remember, this is only the beginning of BadAss 3... Chernabogue: This track was chosen as the album opener so you don't forget our theme was "epic remixes." And Lashmush made sure his first symphonic metal behemoth would hit the listeners right in their faces. You have seven seconds before we launch into a brutal maelstrom of madness, filled with blast beats, guitar solos, and majestic orchestral melodies. Hold your breath... Lashmush: This was a big project, but a labor of love for sure. I'm a huge fan of FF6 and "Dancing Mad," so inspiration was overflowing! I tried to get the track into really heavy and extreme metal while still representing the original. Tier 3 got shaved down as I wanted the mood to stay dark and brutal, which was just hard for me to do if I kept it all in. All in all, I'm very happy with this track and, thanks to some healthy back and forth in the project forum, it turned into quite a beast. 1-02. Sbeast - "Zeromus Sum Game" Boss: Zeromus (Final Fantasy IV) Composer: Nobuo Uematsu Source: "The Final Battle" pu_freak: Kefka is not the only Final Fantasy villain that deserves an epic orchestral rock rendition of his theme. Meet Zeromus, a being of pure evil who just got much more BadAss thanks to Sbeast's awesome take on his theme. Sbeast joined us quite late in the game, with his first full arrangement in October. But talented as he is, he could quickly incorporate the suggestions we had to make a great addition to our album. While this mix may be one of our more conservative mixes, Sbeast has infused it with a great evil vibe and added some great dynamics and variations to certainly give this a unique feel to it. Sbeast has quite a lot of mixes on his YouTube channel, so go check it out! And to those already complaining about having too much Final Fantasy or Square Enix mixes on it: you know you're only complaining because you already can't take the amount of Evil and BadAssery on this album. Still with us? Then let's continue... Chernabogue: From Kefka to Zeromus. We continue with some epic rock, and a rock/orchestra take on another FF final boss. The orchestra is more discreet on this one, so you can better appreciate the guitar work. With the addition of a few synths, Sbeast creates a perfect, fast-paced track that still has a lot of energy. Sbeast: I've previously covered music from the Final Fantasy series (Terra's theme) and have been wanting to do another one for a while now, and this project gave me a reason to. I went with the final boss theme from Final Fantasy 4, because... well, it sounds badass. In terms of arrangement, it's pretty conservative and, if it was a political party, it would be Republican. This is mostly because I liked the original arrangement as it was and didn't want to make major changes to it. So I changed the instrumentation, extended some sections and added embellishments here and there whilst keeping the original themes as a foundation to build on. 1-03. Kammo64 - "Darksightedness" Boss: Dark Bowser (Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story) Composer: Yoko Shimomura Source: "Returning Memories of the Journey" pu_freak: Bowser is back on BadAss, baby! Though perhaps not one of Bowser's best known themes, we present you an awesome rock version of the Dark Bowser theme from Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story, complemented with some orchestral and mainly electro influences. Newcomer Kammo64 has really impressed us by having two great mixes on our album. Keep an eye on this BadAss ReMixer, because you will most definitely be hearing a lot from him in the future. Chernabogue: Did we forget to mention that "creepy" was also one of our keywords on the project? Well, Kammo64 introduced the second theme of the album with another RPG final boss theme. This time, electro elements support the heavy guitars. The high-pitched synths may bring a little hope, but a few octaves lower, you still understand the madness isn't over yet. Kammo64: "Darksightedness" is a track I just began making just for fun. It started to sound pretty good, so I decided to sign it up for BadAss 3. Much to my excitement, it was accepted and, with the help of the staff, I turned it into the powerful electro metal song it is now. The most difficult thing for me while writing this track was making realistic guitar sounds using samples. 1-04. Chernabogue, AngelCityOutlaw, Furilas - "The Metal Emperor" Boss: Machinedramon (Digimon World) Composers: Koji Yamada, Yuko Ishii Source: "Machinedramon Battle" pu_freak: Time to cut back even further on the additional genres in our rock mixes to give you a power metal version of the Machinedramon theme, one of our lesser known sources on the album. This mix really keeps the energy high throughout and gets your adrenaline pumped to the max. Oh, we didn't warn you about that and you wanted to sleep within three hours? Not gonna happen -- this album is called BadAss for a reason. Chernabogue's mix features great guitar work by AngelCityOutlaw which is complemented by Furilas's basslines. Chernabogue: Another rock/electro hybrid that pushes the epic factor to the max. Inspired by power metal, filled with electrosynths and organs, and supported by double guitar solos, we introduce another angry dragon to the BadAss family. This track is one of the shortest on the album, but you can bet we made one of the fastest. Digimon has always been something I loved from my childhood, and still like to play those old games when I get the occasion. I started an arrangement for BA3, but it wasn't epic enough for the album's style. Chris/AngelCityOutlaw came up with a new arrangement that sounded really great and I started mixing it with Furilas's bass recording. The arrangement doesn't sound too evil like other ones from the album, but the power metal inspiration really makes it sound epic, with super fast riffs, crazy synths, and great guitar solos. Thanks to Chris and Mac for their skill and time; to Pieter, Eino, and Tim for their feedback; and to the creators of Digimon for their awesome work! AngelCityOutlaw: Alex wanted to do a metal remix of Machinedramon's theme. However, the original concept wasn't metal enough (for my tastes anyway) and so, using magic wands made by Jackson and Ibanez, I re-arranged it into an attempt at European power metal of proportions so epic that playing it has the power to summon Kai Hansen. Alex took the stems and then, via alchemy, dark magic, and a touch of Furilas, he made it all come together in his cauldron of metal. 