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The Castlevania Dungeon Forums => General Castlevania Discussion => Topic started by: 赤月 on May 27, 2011, 02:48:25 AM

Title: Remix Battle! Judgement VS Harmony of Despair
Post by: 赤月 on May 27, 2011, 02:48:25 AM
A good big chunk of Judgement and Harmony of Despair use remixed tracks of older games.
Judgement's renditions are a little more pop techno influenced and Harmony of Despair's are more rock influenced.
Lets use Symphony of the Night's Dracula's Castle for an example:
This:
Castlevania Judgment OST - Dracula's Castle Alucard's Theme (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLy7J5meou0#)

VS

This:
Castle Dracula [Castlevania: Harmony of Despair OST] (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyL5lGMv_zQ#ws)
Title: Re: Remix Battle! Judgement VS Harmony of Despair
Post by: Chernabogue on May 27, 2011, 06:14:21 AM
Harmony of Despair wins for me, in a point of view of diversity. Judgment has too many "classics" we heard remixes 150.000 times, while HoD offers pieces I'd never expect to be remixes (ex: Festival of Servants, Poetic Death, Invitation of a Crazed Moon, Piercing Silence, etc.).

Plus I prefer the rock approach they took with HoD, though Judgment's arrangements give us more new things than HoD's.
Title: Re: Remix Battle! Judgement VS Harmony of Despair
Post by: Pemburu Vampir on May 27, 2011, 07:12:44 AM
I vote for Judgment. Most HoD remixes hurt my ears.
Title: Re: Remix Battle! Judgement VS Harmony of Despair
Post by: uzo on May 27, 2011, 11:36:19 AM
Judgement wins this one hands down. Some of HD's are terrible, with only a few really good ones. Judgement on the other hand has some of my favorite renditions in the whole franchise. And you can't tell me Cornell's theme didn't kick all kinds of ass. The added segment to Vampire Killer was just awesome. It fit so well with the tune in my opinion, and added a whole new life to it.

I do give HD props for one mix though, Ebony Wings from OoE. They nailed that one dead on.
Title: Re: Remix Battle! Judgement VS Harmony of Despair
Post by: Puwexil on May 27, 2011, 02:31:23 PM
They're both terrible. We all lose.

(judgment is a little less terrible, but this is only a compliment in the strictest comparison)
Title: Re: Remix Battle! Judgement VS Harmony of Despair
Post by: Renonsgoods on May 27, 2011, 05:37:18 PM
They're both terrible. We all lose.

(judgment is a little less terrible, but this is only a compliment in the strictest comparison)
They're comparing the musical arrangements of the two titles...not the games themselves.
Title: Re: Remix Battle! Judgement VS Harmony of Despair
Post by: Puwexil on May 27, 2011, 05:48:04 PM
I've no idea why you'd presume me to mean otherwise, but go ahead.
Title: Re: Remix Battle! Judgement VS Harmony of Despair
Post by: Renonsgoods on May 27, 2011, 08:29:50 PM
A misunderstanding sounded more probable than your comment being on the up and up.  But...suit yourself.  My mistake.
Title: Re: Remix Battle! Judgement VS Harmony of Despair
Post by: uzo on May 27, 2011, 08:35:16 PM
I've no idea why you'd presume me to mean otherwise, but go ahead.

We figured you had ears. Our mistake.
Title: Re: Remix Battle! Judgement VS Harmony of Despair
Post by: Flame on May 28, 2011, 12:13:51 AM
Judgement for me.

I dont really like the rock approach used for HD. It just doesnt fit for many of the actual tracks.

Ill give them props for remixing Heart of Fire, but It isnt the best remix either. (it cant beat Jorge's anyway)
Title: Re: Remix Battle! Judgement VS Harmony of Despair
Post by: Alutwon on May 28, 2011, 01:16:13 AM
I enjoy listening to songs I enjoy, in different ways so that I may enjoy them differently  ;D
Title: Re: Remix Battle! Judgement VS Harmony of Despair
Post by: thernz on May 28, 2011, 01:25:53 AM
I can't decide. I love guitars, riffin' and thrashin'. Take me to heaven, baby-guitars...
Title: Re: Remix Battle! Judgement VS Harmony of Despair
Post by: Puwexil on May 28, 2011, 01:50:32 AM
Dracula Battle is still the only worthwhile "let's make rock covers!" endeavor in the franchise's history. Judgment comes off as embarrassingly workmanlike and stock while Harmony of Despair manages almost malevolent discord with its ever-present grinding guitars. Don't try to rock out if you don't know how.

