Metroid Metal

Game Music

Original Sound Version Is Going To MAGFest!

November 19, 2009 | Audun Sorlie | 9 Comments Share this

That’s right, many of the staff members of OSV will be traveling out to spend New Years in Virginia at the Music and Gaming Festival, better known as MAGFest. This will be the 8th time the convention is taking place, and as always there will be plenty of bands, special guests and activities going on to spend your valuable time with.

Jayson Napolitano and yours truly, Audun Sorlie will be at hand to take part in the festivities, hanging out with the bands and taking in way too much alcohol for our fragile little bodies. and other staff members are sure to be coming as well. MAGFest takes place in Alexandria, VA at the Hilton Mark Center from January 1st to 4th, with concerts and events every day.

But what exactly can you expect this year? Well join me as I take a look at the line up for M8! (more…)
Doujin, Game Music

Metroid Metal Newest Release: Super Metroid Ending!

November 13, 2009 | Audun Sorlie | 1 Comment Share this

Grant Henry, known as Stemage and frontman of Metroid Metal let us know that he has released a new track recently, this time from Super Metroid, the “Ending Theme” to be exact! He’s joined by Dan Taylor on bass and his brother Adam Henry, who does an impressive job.

Grant says “Here it is – the last ‘few’ notes of the Super Metroid soundtrack. It’s a wild one, taking the shape of something more like ‘Boss Medley’ in structure, as opposed to the verse/chorus/verse style of other newer tracks. It’s very “old school” in that regard.” It certainly is a bit different from Metroid Metal’s other recent songs.

It also seems we won’t have to wait long before we see more new material, as he further mentions “I have firm plans for the next track, and I want to get the foot back up on the monitor for it. So, you can expect a pretty straight forward metal track.” Check out all the details and downloads at Metroid Metal.
Doujin

Cutting Into Jason Cox: XOC Interview

October 22, 2009 | Audun Sorlie | 8 Comments Share this Cutting Into Jason Cox: XOC Interview

XOC is one of the better known arrangement artists in America. Ever since he released SMW, fans have been in love with his strange yet superb arrangement style, interesting song choices and bizarre personality. With over 15 releases under his belt, he has established himself as quite a prolific artist, and every release is more exciting than the next it seems.

Currently, XOC is enjoying a great reception for his latest album, XOC Plays SMB3, which is a digital release arranging the full soundtrack of Super Mario Bros. 3, and if that alone isn’t exciting enough, he’s joined by none other than Dan Taylor, the amazing bassist of Metroid Metal. XOC was kind enough to get some clothes on and answer anything we could throw at him in this interesting interview detailing most of his releases so far.

To read our interview with XOC, click the jump! (more…)
Doujin, Game Music

When Lou Albano Passed Away, XOC Decided to Play Super Mario Bros. 3

October 16, 2009 | Audun Sorlie | 1 Comment Share this

Captain Lou Albano sadly passed away this week. He was a well known wrestler in his day, wrestling in the tag team The Sicilians in WWF (the promotion that later became WWE), and later became a manager during the 80s’ colorful WWF roster. However, what most of us know and love him for, is his role as Mario in the Super Mario Bros. Super Show! Many people decided to play the different Mario games and watch the show in tribute of the sad loss, and someone decided to release something special to lighten us up.

Jason Cox, who is more famous as XOC, is quite famous for his quirky, light hearted arrangement, using everything from guitars to rubber duckies. In 2005, he released SMW, a complete Super Mario World soundtrack arrangement album which took the game music community by storm, and has since released many releases ranging from movie game soundtracks to Kirby, but now he has returned to Mario yet again and delivering XOC Plays Super Mario Bros. 3, a complete Super Mario Bros 3 arrangement project. He’s not alone either, as he has brought on Dan Taylor, the bassist from Metroid Metal to do the bass for many of the tracks.

You can get the album at XOCMusic.com for $5 USD, which contains both high quality MP3 and FLAC encodings. So pick it up, honor the talent and memory of Lou Albano and be sure to check out our review of the album in the near future!
Game Music

Steamy Stemage: Grant “Metroid Metal” Henry Interview

September 8, 2009 | Audun Sorlie | 8 Comments Share this

Yesterday we gave you the review of Metroid Metal: Varia Suite, and called it one of the best CDs of 2009. For many years fans have only dreamed of a full studio album from Metroid Metal, and finally it’s here. With the CD being such a masterpiece and activity within the band being at an all time high, we couldn’t help but chat with the mind behind this project.

So today we are happy to bring you an interview with Grant Henry, the man behind Metroid Metal! After many years as a fan favorite through his website, he’s today having great success with live shows and the new CD with his band mates. Find out where the project started, what Metroid game Grant prefers and how a bald man swept him off his feet. It’s all here. Special thanks to Tommy Ciulla for helping out with some great questions!

Read the interview after the jump! (more…)
Game Music, Reviews

Planet Shattering CD: Metroid Metal – Varia Suite (Review)

September 7, 2009 | Audun Sorlie | 3 Comments Share this

Metroid has always been a unique game series. Since the first game’s release in 1987, gamers have been hooked on the barren, lonely atmosphere, exciting boss fights, exploration of strange places and of course, the excellent music by Hip Tanaka.

Metroid was unlike anything else in terms of gameplay and music. It didn’t use upbeat samba or rock ‘n roll influenced tracks. Rather, it was more mysterious, sending you into a huge world of unknown beings and sounds, with a heroic main theme in Brinstar, to the chilling boss theme against Ridley, it’s a solid classic. Metroid 2 and Super Metroid by Ryoji Yoshitomi and Kenji Yamamoto, released on Game Boy and SNES respectively only helped Metroid reach its iconic status.

So with the music being so recognizable and held in such high regard, naturally a lot of arrangements and fan projects and have focused on Metroid, and tomorrow, Metroid Metal will unleash their new CD upon the world.

So, did they do the series justice? Do a screw attack and find out after the jump! (more…)
Game Music

Metroid Metal: Varia Suite is Almost Ready to Suck Away Your Money

August 17, 2009 | Audun Sorlie | 5 Comments Share this

It’s almost here, the Metroid Metal studio album is right around the corner! Grant Henry, AKA Stemage is well known for his work on Metroid Metal where he has arranged the full soundtracks for Metroid, Metroid 2 and Super Metroid into pure metal glory, and has gone on to start arranging the music from the Prime series. Last year, he put together a live band consisting of Dan Taylor, Dan Behrens, Mike Molnar and Kevin Lawrence for an amazing performance at MAGFest 7 and also to record the long awaited Metroid Metal studio album! The release date is September 8, 2009, so get your wallets ready and be prepared for what might be the best game arrangement CD of 2009. They posted a preview on YouTube for everyone to enjoy.

You can also catch Metroid Metal live at PAX at September 4th, and pre-order their CD here. Be sure to watch for our review of the album soon!

Do you feel the Metroid spirit is retained in the metal style? And is there any other game you would like to see get similar treatment?