Nightmare ~ the WORLD (Death Note OP)

for YM2612 + SN76489

by MetallicOrwell

Hello and welcome back. While I'm no stranger to non-video game music, I'm pretty sure this is the first time I've ever covered an anime theme song. Death Note has a special place in my heart because it brings back memories from a different time (also, Light's megalomania still hits close to home). You may not know this, but the series wasn't always a huge hit in the west--it used to be watched exclusively by otaku freaks, and if you want to know what those were, just play Class of '09. Regardless, "the WORLD" by Nightmare is actually very atypical for an anime theme song, which is probably one of the main reasons why it's so memorable. They had to chop it up and remove some parts so it would fit the appropriate length for a TV series, so I'm betting not that many people have heard the full version, but here it is, reborn for the Sega Mega Drive--just because I can.

My recollection of anime themes is that they tend to sound rather interchangeable, as well as very polished, and this is the opposite of that. It's a rock song at heart, and if anything it sounds underproduced, especially the drums. It's a little outside my area of expertise, because I specialize in full-on heavy metal, but it's adjacent enough for me to at least try to do the usual musical analysis. So: the WORLD is in B minor throughout, with some dissonance here and there, especially that cheeky A# borrowed from the harmonic minor scale (probably). It's not really riff-based; rather, you get mostly power chords with some additional licks to spice it up. The highlight of the song is the singing, which is very Japanese in style. That's another difference: in my world (heh), the guitar is king and the vocals are important, but definitely secondary. Here, they carry the entire emotional weight of the song and push it forward.

Speaking of emotion, the WORLD has a very tragic, yet determined feel to it. There's an interview where the band members explain how they read the Death Note manga and then tried to compose a fitting song. So, what you're hearing is their interpretation of the series filtered through their musical taste and ability. See, when I watch (and especially read) Death Note I don't get the same feeling of melodrama that the WORLD conveys, probably because the series focuses so much more on the intrigue--it's much more of a thriller than an emotional or psychological story, and it's by design: the creators have said as much. When you really think about it, the WORLD would've been a much better fit for a show like Code Geass, which balances intrigue, emotion and morality far better than Death Note... and now I've got JIBUN WOOO stuck in my head (and so do you).

We've established the WORLD is a bit of a mismatch with Death Note, but that doesn't stop it from being an absolute banger. In addition to guitar, drums, bass and vocals, you get synth strings and even piano to add to the melodrama, and it works very well. Adapting it to the Mega Drive was a very fast and easy process, because I've got my metal formula: E. Bass 70, my own rhythm guitars, lead guitars, strings, electric piano, drum samples, etc. Some of the polyphony had to be sacrificed, of course, but no biggie. Also, some of the guitar parts were a bit difficult to make out because there are many layers and the production is raw, but that's what splitters are for. Regardless, this was primarily based on a Guitar Pro tab, even if I modified a lot of things later. I'd like to take a moment to thank the countless people who have transcribed songs and posted them on the internet over the years, be it as standard MIDI files, Guitar Pro sequences or whatever. You guys are the real MVPs, because without your hard work almost none of what I've done as MetallicOrwell so far would've been possible. Maybe one day I'll be a good enough musician to be able to know the exact notes I'm hearing immediately (like Charles Cornell or something), but for now, this newbie will take all the help he can get.

This was seriously quick--I got it done in about three days. I even included the intro effect and the sound of the glass breaking before the final chorus, which is pretty cool. I may not be God of the New World, but I am Sega Genesis Overlord, which is pretty much the same thing.

See you around.

 

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