1-05. Gamer Shredding (OmariuZ, Luis Sáenz) - "Warriors of Shredder" Boss: Slash (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III: The Manhattan Project) Composers: Yuichi Sakakura, Tomoya Tomita, Kozo Nakamura Sources: "Bad Soldier," "Crazy Attack" pu_freak: No time for eating pizzas and yelling "cowabunga," there's some fighting to be done! Gamer Shredding members OmariuZ and Luis Sáenz start this track with some ominous choirs before their crazy guitar work kicks in. The choirs make another appearance just past the halfway marker to give you that last moment of creepiness before this mix kicks it into high gear, only letting you go at the very end. Gamer Shredding is not very well known at OverClocked ReMix, but they have some great mixes on their YouTube channel -- which is how I found them to be such BadAsses that I had to get them on the album! Check those guys out! Chernabogue: We'll let you catch your breath during this intro. Because crazy guitar work awaits ahead. The guys from Gamer Shredding know their stuff, and brought a clever arrangement on another classic source. Tight solos, heavy rhythm, a few instruments to support the fast-paced track: here's your recipe to make some turtle soup. After all, it's all about shredding. Gamer Shredding: We chose to ReMix these two boss themes of TMNT III for BadAss 3, because this was one of our favorite games. When we initially joined BadAss 3, we started to make a ReMix of Final Fantasy VI's "Decisive Battle," but we had problems with a former member of the band who didn't want to contribute anymore. We then decided to restart the process by choosing another game, which resulted in "Warriors of Shredder." 1-06. HoboKa - "Jaded by Death" Boss: Deathevan (Breath of Fire II) Composer: Yuko Takehara Source: "Lethal Dose" pu_freak: And from Gamer Shredding's last choirs we enter HoboKa's. Gone with the rock and adrenaline pumping, this mix brings you pure evil and despair. You know you've set foot in the wrong place, a place so seeping with evil that it's taking you over. HoboKa's use of strings and choirs is complemented by excellent percussion which forms the skeleton of this mix. It's minimalist in an orchestral and evil way, only building up the energy in the second half of the song. At the end, it leaves you all alone in the corner, with the ominous choirs letting you know you're never getting out... Chernabogue: Let's leave the guitars for a while, and dive into an ocean of orchestra. HoboKa opens with a dark and heavy arrangement -- a perfect transition between rock and symphonic remixes. The drum work is excellent and boosts the whole track. The organs and dark synths/pads will help the track keep a creepy feeling. You know something is coming. HoboKa: My new interpretation, "Jaded by Death," is finally here. After, what, 5 or 6 years from my previous attempt -- and it's for the BadAss: Vol. 3 album, no less. I believe that I have come a long way; pu_freak, timaeus222, and Chernabogue gave me plenty of sage advice on the composition and production, and, after about 12 versions in, I'm finally done. I decided to make use of that Damage drumkit that I've been itching to use and, man, did it work well for this one, at least in my perspective. pu_freak wanted something dark, brooding and evil sounding, so I obliged him... and, as pu_freak wanted, I made "Jaded by Death" as evil as I could, employing the use of creepy orchestral and industrial influences, with some SFX and scary drones and stuff. I actually enjoyed making this remix and hope that you guys do too! One frustration I had was getting the mix sounding as good as can be; and another more distant but always nagging feeling is pleasing the J panel; always a strain for me, but, luckily, I don't focus on making music solely for OCR, else I'd probably suffer an aneurysm, lol. 1-07. Chernabogue - "Crescendo to Chaos" Boss: Rival (Pokémon Red Version) Composer: Junichi Masuda Source: "Last Battle (VS Rival)" pu_freak: Alexandre's second mix is an orchestral rendition of the Champion battle from the first generation of Pokémon games. It may be the same genre as HoboKa's Deathevan mix, but this has quite a different energy. THIS. IS. WAR! Imagine yourself having defeated lots of enemies, only to climb up the last hill. But when you're on top, the only thing you can see are the enemy's vast armies. A whole different level of despair, as you're overwhelmed by the power and conviction within this mix. Still standing? You better be, because we're not even halfway to the end. Chernabogue: We're still in the orchestral section of the album, but "orchestra" doesn't rhymes with "quiet" here. Get ready, as this track contains more crescendos and decrescendos than a roller-coaster. This soundtrack is the one that plays during your greatest battle against your rival. Are you ready? Because he is. Since the first volume of BadAss, people requested that someone should arrange a boss theme from Pokémon, especially the final battle with Gary Motherf*ckin' Oak from the first generation. A remix of that track was in the works for the second volume, but it never happened. As I was working on a Digimon remix too, I thought I could also do something for the Pokémon fans. The source from Pokémon RBY is very chaotic -- it sounds frenetic and not structured. I tried to make it sound as epic as possible, since epic is the theme for this final volume. Bombastic was the goal here, but I also added some darker/ominous sections, which I really love. Gary Oak is the final boss, the ultimate obstacle, the last trainer you have to best before finally earning your title of Pokémon Master. Are you ready? Because he really is. 1-08. XPRTNovice - "The Power" Boss: Grahf (Xenogears) Composer: Yasunori Mitsuda Sources: "Grahf, Ruler of Darkness," "Premonition" pu_freak: XPRTNovice, the man that can play 837 different instruments AND is a voice actor. And which instrument did he think was the most evil? Right, a didgeridoo... that guy is insane! But, hey, that's a prerequisite to join BadAss 3. The intro of this mix alone is so twisted and ominous, with Middle Eastern-style vocal work and dissonant strings on the background. But then the voice-over comes announcing its desire... for power! The mix then turns orchestral, bombastic and epic with a militaristic feel to it, building up tension and evilness until one last moment to take a break... before the full military force is unleashed upon you! A great arrangement from XPRTNovice which ends so incredibly creepy and twisted. Man, oh, man, what have you gotten yourself