#hiscore

“OK, there’s so much to be said about this one. First of all, I didn’t think this would be possible. If we were doing this medley we would have to make it bigger and more epic than the first one ['Samus Voyage']. But the first medley was really well received and it was such a huge undertaking making that 10+ minute long track spanning all Metroid games and several different genres. However, Darren and I discussed it and we felt that it would be a great callback to 101% Run. I asked around among my friends to find a crew that I felt could make a solid track together. The first goal was to make a 15 minute track, but it turned into almost a 25 minute one. I didn’t really want to make many tracks myself but didn’t have much of a choice since time started running away and the crew didn’t have time to take on any additional tracks on the ones they were doing already. I’m super proud of everyone involved in this track and, for me personally, this is one of the coolest tracks I’ve been a part of. It tells the story and the journey that players have taken with Samus since the NES days. One game at the time in the order of their release and at the end sending a short little hint at the future of Metroid with the inclusion of the 'Vs. Corpious' melody from Metroid Dread. I’m just super proud and so thankful for everyone involved in this! I think it turned out absolutely great! It was really close that it wasn’t finished on time, but here we are and the track is on the album. And it’s way better than I ever dared hope.” - Sebastian Fousinette

This medley of Metroid music brings in a huge team of musicians, who each tackle a different song from a different game.

The medley opens on the sound of an NES being booted up. The appearance fanfare plays, which, contrary to the suggestion of a game that has just begun, leads into a rock cover of the Escape theme by Moa Lenngren.

After resolving the heroic portion of the Escape theme, the song winds down into a choral rendition of the Hatchling theme by Tove Pettersson and Sebastian Fousinette, which, after an acoustic guitar solo, grows in intensity, leading into a dark orchestral take on Samus' theme from Super Metroid by Thomas Lundell.

Samuel Lidström's take on the Sector 4 (AQA) control zone theme from Fusion is a grungy synth-and-bells take on the song, which then leads into an equally synth-infused take on the ethereal Phendrana Drifts theme from Prime by Simon Palmblad. Things shift into a tense and increasingly bombastic orchestral cover of Kraid's battle theme from Super and Zero Mission by Mauricio de Carvalho, before seguing into a calming take on Echoes' Sanctuary Fortress theme in Sebastian Fousinette's signature mixed acoustic style.

After a detour into a smooth cover of Prime's Artifact Temple theme (representing Metroid Prime Pinball) by Joel Sandberg, Drakeld offers up a groovy jazz-infused take on Hunters' Celestial Archives theme, featuring Bobbie Jane Desforge on the saxophone. This laid-back section ends with Moa Lenngren wailing the notes to Gandrayda's battle theme from Corruption, and a quote from before the fight itself:

"You know, you should never trust strangers, Sammy. Now this is going to be fun."

Moa then dives into an aggressive heavy metal take on Gandrayda's theme, complete with angry screams from both the guitar and the player. As the song reaches a climax, the mix winds down, leading into Sebastian Fousinette's acoustic cover of the Metroid Prime Trilogy. From here on out, all the performances are either Sebastian or Samuel Lidström.

The Trilogy theme transitions into a tense electronic cover of Other M's "Approaching Sector Zero" theme. At the drop, Sebastian, Alex Parrish, and Zack Parrish re-enact the moments before Adam Malkovich's death, with Sebastian as the station alert, Alex reprising her role as Samus from the Blast Ball cover, and Zack as Adam:

"Emergency in Sector Zero. Disengaging unit." "What are you planning to do with the Metroids here in Sector Zero?" "Leave it to me. I will deal with this place." "You have a plan for dealing with Metroids that can't be frozen?" "Sector Zero has a self-destruct protocol. If the sector receives a significant amount of damage, the unit is programmed to detach and self-destruct. A powerful explosion will eliminate the Metroids and MB without leaving a trace." "Adam... Adam? ...Leave the rest to me."

With this, the song plunges into a powerful orchestral take on the theme. After this comes a softer take on the Federation Force splash screen theme on plucked strings that retains lingering tension from the previous song, which slowly builds to an emotional rock cover of the Chozo Lab theme from Metroid: Samus Returns, the most recent Metroid release at the time of the album's release in 2021.

With every game covered, the arrangements fade out into the high notes of the series main theme as sung by Tove Pettersson. Slowly, the bassline from Samus' theme layers itself under the title theme until finally it takes over.

The most distinctive part of this remix is when the intensity drops away and the style briefly changes into a festive Irish dance-inspired cover of Samus' theme. This section leads into an even more intense rock cover of Samus' theme and a guitar solo which is anchored by the lingering notes of the title theme. As the song climaxes and fades into silence, the soft, ominous notes of the recurring item room theme play (reminiscent of the theme's incorporation into the credits theme of Super Metroid), and the song finally closes on a few dissonant, near-silent notes of Corpius' boss theme from Metroid Dread.

This medley makes me cry. Every single performer is giving the performance of a lifetime. Tove Pettersson's singing in the Hatchling theme and title themes is beyond gorgeous, with the Hatchling theme (which otherwise has received relatively little attention on these albums) standing out as one of the best covers of that song. Moa Lenngren's angry Gandrayda cover is insanely good and uniquely captures the Phazon madness before she dies. The way that the style and tone of Phendrana Drifts and Sanctuary Fortress are totally reversed is very clever and helps the emotional arc of the medley. Alex and Zacks' vocal performances in the Sector Zero section does the impossible and makes me care about the plot of Other M. The way that a song from Dread was worked in with only a few trailers to work with is very impressive. And that final section before the end!! Is perhaps the best cover of Samus' theme ever. It's heroic, it's sad, it's angry, it gets it. The Irish-inspired section is a flash of warmth and innocence like a childhood memory (Aran is an Irish name after all!), the calm before the storm. The musicians of HiScore made something that cannot be replicated, a true musical monument to this beautiful series.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Crystal Flash Certified