It would seem these days that if you add “step” to the end of anything it constitutes it as a musical genre. Music these days if full of weird and wonderful genres ranging from the more mainstream like rock and pop to the utterly bizarre like mathcore and Viking battle metal. But one of the genres that has taken the world by storm in dubstep. If you’ve never heard of dubstep then I suggest leaving the cave you’ve been living in.
Dubstep is a more progressive, heavier take on dance music, but when you combine it with some of the most classic tracks from one of the greatest video game series of all time you truly get something phenomenal. “Zeldastep” (and no prizes for guessing) is a genre wholly based around dubstep type remixes of tracks from the Legend of Zelda series.
The first track, and perhaps my personal favourite, is a remix of “Lost Woods” by the artist Ephixa. The Lost Woods as location appears in a number of Legend of Zelda games including the original title, however the track in question appears in Ocarina of Time and the original can be listened to here. This remix opens with the tune of Lost Woods with a heavy drum beat backing it. This builds, with original elements of the tune coming through, but the eeire ( and annoying voice) chimes in with the ever memorable “listen!”. Here the track leaps into the 21st century with heavy bass and a synthesised version of the original tune. And like all dubstep tracks there is no absence of wubs and other such bizarre sounds. This repeats for the rest of the track, alternating between the original track and the remix.
The second track is by the same artist, and it goes by the name of “Song of Storms“. Like Lost Woods, Song of Storms appears in the 1998 Legend of Zelda game Ocarina of Time. Unlike the Lost Woods remix there is no introduction using the original track. Instead there is a quiet synthesised version of the tune. This is repeated and slowly builds up and up until the tune completely dominates the track. Although this track can get quite repetitive the variation on the original is truly brilliant. All of Ephixa’s Legend of Zelda remixes can be bought on his website.