into? Chernabogue: Another great orchestral take on a less-remixed source. XPRTNovice brings an Eastern influence to the album, with weird wind instruments, ethnic percussion, and even didgeridoo. In addition of all this, he also plays with his voice and adds some creepy narration and voice acting. Do you think you can handle it all? XPRTNovice: I always wanted to do something with Grahf's theme, because I thought it was one of the most powerful themes in Xenogears, and BadAss 3 seemed like a great opportunity to do it. I originally wanted to make this a sort of Middle Eastern thing, but it took a sort of cinematic turn that retained some of those elements, such as the oud and the string timbre. I also really liked some of Grahf's lines from the game, so, being a voice actor, I thought, "Why not?" And out came this sort of slam poetry thing. Grahf was so evil on so many levels, and his role in the plot of the game is just amazing. Grahf's story is really kind of tragic and messed up, and you can evoke a lot of emotion just by trying to re-tell that story, which is what I tried to do here. It just sort of unfolded in this big way with creepy elements. Also, screaming "MY FIST IS THE DIVINE BREATH" in your basement when your mother-in-law is visiting creates interesting results. 1-09. Mak Eightman - "Amputate Your Metal" Boss: Big Bertha (Wild Guns) Composer: Hiroyuki Iwatsuki Source: "Boss" pu_freak: It's time to get pumped up for the end of the first disc, and what better way to do it then the way it began: an adrenaline-pumping orchestral rock mix that turns to pure metal at the end! After you've been mentally broken down by the previous mixes, Mak comes with his maximum-energy track which feels like the ultimate boss battle! I've personally requested Mak to mix this source, since it's been a long-time favorite of mine. Mak liked the source and here we are: a bit out of Mak's comfort zone in terms of genre, since he normally makes industrial mixes, but, man, did he deliver! That intro alone will get you pumped up and ready to fight, making you feel BadAss and ready to take any boss that comes in your way. The mix title is a play on the Western phrase "Amputate Your Timbre," meaning "Get the hell out!" It seems fitting since this mix gets you ready to take on any boss, which in this game's case are giant metal contraptions, and, in case of this mix, by giving you same awesome metal shreddage. Chernabogue: Mak starts off with some orchestral, but if you know the guy, you probably also know that some guitars will eventually start taking over the rest. Once again, heavy metal returns to BadAss -- with some Ennio Morricone influence. Do you feel how the energy is coming back? We want to end with something hard-hitting. And Mak really has it. Mak Eightman: Hello! pu_freak offered me to ReMix this source, and here I am. Never knew about this game (and any SNES games), but pu_freak's request is sacred. I aimed at "To Mega Thirion" from Thirion's album Theli from 1996, adding some Rammstein and my own soundings.This album was a very interesting endeavour on the production side. The track had lots of discussions and disputes about mixing and mastering. That was ended when timaeus took the mixing and mastering job. After several attempts at mastering it, I asked Tim (timaeus222) for some help. Thanks to Tim, it sounds as much good as is possible with the stuff I recorded. The titanload of work he's done deserves a lot of respect! I'm thankful as hell! But... some time has passed since then. I learned a lot and wanted to try something by my own way. Here it is. Loud as hell and good to my tastes. THANK YOU! SFME!!! Best of all! 1-10. Chernabogue, Tuberz McGee, Furilas, Mirby, Brandon Strader - "Are You BadAss?" Boss: Sturm (Advance Wars) Composer: Taishi Senda Source: "Sturm's Theme" pu_freak: Pumped up for the end of disc one? Good, 'cuz we're going to finish the first disc with a bang: this is Chernabogue's hat trick and he's brought an entire army of mixers to do it. Our only mix with lyrics and its sheer power is proof that BadAss 3 shouldn't contain any more of them. I mean, we want our listeners to actually be able to listen to the rest of the album. A combination of great arrangement work by Alex (Chernabogue), guitar by Tuberz, bass by Furilas, lyrics by Mirby and Brandon's powerful voice, asking you very friendly if you're truly BadAss. I mean, we're halfway to the end now, so you should have a pretty good idea if you're BadAss enough for this. And, yes, this is us being friendly. Chernabogue: Are you BadAss? That's a good question. After almost four years in the making, countless collaborators, and endless remasters, the world is finally ready for Sturm's return. Epic riff? Check. Crazy vocals? Check. Creepy laughs? Check. So are you BadAss? We surely are. Believe it or not, but this mix was supposed to be released on BadAss II. That means I've been working on it for almost four years. Countless collaborators participated to its creation, and I can't thank enough those who patiently helped me. Advance Wars is a series I enjoyed a lot on GBA, and Sturm always has been a problem, as the final boss. The music of those two games is really interesting, and Sturm's theme kept looping in my head -- I had to remix it. During this period, I was listening to a lot of Helloween (still do), and this remix is a tribute to their music that inspire me a lot. The metal fans may find out I was inspired by the song "Are You Metal?" by that band, and I decided to write a similar song for Sturm. All riffs, solos, synths, and stuff in that remix were written from Sturm's theme, while the structure itself is inspired by Helloween's song. As always, after the horrible MIDI arrangement, I contacted my recording buddies, Tuberz McGee and Furilas, in order to have live guitars, bass, and vocals. I also contacted Mirby to get a better version of my lyrics. After all, my English isn't the best -- vive la révolution! The first version was rejected by the judges and cut from BA2, despite my best attempts to master the beast. And when Pieter contacted me to help him on BA3, I knew it was the time to finish it. Not so strangely enough, it was the last track we finished for the album (searching for a good vocalist, re-recording of the guitars that were lost in a data transfer, etc.), but I think we really did something epic. Thanks a bunch to everyone who helped -- especially Tuberz, Furilas, Mirby, and Brandon -- they were BadAss enough to keep Sturm alive. Now, enjoy this track and the rest of the album. \m/ Line-up: Chernabogue - arrangement, lyrics, mixing/mastering (v1) Tuberz McGee - lead and rhythm guitars Furilas - bass, vocals (v1) Mirby - lyrics Brandon Strader - vocals (v2), mixing/mastering (v2) Mirby: Chernabogue needed better lyrics for this song, so, being a fan of the series, I obliged and helped out, adding in more references to the games and the world in which they take place. It was fun to write. Brandon Strader: The universe conspired against me finishing this song, but it's done, so enjoy it! Tuberz McGee: So Alex (the bae) asked me to do guitar things for a metal thing on an album thing and I said, "Sure thing." So I loaded up the file and saw that he'd written some tough stuff, so I actually had to practice, so, whatever, I guess that's a good thing, right? Either way, this song is BadAss. Thanks for having me Alex. <3 2-01. Pablo Coma - "Opening the Way" Boss: Colossi (Shadow of the Colossus) Composer: Kow Otani Source: "The Opened Way ~Battle with the Colossus~" pu_freak: Different disc, different vibe. Time to take a step back and get immersed into an abyss of despair. Pablo has made a calm, empty, and very eerie version of the first Shadow of the Colossus boss battle. The violin fills you with sorrow, with the mix further drawing you in and crushing your spirit -- twisting your mind with creepy music boxes and SFX. Beautiful, yet very haunting and disturbing. This mix is not BadAss due to a high energy level or a feeling of evil, but by its incredible atmosphere. This disc has the mixes that will destroy you mentally -- they won't destroy your body with power, but they'll take your mind and soul instead. Pablo is not very active at remixing anymore, but I'm very glad he found time in his busy schedule to finish this mix! Why is he so busy you ask? Check his bio; he's making his own games! You can also check out his SoundCloud where he has more mixes and soundtracks. Chernabogue: Back to the abyss with you. Pablo Coma starts off the second disc with a very quiet, but yet very ominous take on the music of Shadow of the Colossus. The orchestra brings a lot of tension, and the SFX/synths add a lot to the creepy factor. How can you bring to mind the Colossi with such a calm arrangement? Listen and you'll know. Pablo Coma: "Opening the Way" is a take on Kow Otani's "The Opened Way," one of the most prominent tracks in Shadows of the Colossus's OST. My goal was to create a completely different atmosphere, while keeping some melodical material by Mr. Otani. The epic feeling has vanished and been replaced by a dark, twisted atmosphere. Shining somewhere within it, a slim ray of hope. 2-02. pu_freak - "The Dark Defender" Boss: Magus (Chrono Trigger) Composer: Yasunori Mitsuda Source: "Magus Confronted" pu_freak: Time for me to continue what Pablo started. Brooding strings, howling winds, eerie piano, twisted music boxes, and an overall empty and ominous vibe should drive you further insane... This is Magus -- Dexter style -- and will bring out the evil killer in yourself. Let its evil run through your veins and surrender yourself to the darkness... For BadAss 3, my aim was to create an album of mixes that make you feel evil, sinister, or twisted. To achieve that, people should either have something bombastic or epic in their mix (like "The Imperial March"), or make it creepy and twisted. I've always used one example for the latter category: the "Blood Theme" from Dexter. To that end, I wanted to make a mix of my own in "Blood Theme"-style. The mix starts the same as Magus's castle theme, with brooding low strings and howling wind in the background. However, when playing the real Magus theme, I only use the two chords that are present in the "Blood Theme" (two chords that are twisted in itself). In the 0:29-1:20 part, I've used music bells that are very close the the background motif used in "Blood Theme." I couldn't do much else in terms of recreating the "Blood Theme"-vibe, since incorporating non-VGM is unwanted, of course, but I think it's enough to remind people of the "Blood Theme" and to give the same creepy and twisted vibe. To increase the twisted feeling, I've made a dynamic panning and volume for the music bells, and the music box later in the mix. Furthermore, some instruments (most notably the piano at the end) have a chorus effect, making them sound more distorted. Big differences in volume throughout will, hopefully, also instigate an unsettling effect and the mix featured brooding strings throughout. The uses of music bells and music boxes should also add to the creepy feeling. In terms of vibe, this mix combines the feeling of my Pokémon track on OCR and my Gilgamesh mix from BadAss 1. The mix is a bit shorter than usual for me, but that's because you can only do so much with two chords (and I even cheated once at 1:16 by using two other chords). I've not fully used the source (which has to do with the very limited chord progression I could use), but the source -- as well as my inspiration -- is very recognizable I think. The title is also a nod to Dexter. I've been more on the liberal side of OCR -- this is no exception -- but I think people will have more ease recognizing the source here than in my Pokémon track. Chernabogue: The piano is one instrument that can create a whole atmosphere on its own. But with the addition of discrete synths and strings, pu_freak pushes the album's "ominous factor" to a whole new level. Did you need to take a break after all the epicness from disc 1? There you go. 2-03. David L. Puga, Mak Eightman - "(Progeny) Of a Frail Humanity" Boss: Albert Wesker (Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles, Resident Evil 4, Resident Evil 5) Composers: Masafumi Takada, Jun Fukuda, Misao Senbongi, Shusaku Uchiyama, Kota Suzuki Sources: "Wesker's Beginnings," "The Mercenaries: Wesker," "Wind of Madness" pu_freak: The return of former BadAss boss David L. Puga (previously known as The Joker)! It start as creepy as the previous two songs were with piano and acoustic guitars. But you know something's lurking in the shadows... you KNOW something's coming. And why should we disappoint? This great take on several Wesker themes is heavily inspired by the theme song of the movie 28 Days Later (the song itself is called "In the House - In a Heartbeat") and it works very well. On top of that, Mak was kind enough to lend his shredding skills for the epic climax of the song. I'm very glad that David is contributing to finish the BadAss trilogy; the trilogy he started. And what better way to do it than with his (in