NEScapism II: NEScaper! The Electric Witch returns with intense video game soundscapes
The Witch is back.
Zac Bentz, AKA The Electric Witch has returned with a followup nearly three years in the making with his sequel to NEScapism, which was released (and blogged about) back in 2012. Rich re-imaginings of music from Contra, Mega Man, Shadowgate, Final Fantasy, and Ultima Exodus are all included on the album for the full price of one dollar.
The Mega Man track may be the most robotic version of MM music I have ever heard, and it's wonderful. Then there is the nearly ten minute Contra remix to close the album. The remix is far less metal than most takes on the soundtrack. Instead EW uses surreal sounds and discomforting sound effects to create the haunting soundscape of an earthwide invasion of space aliens. An incredible, if uncomfortable ending to a great album.
Hopefully The Electric Witch will find time to release another sequel in the future.
“NEScapism II: NEScaper! is the second in a series of sleepy little love-letters to the video games I grew up with. The games whose music meant just as much to me, if not more, as the escapism they provided my isolated imagination. These are the songs that I would let play over and over, ignoring whatever might have been happening on-screen. Letting them loop and spiral outward. I’ve tried to capture that feeling on this album, adding my own inner echoes.”
