Speaking of “Conquer All”, I just stumbled across the 8-bit version of it on YouTube – as well as 8-bit versions of practically every other metal song ever made. 8-bit metal was probably hot, like, two years ago, but I really don’t spend time on YouTube unless I’m researching for a post (or procrastinating from writing one – then it’s Hair Nation up in here.) I’m astounded at what people are 8-bitting: Beherit, Celtic Frost, The Black Dahlia Murder’s entire catalogue. Not everything sounds good in 8-bit (though 8-bit does improve a lot of music).
Here are my findings about 8-bit metal:
1. Melodic stuff works better than atonal stuff in 8-bit.
2. Double bass drums sound awesome in 8-bit.
3. Tom fills sound awesome in 8-bit.
4. Every Burzum song sounds good in 8-bit.
5. Every guitar solo sounds like Dream Theater’s keyboardist in 8-bit.
Armed with this knowledge, I present some 8-bit metal wonders to brighten your day. I avoided the most obvious choices – Metallica and Slayer – because they were the most obvious choices.
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Behemoth – “Conquer All” (8-bit)
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8-bit versions of songs are like acoustic versions in that they expose the strength of the songwriting. Good songs come across in any setting (except for maybe the pop dance remix). They have strong melodies, strong rhythms, and strong movement over time. This song is like Super Mario roided up on the invincibility star forever.
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Carcass – “Heartwork” (8-bit)
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This is the tightest Carcass has ever played. Ken Owen has been woodshedding and is now like an atomic clock. Carcass clearly has a long career ahead full of brutal, challenging death metal.
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Dark Tranquillity – Lost to Apathy” (8-bit)
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“Punish My Heaven” would be the obvious choice for Dark Tranquillity, but “Lost to Apathy” sounds better in 8-bit. Be careful – the clip is a bit loud. (Even 8-bit metal has over-compressed mastering [sigh].) The ascending verse riff is just like the part in Contra where you lie down and shoot at targets while land mines roll toward you. (At least I think so; it’s been a while since I played Contra.)
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Death – “Crystal Mountain” (8-bit)
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It’s a given that a song called “Crystal Mountain” will sound killer in 8-bit. There should be a Death-themed video game where every level is based on a different Death album, in chronological order. I think that would be awesome. I also think that ideas like this are why I do not work in the gaming industry.
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Judas Priest – “Painkiller” (8-bit)
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Why is Dimebag Darrell the graphic for this clip??? Unfortunately, 8-bit cannot convey the awesomeness of Rob Halford’s voice. But it can convey some awesome 6-string shredding. In fact, the song’s solos and tempo are exactly like the soundtrack to a bitchin’ motorcycle game called Road Rash (anyone remember that?). OK, that was Sega Genesis and thus 16-bit, but it’s really not that different.
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Megadeth – “Hangar 18″ (8-bit)
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Holy balls is this shredding. Those solo trade-offs at the end are scorching.
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Darkthrone – “Transilvanian Hunger” (8-bit)
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Of course, this is Darkthrone’s song, not Mayhem’s. There’s a more faithful 8-bit version out there of this song, but this one is such a brilliant parody of terrible, lo-fi black metal that it had me practically in tears. Laughing, that is, unlike the many bands I’ve heard live that actually sound like this. They drove me to tears for other reasons.
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Got any other good 8-bit metal to share?
8 Bit MayheM plays NESBM EXCLUSIVELY!! http://www.myspace.com/8bitmayhem
Would it be a contradiction in terms to 8-bit something from Dragonforce?
I meant redundant, not contradiction.
I was just watching a documentary about the Chip Tunes movement and this is a fantastic compliment. Crystal Mountain sounds like it should be in Contra
Where can we download these?!
Having listened to it in two different versions today, I’m struck by how much the main riff in “Conquer All” sounds like the one from Anthrax’s “Be All End All.”
http://8bc.org/music/Norrin_Radd/Spinning+%28NES+Spiral+Architect+cover%29/
8-bit Spiral Architect. Someone did it. And the harmonies too.