my opinion) best ReMix to date? Chernabogue: David L. Puga also brought his piano and decided to put more electro elements in. The creepy atmosphere shines here, and the reverberated guitars add a lot to the effect. The metal climax turns the lights on, but don't hope your nightmare is finished. You still have a lot to go through. David L. Puga: Ever since the first BadAss, I've been trying to find a way to remix Wesker's theme; I was also hoping that someone else would come along and do it, but it never happened. With the third album, I decided to make a remix of Wesker, finally, and do it in the 28 Days Later style, cause you know, zombies. This track was done in 3 "movements," if you will, in the same vein as the final boss battles in most RE games. Each section having its own characteristics, while still being part of the whole, ending with the bombast and the inevitable bittersweet ending (which sounds just like a basic song, come to think of it). Mak Eightman came along towards the end to give the track an even creepier guitar, and I think we've reached complete global saturation of peoples pants. Because it's so good. 2-04. neshead80 - "Fortress of Doom" Boss: Koopalings (Super Mario World) Composer: Koji Kondo Source: "Sub Castle BGM" pu_freak: Who knew a mix from Super Mario World could be so creepy and so rocking at the same time? When I spotted Alan (neshead80) on YouTube, I knew I had to get him on this album. "Sub Castle BGM" from Super Mario World is one of my favorite sources and this had the perfect vibe for BadAss 3. While technically not a boss theme, this theme is basically a boss level theme, which is good enough for us. Especially when the mix is as awesome as this. With some tweaking and improvements to make this mix as BadAss as it could be, Alan created a perfect transition from eerie and unsettling to rocking as hell within one ReMix! Like Gamer Shredding on disc 1, there aren't any neshead80 solo mixes on OCR, but I really urge you to check his YouTube page for more awesome stuff from him! Chernabogue: Welcome to our castle... Where did I hear that before? Another combo of guitar/ominous atmosphere brought by neshead80, with a lot of synths, and fat percussion -- he brings back the heavy rhythm and a creepy lead melody later on. The guitar work is spot on, and the solo is perfect. Be ready for a whole new arrangement of a very remixed tune. And a good one. neshead80: It started as a dubstep experiment and morphed into Muse meets Yngwie. 2-05. Chimpazilla, Redg - "Molgera's Love" Boss: Molgera (Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker) Composers: Kenta Nagata, Hajime Wakai, Toru Minegishi Source: "Molgera" pu_freak: Dear God, what the hell is happening here? What is... who...? Yeah, this mix is twisted and distorted beyond reason. A very unique and brilliant ReMix which takes the rather upbeat theme of Molgera and turns it into a minimal, twisted, mind-warping collaboration between Chimpazilla and Redg. Wait, Chimpazilla? Doesn't she always make happy mixes and stuff? She also found her inner evil, her twisted self. You can hear it for yourself: the ones who seem the nicest people can actually be the darkest ones there are. Awesome stuff -- and certainly one-of-a-kind. Chernabogue: We're definitively back into the domain of electro, with disturbing synths and creepy FX. The effects used really bring a twister atmosphere, and the stereo is fully exploited. The arrangement itself isn't bombastic, but you can feel something is creeping out somewhere. Chimpazilla and Redg don't want you to turn off the lights. Don't you suddenly feel surrounded by shadows? Chimpazilla: "This room, I've been here before. The thick musty smell and the dim sepia-toned light are so familiar. I'm in an enormous sand pit, enclosed by... walls? I can't escape, I must jump down below, must move forward. The ground rumbles as the room fills with even more dreaded sand. Suddenly, from the floor bursts the most marvelous creature with sideways-flapping lips... is this some kind of god? Before I can organize my thoughts, the beast has gone back down beneath the sand. The thing of glory emerges partially to reveal a single magnificent purple tentacle. I am being drawn into the swirling eddy surrounding this godlike entity. It seems I am destined to merge with it... but, no, the fear is too great, I must resist. Instinctively, I lash out; the terror is too powerful to do anything else. Ah, but the beast speaks the language of pain. I slash away. I am rewarded with miniature copies of itself! The wormlike demigods leap and roar and hurl themselves at me. I am blinded by airborne sand. Paradoxically, I am helpless against the aggressors until I draw them close to me! At the very moment they could most easily devour me, I have my advantage! I must kill them... I must... the big one will have it no other way. Sometimes, the murder provides me with a life-sustaining heart, but not always. The mini-beasts attack, more and more of them emerge from the sand, while their parent, the primary, continues to taunt me from its position in the floor, waving toward me with its one sinister tentacle, surrounded by those two odd appendages, flapping hypnotically. I must kill this beast. It is him or me, I'm sure of this now; I am running out of lifeforce. The minions surround me, offering sparing, random chances to regain my strength. I need hearts desperately, running too low now... lower and lower health. I hear a strange beeping in my ears, getting louder and louder... Oh, god-like creature! Please give me life-sustaining hearts! My beautiful Molgera, revered all-powerful being, all I wanted was for you to love me... MOLGERA, WHERE IS THE LOVE???" My first WIP of "Molgera's Love" was very upbeat electronic, and was quickly rejected as being too happy. Fortunately, I knew just who to ask to help me make it dark and creepy: Redg. His minimalist, bitcrushed, filtered/effected/mangled style is just right for the feel I wanted. I sent Brent the file, and he used my MIDI and changed all the instrumentation. We continued to collab and add more detail to the arrangement. We think it turned out delightfully unsettling! Special thanks to WillRock for his "chicka chickas." Source breakdown: Here are the sections of the Molgera source that we used: motif A: 0:12-0:38 motif B: 0:38-0:50 motif C: 0:38-0:39 (just 4 notes) main drum beat: 0:00-0:11 transition notes: 1:04-1:10 (5 notes, but we used 3 and repeated them as a 4-note pattern) chicka chickas: 0:06-0:11 And here is where they