Thursday, October 25, 2018

Castlevania: Scarlet Night


I'm beginning to wonder if the Pixel Mixers ever take breaks or if they are even human. 2018 alone has teen the group pumping out some truly amazing video game arrangement albums. These guys are stepping up to the plate and hitting one home run after another. I'm actually playing catch up on these album write ups. Castlevania: Scarlet Night came out some time ago (September 6th, to be precise) and if you're looking for some horror jams for Halloween or you just love Castlevania music, you need to give this free album a listen.

It cannot be understated just how great Castlevania music is. The fact that the Castlevania stage in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate will a whopping 34 music tracks is a testament to how outstanding the music in this series really is. Scarlet Night has a total of 29 tracks, spanning over  86 minutes of music. If you're wondering are there arrangements for Vampire Killer, Bloody Tears, The Beginning, Bloodlines and Aquarius, some of the most well known, Castlevania songs, the answer is a roaring "YES, THERE ARE!" I think most would agree that it would be criminal if those tracks weren't represented in some form or another here and each one gets their own track. Vampire Killer, which kicks off this album is a lovely piano piece, Wicked Child is heavy on the rock while Beginning is dripping heavy metal.

The Pixel Mixers have shown great appreciation for lesser arranged tracks on past albums and that trend continues here. Battle of the Holy (from Castlevania Adventure on the GB) is one of my favorite tracks on here and it certainly wasn't something I was expecting to tap my toes and bob my head to. The Legend of Dracula (also from Castlevania Adventure) is primarily a flute arrangement, making it really stand out from everything else on here, but in a good way. Cross Your Heart (Haunted Castle) is a tune I became familiar with thanks to buying the game it was from on the PSN so I was happy to recognize a track from one of the more obscure Castlevania titles.


There's also a hefty dose of funk as well as electronic music to be found here. All told, this is yet another top notch Pixel Mixers album and a wonderful tribute to Castlevania. The album is free, so there's no reason not to have it in your digital music collection. I'm just waiting for the day these fellows release a Mega Man album.

Castlevania: Scarlet Night

No comments:

Post a Comment