The beginning “Heartwork” sounds like some really bad breakcore/Noism ripoff.
I still have the urge to lose my shit to the 8 bit version of March of the Fire Ants by Mastodon
All Megadeth songs sound great in 8-Bit, especially Headcrusher and Holy Wars.
the darkthrone one reminded me of a Suicide song. I half expected the singer to start coming in moaning about Frankie Teardrop.
My only real foray into the 8-bit music realm was a Kraftwerk tribute album, that like Kraftwerk sounded great.
Stax – There are a number of free YouTube to MP3 converters online. Here’s one, for example:
http://www.video2mp3.net/
Note that because YouTube is severely compressed data to begin with, you’re not going to get great bitrates in the conversion (the high quality setting with this particular converter seems to be 128kbps) – not that it really matters for 8-bit stuff.
This isn’t metal, but it is relevant to this post and pretty cool.
Has anyone heard Tristan Perich’s 1-Bit Symphony? He sells a programmed 1-bit circuit housed in a CD jewel case that plays his composition. It’s not very brutal, but it is something.
Why can’t you 8-bitify a singer?
That did nothing but put heavy emphasis on just how shitty Death’s song writing really was.
jimmy bowser, haha. these decibel-esque subtitles are getting ridiculous
the Necrophagist and Protest the Hero ones are good.
8-bit covers are nice, but it’s all about the originals.
C64 Skate Or Die – Intro: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqRXxPl6bXA
C64 Last Ninja 2 – The Mansion: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMJjqVB9JCM
And of course the ultime 8-bit classic: Rob Hubbard’s timeless Commando http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrQuR1LHAVI
The De Mysteriis Dom SuperNES Darkthrone Transilvanian Hunger sounds like a Striborg album. It perfectly nails his “drum” sound.
Martjin I’m partial to the c64 Tetris music, which is one looooong sid. Something like 20 minutes. Here’s the first nine : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jidayGRfWr0
*Martijn, terribly sorry. Wish we could edit our comments on IO.
Third post in a row, woo! http://fonix.dyndns.org:40000/soasc/soasc_mp3/MUSICIANS/B/Beben_Wally/Tetris_T01.sid_MOS6581R2.mp3 here’s a good quality mp3 render of the 20 minute original. Browse SOASC generally if you want great quality sid renders.
I am a (closet) big fan of everything 8-bit / chiptuned. Therefore, I love this post. I never thought to look for an amalgamation of two of my favorite sounds: metal’s ominous din reduced to its purest form via the stark, integer-like purity of chiptune.
There is a documentary about chiptune called ~Reformat the Planet~ that I’ve seen. It’s okay, and some of the “performances” seem a bit over the top, but different scenes appeal to different people, so if they’re enjoying it, more power to them. I know you have a background in DJ-ing, too, Cosmo, so maybe this would be interesting to you in some form or fashion:
http://www.joystiq.com/2010/08/12/chiptune-documentary-reformat-the-planet-on-dvd-august-24/
Heartwork sounds pretty damn badass! I mean, no one would ever miss how amazing Carcass’s riffs are on the original, but when you cut all the mud out, they sound astounding.
Okay, the 8-bit version of “I Am Black Wizards” is really great too.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVF3M_dn7sI
Nathan – You can. It just depends on whether someone has fed a melody line into the 8-bit process. A growl in most cases wouldn’t generate such a melody line.
TomB – The ingenuity and enthusiasm associated with chiptunes appeals to me more than the actual music, because I don’t like the 8-bit sound set much to begin with.
Origin- The Aftermath in 8-bit:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpoaVXVCMh4
sounds exactly like the real band minus vocals.
science fiction CYBORG metal FTW. In the future, T-1000’s rock out to this exclusively.
You’re right about Painkiller. Really makes me want to go back & play some Road Rash, and start hitting the other bikers with the police baton.
FTW http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1WWpKEPdT4&feature=related
couldn’t resist, sorry