are in the ReMix: 0:00-0:22 - transition notes - 22 seconds 0:22-0:29 - original 0:29-0:59 - motif A (and chickas by WillRock!) - 30 seconds 0:59-1:10 - motif B - 11 seconds 1:13-1:28 - motif A - 15 seconds From 1:28-3:40, the drums and bass are meant to represent the main drumbeat at the beginning of the source, and the bass is following the chord structure of motif A. Since this is so tenuous, I have timed these parts out and put them in parentheses, but they are not counted in the total unless there is obvious source motif over them. 1:28-1:44 - main drum beat using motif A chord structure - (16 seconds) 1:44-1:55 - motif A - 11 seconds 1:56-1:58 - motif C - 2 seconds 1:55-2:27 - main drum beat using motif A chord structure - (32 seconds) 2:27-2:42 - motif A - 15 seconds 2:42-2:58 - original harp solo over main drum/motif A chord structure - (16 seconds) 2:58-3:10 - transition notes - 12 seconds 3:10-3:12 - motif C - 2 seconds 3:12-3:20 - motif A - 8 seconds 3:35-3:40 - chicka chickas - 5 seconds ReMix length: 3:40 or 220 seconds Source use excluding the liberal bass/drums sections: 133 seconds or 60% Source use if bass/drum sections are counted: 197 seconds or 90% 2-06. Kammo64 - "Mad Jack's Drop" Boss: Mad Jack (Donkey Kong 64) Composer: Grant Kirkhope Source: "Factory Boss" pu_freak: Are you still keeping it together? Then how about a twisted circus-style ReMix by Kammo64, turned upside down by great dubstep sections? The distorted violin and creepy SFX makes this mix at least as twisted as the ones before it, but then it will destroy you with the force of its dubstep. Another great ReMix by Cameron and this mix perfectly leads into the more electronic songs of BadAss 3. You can feel it's slowly building up the energy for the very end of the BadAss trilogy... Chernabogue: What would be a BadAss album without some dubstep? The violin lead adds a lot to a mix that already sounds crazy and twisted. Kammo64 knows his stuff and brings out a very heavy bass, and uses a lot of effects to create an atmosphere that would fit a haunted mansion. A few FX later and you can already feel the monster's breath on your back. Kammo64: "Mad Jack's Drop" is the second track I decided to make for BadAss 3. The main idea was to try making a dubstep song for the first time. I think it turned out pretty well. The hardest part was just mixing everything together to fit nicely. Have to thank timaeus and the BadAss crew for helping me with this track. Thanks to their feedback, it became a lot better than what it started as. Hope you enjoy! 2-07. SkyRiderX feat. XPRTNovice - "Twisted Rebirth" Boss: Dark Samus (Metroid Prime 3, Metroid Prime, Metroid Prime 2) Composers: Kenji Yamamoto, Minako Hamano, Masaru Tajima, Kouichi Kyuma Sources: "VS. Dark Samus Theme," "Tallon Overworld," "U-mos" pu_freak: Another ReMix talent on BadAss 3 with a dubstep song, this time featuring great voice acting by XPRTNovice. Still twisted, but the emphasis lies a lot more on the electronic and dubstep sections of the song. All different Dark Samus themes from the Metroid Prime series are incorporated in a mix that superbly builds up energy and keeps you on edge until its final crescendo. Great work by SkyRiderX, another mixer we will probably seeing (and hearing) more of in the future! Chernabogue: After Ridley in Volume I, it's time for Dark Samus to arrive. SkyRiderX also uses some heavy bass and creepy effects to bring the darkest side of the Metroid universe to your ears. The narration also creates an interesting effect, and the fast-paced synth solos seem to accelerate the tempo of the track. Can you handle the pressure? In space, nobody will hear you scream... SkyRiderX: This track was a total blast to make! The moment I saw that Badass Volume 3 was still recruiting, I knew I had to make something for one of my favorite villains, Dark Samus. I wanted to make a remix to almost tell the story of Dark Samus's life but still fit as if you were playing the game, and the remix became more of a medley, which made things a little harder but more interesting. The initial WIP came out pretty well, but it took a lot of refinement for it to really shine. The great voice talent of XPRTNovice helped bring the track to life by reading a description I wrote of Dark Samus as if he was Samus's visor. The bonus evil laughs and "Phazon" line used were actually created by myself and helped add an extra level of creepy to the mix. The hardest part that came with making this track was the cluttered and muddy sounds I initially had and trying to create a good climax. It took months of testing and playing around to finally find something I liked. Along the way, many things were replaced or changed to help better the overall mix -- drums, synths, etc. all remade over and over again to get the right sound. When all was said and done though, the track sounded great and was well-balanced thanks to all the help and feedback from the team. 2-08. timaeus222 - "Soiled by the Egyptians" Boss: Orbot Purple (Vectorman 2, Vectorman) Composer: Jon Holland Sources: "Cave2 Tank," "Day 5: Arctic Ridge ~ Day 9: Hydroponic Lab" pu_freak: Time to ditch the creepiness and turn full-on electro with Egyptian influences in a mix that brings back the overwhelming and bombastic vibe to BadAss 3 -- timaeus-style. If you listen to this mix, it's no wonder that Tim became our go-to man for production feedback and became an integral part of the BadAss 3 staff. The energy sparks from this mix and really makes you feel like a BadAss when listening to it. It builds up the tension about halfway through in an atmospheric Egyptian intermezzo, before building up to the final dubstep part -- setting you into full adrenaline mode. Chernabogue: Only a few remixers can dare to mix heavy electro synths and ethnic instruments. timaeus222 knows his stuff, and created a very interesting arrangement with such elements -- do you think ancient Egyptians and pharaohs used to organize rave parties? Find out and listen to this mix -- the music intensifies. timaeus222: I've been feeling pretty inspired lately, and, after making some good progress on an original album of mine, I decided I'd incorporate some of those elements in a Vectorman ReMix. Both are Egyptian-themed, and I was thinking of combining in some of the electro house tricks I had put together before in a Darkwing Duck and Mega Man 7 track I did for the WCRG 2013 compo. It wasn't too hard to pick out some nice pieces from Vectorman 1 and 2 to play around with, as they're all so good (the occasional offset panning