The only good part about Judgment is that it occasionally at least tries to embellish on the source material. Harmony of Despair has no such ambitions and remains as pointless as those "high-quality" versions of Portrait's music, for example.
Title: Re: Remix Battle! Judgement VS Harmony of Despair
Post by: Flame on May 28, 2011, 02:34:34 AM
My favorite Judgement track has to be The Beginning. It sounds almost "heroic" if that makes sense to anyone. And say what you will about Judgement's Trevor Beltmont,(no thats not a typo) but his pose certainly is badass.

Oh and Bloody tears. One of the best remixes of it, id say.
Title: Re: Remix Battle! Judgement VS Harmony of Despair
Post by: 赤月 on May 28, 2011, 04:03:12 AM
I actually am okay with HD's rock influenced take on their remixes.
At first I was like "just whut. and why?"
But after listening a few more times, I grew to enjoy it.
And Judgement's take on their remixes just blew me away when I first listened to it.
I love both.
Title: Re: Remix Battle! Judgement VS Harmony of Despair
Post by: Kaori on May 28, 2011, 04:45:30 AM
Judgment has some of my favorite remixes in the whole series. I was trying to think of one song that I like the most out of the remixes, but there's about 4 or 5 that I really like. My favorites are Iron Blue Intention, Beginning, Clock Work, The Wolf Revealed and Dracula's Castle. I also liked the original music in Judgment (such as Aeon's theme and character select screen). Overall, I think the only track I didn't like to some extent in Judgment was Elemental Tactician.

Harmony of Despair...meh. There were only a few songs I liked. I liked the remixes of Heart of Fire, Aquarius, and The Tragic Prince...which was renamed to Pitiful Scion in the HD soundtrack, and that was just about it. I didn't even really like the original music in HD either. There were only two original pieces of music in HD that I liked and those were Tractus and Tanz mit einem Clown. Also, correct me if I'm wrong and those two came from a CV. :P
Title: Re: Remix Battle! Judgement VS Harmony of Despair
Post by: uzo on May 28, 2011, 02:41:59 PM
Aside from remixes, Judgement and HD both had some good original songs that I liked. "Purple Eyes" (HD) and "Gallery" (J) especially.
Title: Re: Remix Battle! Judgement VS Harmony of Despair
Post by: 赤月 on May 29, 2011, 01:35:46 AM
Aside from remixes, Judgement and HD both had some good original songs that I liked. "Purple Eyes" (HD) and "Gallery" (J) especially.

^ I liked the character selection theme on Judgement.
Aeon's "Darkness of Fear" is just epic.
Title: Re: Remix Battle! Judgement VS Harmony of Despair
Post by: Nycterida on May 29, 2011, 06:56:46 PM
The rock version of Bloody Tears heard in Judgment wins all for me, it's one of the best versions alongside those that I consider "definitive" (Rondo of Blood, Castlevania IV and Dracula X Chronicles), and of course Naoto Shibata's from Dracula Battle. On the other hand, my other fav track, Iron Blue Intention was as mediocre as the game itself. As an album Despair is generally a more satisfying listen, I liked some arrangements from the Sorrow games. As for the tracks from Symphony, it's a testament to the quality of that OST that no arrangement ever came close to the original.
Title: Re: Remix Battle! Judgement VS Harmony of Despair
Post by: Puwexil on May 29, 2011, 07:45:20 PM
Judgment's Iron Blue Intention is by far the worst rendition of the song. I've never heard it sound so toothless and limp. It's almost a parody.
Title: Re: Remix Battle! Judgement VS Harmony of Despair
Post by: 赤月 on May 30, 2011, 06:09:58 AM
^ It wasn't too bad for me to listen, I thought Elemental Tactician was worse, I couldn't tell it was from Lament of Innocence until I saw the track's name on the OST tracklist.

The rock version of Bloody Tears heard in Judgment wins all for me, it's one of the best versions alongside those that I consider "definitive" (Rondo of Blood, Castlevania IV and Dracula X Chronicles), and of course Naoto Shibata's from Dracula Battle. On the other hand, my other fav track, Iron Blue Intention was as mediocre as the game itself. As an album Despair is generally a more satisfying listen, I liked some arrangements from the Sorrow games. As for the tracks from Symphony, it's a testament to the quality of that OST that no arrangement ever came close to the original.
I thought Lost Painting was a great rendition. But it could be just me.