When we did our interview with Eric W. Brown, the Evil Southern Mastermind behind Rainbowdragoneyes and Magic Hammer, he dropped some hints about his future projects. Notably, he was working on a concept album for Rainbowdragoneyes set to be released in late 2010. An extra four months were spent tweaking and fine-tuning the album to perfection but as promised, Eric has finally unleashed his malevolent creation unto the world... introducing 「The Primordial Booze」(5$ or free download)
Before we even get to the music, the fittingly gruesome artwork by Victor Furious deserves a mention. On it, Lord Brown enjoys his Primordial Booze concoction while throning over the shredded corpses of his enemies, with a furious orgy of flames whirling in the background. Now, despite being produced almost entirely with tools based on the 8 and 16 bits era of video gaming, there is a very strong three-dimensional quality to 「The Primordial Booze」which can be broken into: chipmusic, vocals, lyrics. These features can be appreciated (or despised) individually; which is to say if the lyrics turn you off, then you can always turn to the other components.
Why would one not enjoy the lyrics? There is some real sick shit at hand, so unless you are an open-minded individual with a great sense of humour, you should stick to Justin Bieber et al. Obviously "Rape Castle" pushes the boundaries, but it reminds me of the controversy around Penny-Arcade's dickwolves comic. You either get it... or you don't. "The Replicator" is equally eye-opening, with its line about cloning somebody and "make you watch while I stab you in the crotch". "Fortune's Dividend" and "Creatures Ov Deception" also contain some shocking lines, but fans of Adventure Metal should feel right at home with these texts.
We asked Eric where he draws his hateful inspiration from: "Once I have a good concept to write about, the lyrics usually come relatively easy -- then I just try to make them fit with catchy rhymes. It's easy to write angry shit because I just think about how just about everything I lay eyes or ears on in this world disgusts and infuriates me". As for how he approaches his verses: "I like to sing from first-person perspective even though the song might not be about me, per se, I'm just the storyteller. And I've never been one for subtleties, why beat around the bush when you can just cut to the chase?"
Even if you aren't well-versed in chiptune methodology and elaborate song-crafting, you'd have to be dense not to recognize the amount of personal dedication that was poured into this album. Furthermore, 「The Primordial Booze」 was almost entirely produced with the aid of Little Sound DJ, a homebrew Gameboy application highly popular in the chiptune scene. Says Eric: "The album is about 90% LSDJ- I record all four channels separate, add a few vectors if I feel they are needed (drums, choir, FX, percussion, more FM synth), record vocals and mix. I do everything within Logic Pro."
Despite the daunting image projected by the album cover, guttural growls and twisted lyrics, Rainbowdragoneyes has intense nerd cred. If you're curious about why the bass is so heavy in "The Primordial Booze", wonder no more: "The chip used on that one is a Yamaha YM2164, very similar to the Genesis chip (primary difference is it has MIDI instead of PCM), and the drum samples I use were actually ripped from Sonic The Hedgehog games, for that smooth, cool Genesis feel." Furthermore, the album features guest chip-solos by IAYD, Bit Shifter and Derris-Kharlan.
In order to fully comprehend RDE, you must listen to these new songs with a high-quality pair of headphones. Countless minuscule touches were cunningly and carefully applied in each track, but they won't come up and slap you in the face. You have to hunt them down like easter eggs, which enhances the listening experience for those of us who can appreciate attention to detail. Although 8bitpeoples did a great job with the free MP3s, it is recommended that you purchase the high-quality original tracks to get the full experience. A pressed CD will be available within the coming weeks.
In related news: MAGIC HAMMER will release a new EP this summer. Rainbowdragoneyes is set to appear at South By Southwest on March 18th. "Heavy Weather: Storm ov the Undead" will soon appear on Rock Band Network. It will use the new keyboard and vocal harmony features of Rock Band 3 and is said to be ten times harder than "Creatures Ov Deception"!
Before we even get to the music, the fittingly gruesome artwork by Victor Furious deserves a mention. On it, Lord Brown enjoys his Primordial Booze concoction while throning over the shredded corpses of his enemies, with a furious orgy of flames whirling in the background. Now, despite being produced almost entirely with tools based on the 8 and 16 bits era of video gaming, there is a very strong three-dimensional quality to 「The Primordial Booze」which can be broken into: chipmusic, vocals, lyrics. These features can be appreciated (or despised) individually; which is to say if the lyrics turn you off, then you can always turn to the other components.
Why would one not enjoy the lyrics? There is some real sick shit at hand, so unless you are an open-minded individual with a great sense of humour, you should stick to Justin Bieber et al. Obviously "Rape Castle" pushes the boundaries, but it reminds me of the controversy around Penny-Arcade's dickwolves comic. You either get it... or you don't. "The Replicator" is equally eye-opening, with its line about cloning somebody and "make you watch while I stab you in the crotch". "Fortune's Dividend" and "Creatures Ov Deception" also contain some shocking lines, but fans of Adventure Metal should feel right at home with these texts.
We asked Eric where he draws his hateful inspiration from: "Once I have a good concept to write about, the lyrics usually come relatively easy -- then I just try to make them fit with catchy rhymes. It's easy to write angry shit because I just think about how just about everything I lay eyes or ears on in this world disgusts and infuriates me". As for how he approaches his verses: "I like to sing from first-person perspective even though the song might not be about me, per se, I'm just the storyteller. And I've never been one for subtleties, why beat around the bush when you can just cut to the chase?"
Even if you aren't well-versed in chiptune methodology and elaborate song-crafting, you'd have to be dense not to recognize the amount of personal dedication that was poured into this album. Furthermore, 「The Primordial Booze」 was almost entirely produced with the aid of Little Sound DJ, a homebrew Gameboy application highly popular in the chiptune scene. Says Eric: "The album is about 90% LSDJ- I record all four channels separate, add a few vectors if I feel they are needed (drums, choir, FX, percussion, more FM synth), record vocals and mix. I do everything within Logic Pro."
Despite the daunting image projected by the album cover, guttural growls and twisted lyrics, Rainbowdragoneyes has intense nerd cred. If you're curious about why the bass is so heavy in "The Primordial Booze", wonder no more: "The chip used on that one is a Yamaha YM2164, very similar to the Genesis chip (primary difference is it has MIDI instead of PCM), and the drum samples I use were actually ripped from Sonic The Hedgehog games, for that smooth, cool Genesis feel." Furthermore, the album features guest chip-solos by IAYD, Bit Shifter and Derris-Kharlan.
In order to fully comprehend RDE, you must listen to these new songs with a high-quality pair of headphones. Countless minuscule touches were cunningly and carefully applied in each track, but they won't come up and slap you in the face. You have to hunt them down like easter eggs, which enhances the listening experience for those of us who can appreciate attention to detail. Although 8bitpeoples did a great job with the free MP3s, it is recommended that you purchase the high-quality original tracks to get the full experience. A pressed CD will be available within the coming weeks.
In related news: MAGIC HAMMER will release a new EP this summer. Rainbowdragoneyes is set to appear at South By Southwest on March 18th. "Heavy Weather: Storm ov the Undead" will soon appear on Rock Band Network. It will use the new keyboard and vocal harmony features of Rock Band 3 and is said to be ten times harder than "Creatures Ov Deception"!
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