for a stereo effect is pretty unusual on headphones, but sounds great on speakers). After getting on solid ground with layering ISW Juggernaut samples in various contexts, I wanted to use those, along with some cool tabla tarangs and Indian ragas vox from Crypto Cipher (who makes unique and useful Middle Eastern sample libraries) and some other brand new mega-distorted FM bass sounds I synthesized in my free time to write a big ReMix that you can dance to and blast in your car. My goal was big, bold, and unrestrained (okay, maybe a little restrained, so it's not super loud :P). I feel like I don't really write a lot of purely dance-able music that focuses mostly on the groove, punch, and development rather than the melodic content, so I figured, why not have one track in my repertoire that's like that? While writing this, I suddenly thought of something that seemed crazy at first, before I looked it up: didgeridoo dubstep. Turns out, some people have tried it, though they were either beatboxing or just otherwise playing around. Nothing wrong with that, of course, as now I get the chance to do that fer srs, bro, and with a few twists of my own! The climax was inspired by Zalem, a rather popular didgeridoo beatboxer, and zircon's "Neurobazaar." To really make things huge, I ended up sampling a bit of Nutritious's "Distortion HQ" from the Deus Ex album for the sub bass frequencies at 2:19. When that part drops hard on ya, see if you can't tell the difference between the talkbox-and-glitch-mangled didgeridoo and the wobbles! :D Source Breakdown: 0:03.17-0:05.35, 0:07.04-0:10.43 = "Hydroponic Lab" (0:02.55-0:12.60) 0:10.43-0:13.60 = "Hydroponic Lab" (0:12.60-0:22.65) 0:18.65-0:20.84, 0:22.53-0:25.91 = "Hydroponic Lab" (0:02.55-0:12.60) 0:25.91-0:31.00 = "Hydroponic Lab" (0:12.60-0:22.65) 0:31.00-0:36.80 = "Cave2 Tank" (0:00.00-0:22.29) [Dance Party!] 0:38.74-0:44.55 = "Cave2 Tank" (0:00.00-0:22.29) 0:45.88-0:47.45 = "Hydroponic Lab" (0:12.60-0:22.65) 0:46.48-0:52.29, 0:54.22-1:01.97 = "Hydroponic Lab" (0:27.68-0:37.73, 0:37.73-0:42.76) 1:01.97-1:17.45 = "Hydroponic Lab" (0:37.73-0:42.76) 1:17.45-1:20.35, 1:21.32-1:24.22, 1:25.19-1:28.10, 1:29.06-1:31.97 = "Hydroponic Lab" (0:42.76-0:52.82) 1:51.55-1:53.74 = "Hydroponic Lab" (0:02.55-0:12.60) 1:58.84-2:00.03 = "Hydroponic Lab" (0:12.60-0:22.65) 2:03.90-2:15.51 = "Cave2 Tank" (0:51.93-1:06.77) [Get ready to jump! :D] 2:18.18-2:21.32 = "Hydroponic Lab" (0:12.60-0:22.65) [WHAM!] 2:27.13-2:32.93, 2:34.87-2:38.74, 2:39.71-2:40.68, 2:42.61-2:49.39 = "Hydroponic Lab" (0:27.68-0:37.73, 0:37.73-0:42.76) 2:50.35-3:03.92 = "Cave2 Tank" (0:51.93-1:06.77) 2.18+3.39+3.17+2.19+3.38+5.09+5.80+5.81+6.41 [0:52.29-0:45.88]+7.75+15.48+2.90+2.90+2.91+2.91+2.19+1.19+11.61+3.14+5.80+3.87+0.97+6.78+13.57 = 115.51/189.78 secs = 60.87% source 2-09. Darkmoocher, timaeus222 - "Become Death" Boss: Metalhead (Vectorman) Composer: Jon Holland Sources: "Day 4: Absolute Zero ~ Day 15: Worldlink Center," "Day 2: Metalhead," "Day 16: Twist and Shout" pu_freak: Wait, did I say that the previous mix was sparking with energy? I take that back... THIS has energy! These guys are crazy... not twisted like Chimpazilla and Redg in their mix, but rather drooling, psycho, bat-shit crazy! Man, oh, man, what a mix. From its raw and dark intro, to its funky but distorted guitars and dissonant background guitars, to glitchy effects throughout the mix, to its sick and devastating dubstep section, all the way to a truly crazy shredding guitar solo... this mix has it all. And it all sounds logical. Well, you know, for a crazy as hell, psychotic mix. This mix has been in the works for years and it really shows -- not that it sounds dated, but you simply cannot do this in a few months. Kudos to Jordan and Tim for seeing this through to the end and spending so much time on this to make one of the best and craziest mixes I've ever heard! Chernabogue: What is death? Apparently, it can take many forms -- Darkmoocher & timaeus222 present their own version, filled with bass drops, electric guitar, phat percussion, and other crazy elements (special "thumbs up" to the women choir's shouts). This track contains rock, dubstep, metal, and maybe a touch of reggae. It shares a common trait with the rest -- it's totally epic. timaeus222: When Jordan came to me with his concept of what this was going to be, I was pretty excited. At first, I proposed to him that someone start a fresh WIP to help mesh our ideas together, and I ended up writing the intro. Jordan returns the favor on my birthday with the whole arrangement rehashed from his old, old version of this same ReMix for the second BadAss album. He had a bunch of notes written out in a neat lil' TXT file at essay length as per yoozh™, but what I loved about it is that he included audio commentary over a copy of his take. :P It basically said, "Take this, work your magic, and hold nothing back!", so, naturally, I obliged. Some of his early remarks: 1) "Man, you don't play around AT ALL when it comes to heavy percussion and hard-hitting drums and slams. timaeus, you are siiick, dawg. [...] Y u gotta always work so quickly and shizz." 2) "See, now... why you gotta go on like that and just shit all over me by making some suuuper sick beats and ultra fat grooves?" ...so you know this is going to be something for the record books. ;) So, the ReMix itself? It's pretty much like this: I did much of the intro, glitching/mangling, scare-tactics wub wubz & FX, some geetah chugz and soloing (Shreddage 2X), cinematic impacts/slams, much of the drums, and mixing/mastering, while Jordan did the remaining 70% or somethin' of the electric geetahz/bass live, vocals (HOW DARE!) and choir, some sick NI Battery drums, a lil' bitcrushed FM wobble here and thar, some ambient hit layers, cinematic textural sampling, LOTS of the arrangement, and uh... yeah, I could keep going on for hours, so let's just say we both did 50/50 and call it good. X) Jordan has some of the craziest ideas I've ever heard, and I'm glad he gave this another shot so that we could flesh it out, melting some faces and scraping, grinding, and busting a bajillion speakers in the process. I also got some new headphones in the middle of working on this and used them in the process to really nail dat bass, so what can I say, djp? You and I are headphone twins. ((( (]^o^[) ))) ...well, OK, I guess you could say quadruplets with Flexstyle and zircon, but that'd be weirder, probably. With almost 90 (of 99!!) mixer tracks used, nearly 80 layers of stuff, and over 240 instrument/audio clip/automation