ReMix: Blaster Master "Der Überfrosch" 3:34

By K. Praslowicz

Arranging the music of one song...


Primary Game: Blaster Master (Sunsoft, 1988, NES), music by Naoki Kodaka

Posted 2002-01-30, evaluated by djpretzel

Blaster Master certainly has produced ReMixes that are vastly different in tone and execution - from the rather boisterous beats of AmIEvil's 'DancerMaster' ReMix to this latest, dark and brooding ambient metal rendition courtesy of K. Praslowicz, the game's OST seems to run the gamut. A strong intro here, with church bells that I think are absolutely perfect, overtop a delicate acoustic guitar arpeggio, before the trademark K. distorted guitar of death shows up to decimate all that stand in its way. Cool thing that K. manages to consistently do, even with a wall-of-sound guitar taking up most of the sonic spectrum, is mix his pieces so that you can still hear what's going on underneath - which is good, because he spends time on the guts as well. Here, you've got the afforementioned arpeggios, but also some killer haunting ambient pads, waterphone-esque effects, and a rather good drum track with a thick kick and choice reverse cymbals towards the end. Very good, and very K.



on 2011-12-29 18:57:10

You and your barebones sources. _ This is 8 measures long, but it's really just this etheral soundscape setting up the game's backdrop.

But yeah, with the use of acoustic guitar and more atmospheric percussion it tends to add this more 'apocalyptic' feel to the source. It starts out safe to it, but it manages to play around a little bit when the electric guitars ended up coming in (though whether it would fit with the source's rhythms is another thing altogether). Yet, eventually it would crawl all the way back to the gentle acoustic nature and back again to that kind of riff; for me it seems to on the line of something more chilled and uninvolving.

It may be a flossy production but when considering that most of it could've held up just fine back then, I must state that I'm not really too keen on the texture for the guitars at all though; don't know if they're live or just weakly filtered synth ones, but this constant use of high-end can be seen as a draw against on it for me. The other instruments were humanised quite well and fit the soundscape, just that due to this flossy mixing it seems to have suffered considerably in regards to age.

It's a creepy take on such a minimalist source though, but in regards to the mix as a whole I couldn't really get into it. It's got some cool things that it tried to do, definitely, but all that taken into consideration I couldn't really see it as much of a keeper at all; I'm sorry :|

on 2009-10-27 10:59:09

I like the theatrical intro to this. The crunchy, distorted drum kick made everything sound like it was clipping. The rhythm guitar wasn't my favorite and there were some timing/performance issues with it. The drums do sound a bit thin for something that it supposed to really rock. THe breakdown with the just the guitar, pads, and drums is very nice. Gives it an interesting dynamic! I'm really not a fan of that guitar, but again, that's personal preference. Let's hear what we have next!

on 2009-09-28 00:55:16

The fake guitar is :-( . The ending kinda stinks too - it just stops in a fairly abrupt fashion, and feels really unnatural. Otherwise, I kinda like the direction despite not knowing the original source.

on 2009-01-15 03:09:26

starts off setting a very nice mood, but I'm not too crazy about the guitar when it's introduced. I think there was another one in the background behind it, and if so I'd like to hear it with just the one in the background. I just think it clashes a little too much with the acoustic guitar which is key in establishing the atmosphere.

on 2008-09-21 20:28:21

Very dark, love the atmosphere of this. The guitar arpeggio sets up a solid base for the track, and everything added to it really brings out the feel of ths piece. Right near the end it almost sounds like bowed cymbals (which is a really creepy sound if you haven't heard it).

Nice work.

on 2006-12-26 14:52:42

This one is nice, it mixes peace with agony really well, and my only complaint is that the drums are pretty crappy. I even like the distorted guitar synth, as it is used sparingly and tastefully.

The acoustic guitar arpeggios are especially nice, and anchor the track very well, and when the aforementioned guitar synths come in, the air-raid siren sounding synth that comes in lends an understated urgency.

Bad drums or no, this is cool stuff, especially coming from early 2002.

on 2004-09-05 02:52:23

Somewhow while downloading a bunch of songs from games I played over the past two years I missed this one.

And it is excellent.

Blaster Master's intro music was one of the best things about it.

Very tortured song.

Royal Sovereign
on 2004-08-12 13:30:52

Very mellow and introspective...very interesting work. It brings up some vague memory I have of being very small and driving along the West Virginia turnpike in the middle of the night...anyway, brilliant work. I'm a fan!

RimFrost the Tourianist
on 2004-07-10 21:12:05

Excellent deep BM remix , one of the very best i've heard of this sort :D

on 2004-07-10 02:09:11

Hey, this song is neat. why are there only three posts about it and why did it take me so long to come across it?!!!?!

on 2002-06-26 02:54:13

I like what's going on in this remix...very smooth flowing, an all around great piece to listen to. I thought this game went along well with the type of approach taken to the mix. Well done! :)

Samus Aran
on 2002-06-25 15:56:56

This piece is excellent!

I'm a huge BM fan -- I like EVERY BGM from Blaster Master. So naturally, I like the title theme as well, but I never thought anyone could remix it, because it's so short and rather repetetive. Well, KP found a way, and did it well.

Very moody, it evokes a mood that's true to the nature of Blaster Master: you can easily think of dark, damp, vast underground caverns when you hear this. The church bells are a nice touch. A great mix, overall! :)

Personal Rating: 8/10

A very hard task to remix the opening music from Blaster Master, but KP did it!

on 2002-05-22 01:32:30

Blaster Master 'Der Überfrosh'

K. Praslowicz definitely has a cool industrial thang going on here. I gotta admit I didn't like this at first, but then I got used to KP's very sonically heavy style and enjoyed it a lot. Anyway, this IS a well executed mix, even though it may take some time to grow on you.

Sources Arranged (1 Song)

Primary Game:
Blaster Master (Sunsoft, 1988, NES)
Music by Naoki Kodaka

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