Mickan44 - Bloody Tears
Straight in with a version of Bloody Tears, because I think it's a universal law that you can't talk about Castlevania music with getting at least one version of Bloody Tears in there somewhere. This is a nice piano version, proving that Bloody Tears is as comfortable with being a haunting ballad as it is with being a power-metal facemelter.
Kenneth Boxall - Awake
Castlevania: Circle of the Moon's music may have suffered somewhat due to the limitations of the Game Boy Advance's sound hardware, but the compositions themselves are excellent, as demonstrated by this orchestral arrangement of the opening area's theme.
Gina Gu - Garibaldi Temple
Sticking with the lesser regarded Castlevania games, here's one from Curse of Darkness. I've said it before and I'll say it again - I like Curse of Darkness, even if its flaws are pretty obvious. That said, it's the closest you're going to get to a Pokemon game set in the Castlevania universe, so there's that. As with pretty much every Castlevania game, one of CoD's strong points is its soundtrack and here's a simple cover of the Garibaldi Temple theme...played on a real harpsichord. There's just something really cool about that to me. Makes me wonder if J.S. Bach would enjoy a Castlevania soundtrack.
Xavier Deng - Marble Gallery
From classical to simply retro with an 8-bit demake of Symphony of the Night's Marble Gallery theme. NES-style in spirit with a dash of European home computer flavour courtesy of the arpeggios, it's giving me a craving to play every Konami NES game I can get my hands on.
Dangerous Mezashi Cat - Calling From Heaven
I'm not even sure how to describe this version of Castlevania Bloodlines' Calling From Heaven, but the mixture of swirling violins and pounding drums works for me, and then the electric guitar kicks in and it all becomes very clear that my musical tastes are not what you'd call sophisticated. If the Castlevania series ever produces a scrolling shoot-em-up spin-off, this should be the first song on the soundtrack.
goat - Dwelling of Doom
Just straight-up metal on this one, with wailing guitars and a bubbling bassline as goat tackles the mansion theme from Simon's Quest. This seems appropriate, given that Dwelling of Doom shares some similarities with Yngwie Malmsteen's Far Beyond the Sun.
LSD, Shnabubula - Beginning
Have some jazz, you uncultured swine. Castlevania and jazz seem to go together quite well. I'm just disappointed that I don't know enough about jazz to make any really bad Castlevania jazz puns, because I'm sure there must be some out there.
Perturbator - Clockwork
Perturbator, who gamers might know for his contributions to the Hotline Miami soundtrack, applies his trademark 80s-tinged techno-retro-futurism to Clockwork and creates a strangely danceable track that sounds like the opener to the ultimate 80's Hallowe'en party mixtape. I know I'll definitely be playing it next Hallowe'en. Not at a party or anything, mind. Just, you know, on my own. Me and the gummy spiders. Yup.
Konami Kukeiha Club / Nazo2 - Monster Dance
An official Konami remix from the Perfect Selection Dracula New Classic album, Monster Dance is given a stomping, almost tribal reworking by Nazo2 that adds an extra sense of eeriness to the appearance of the horrible night.
Kunal - Dance of Pales
Finally, here's my very favourite of the bunch: Kunal's excellent and unexpected reworking of Symphony of the Night's Dance of Pales, the piano waltz of the original replaced by funk drumming and twitching acoustic guitars. An unusual direction to take the track, but one that plays out perfectly and gets two thumbs up from me. It can be found on Bad Dudes Music's Castlevania remix album, which is definitely worth a download.
There you are, then - ten Castlevania tracks that have momentarily allowed me to forget the intolerable summer heat and pretend I'm in a cool, dank crypt. Now it's back to the endless sweating and trying to scrounge up as many electric fans as I can.
There you are, then - ten Castlevania tracks that have momentarily allowed me to forget the intolerable summer heat and pretend I'm in a cool, dank crypt. Now it's back to the endless sweating and trying to scrounge up as many electric fans as I can.