instantiations (!!!) utilized in FL Studio, if there was ever a musical magnum opus I did something for, it would be this. I mean, really, it takes a whopping 6 minutes for the project file to load, and I have to let FL freeze twice before it can scroll around or zoom in or out. It can be hard to pick your own best work, but I'm pretty set on this one being the one at the moment. Source Breakdown: 0:00.00-0:17.45, 0:19.38-0:21.32 = "Absolute Zero" (0:00.00-0:12.09) [first 7.68 seconds is a bit of a stretch] 0:23.26-0:25.19, 0:27.13-0:29.06 = "Absolute Zero" (0:00.00-0:12.09) 0:36.79-1:27.13 = "Metalhead" (0:03.45-0:17.22) 1:31.00-2:01.96 = "Metalhead" (0:37.87-0:51.65) 2:01.96-2:33.90 = "Metalhead" (0:03.45-0:24.10) 2:33.90-3:38.02 ~= "Twist and Shout" (throughout) [might not count when the solo comes in] 3:38.02-4:06.09, 4:20.09-4:48.10 = "Metalhead" (0:37.87-0:51.65) 4:48.10-5:00.37 = "Metalhead" (0:03.45-0:17.22) 5:00.37-5:43.00 != "Metalhead" (unknown) [intended by Jordan, but feels unrecognizable] 17.45-7.68+1.94+(2*1.93)+50.34+30.96+31.94+28.07+28.01+12.27 = 197.16/343.25 secs = 57.4% source minimum Darkmoocher: Where do we even start on this one? In my attempt to make an incredibly long story short, basically, I've had this idea since well before BadAss: Vol. I. It should be clear that, as open I am to most games, I grew up primarily on the Sega Genesis, so eventually some more non-Sonic classics would be coming from me eventually. :) I knew I wanted to take this arrangement down Buckethead lane and play off of nuclear warfare and dystopian fallout, but my "killer studio chops" just... ...weren't killing... anything, really. Jazzy and funky stuff came/comes natural, and I'd say I'm a pretty decent guitarist for the harder rock stuff too, but I just knew, on the mixing and production side of things, I still had much to learn before I could level up beyond "Mildly-Aggressive Studio Veggies." Not only did I hear about Volume 1 really late, but, also, the staff were blunt yet understanding about my original WIP by letting me know I had some potential but it honestly wasn't on par with the other tracks on the album; so I got benched, but was given the chance to rework it for the next volume... Fast-forward to Volume II and we've got the same thing... I'm making some decent progress, but it's just still... not killing anything. O___o "Alright, BadAss: Volume III... I've just GOTTA get it this time!" I look at the director's prompt/album theme in the project thread... then I look at my current WIP. I look at the current roster... then back at my WIP... I A-B compare back and forth as much as possible to some Djentlemen, CHUGGA CHUGGA heavy stuff... aaaaaaaaand, then back at my WIP. ... Finally, I just throw my hands up and knock on a certain person's door. "Ay, yo, timaeus? So, I've got this weapons-of-mass-destruction Buckethead kind of thing going on... and it's 'crazy,' yeah... but not really nuclearically brutal enough. I've got the chemical process laid out, basically, but you think maybe you can help me test this bomb?" ... And then timaeus came back to me with a demo saying "WUUUBBB WUUBBBB WUUUB WOOOWOWOOOWWWOOOWWW RRRRRROOOOOAAAAAAARRRRR!!!", so it was pretty much a wrap from there. 2014 was an incredibly shitty year for me, so, unfortunately, I ended up as a deadweight for many projects outside of Zone Runners, since it was hard to remain motivated on anything else, but I kept coming back slowly and slowly to the WIPs timaeus would be sending. I'm sure I've had the staff and timaeus pulling the impatient Sonic pose of crossing their arms and tapping their toes wondering "Where the in the world is Sir J?" And in the veeery final stages of wrapping up the album, I had to be an ass to timaeus in order to keep going back to make fine adjustment after fine adjustment after fine adjustment. And, so, that brings us to the WubWub ChuggaChugga chimera you hear today. With a lot of blood, sweat, and tears, several months (years, really, on my part) of hair-pulling, and 200+ track stems and instances (each of our DAW projects combined) later... we present to you "Become Death." It is certainly one of the most ambitious remixes I've ever worked on, I truly appreciate timaeus's phenomenal work (and patience with my asshattery), the directors (especially pu_freak) for continuously giving me a chance since waaaay back in the beginning, and I sincerely hope this gets some muthafuggin' thumbs up from Vectorman fans out there. Peace. 2-10. Lashmush - "Seed of Perdition" Boss: Lavos (Chrono Trigger) Composer: Yasunori Mitsuda Sources: "Lavos's Theme," "World Revolution," "Last Battle" pu_freak: By now, you've probably checked yourself into a mental institution for either becoming a megalomaniac thinking you can achieve world domination, for being driven into despair with a shattered soul, or for having your mind completely twisted by the dark and crazy stuff on this album... Time to finish the job! Remember how this album started? We've got another one for you: an eight-minute-long journey through the three different Lavos themes by Lashmush. It has everything in it this album had: it starts creepy and twisted, going into an orchestral section with epic choirs, before bringing in the guitars setting the energy levels to MAX with the second and third Lavos themes. To finish the journey, the part that features the last battle against Lavos features electronic additions to this already heavily-packed ReMix. This mix is the final boss of the final entry of the BadAss trilogy. If you made it through all of this, the answer is "yes": you ARE BadAss! Now go back and enjoy those epic guitar solos at the end of this mix! Chernabogue: And here we are. Lashmush returns with one final epic monster, blending together orchestra and heavy metal. This track shares a lot with Kefka's: organs, crazy solos, heavy rhythm, blast beats -- you know the deal. It's the final stretch, the grand finale of our crazy ride, filled with madness and pain. Just like a final boss, this track perfectly concludes the album -- an epic climax and the monster's agony. But were you BadAss enough? Lashmush: Another big project. This one was a bit harder as the three songs don't interlink naturally which I tried to work around as best I could. Turning them all into metal was relatively straightforward as the moods of the Lavos tracks are so dark and hectic. Again, I went for heavy extreme metal, which for me just lends itself naturally to these big epics. The result, I think, is a really intense and epic track.