Fool's Chaos on Soundcloud

Wednesday, May 29, 2013

(Music) - New track "Incognito" released

I released a new Spy movie/Action video game style track today called Incognito. It's a bit different than my usual music but I think it would make a great soundtrack song. I am going to post it to my Gamecompositions profile as well.
Incognito

Tuesday, May 28, 2013

(Games) - Hellraid - The Return of Heretic/Fantasy Shooters?

Everyone has a game that they really loved in their gaming past (I mean really REALLY loved), and for me one game really stands out in my PC gaming memories, and that is Raven Software's Heretic. Heretic was just a perfect game in it's day, it had the atmosphere, it had incredible game music by Kevin Schilder, it had great combat fueled by the Doom engine, and the multiplayer was a riot. The games that came after were fun, Hexen, Heretic 2, and Hexen 2, but none of them really had the magic (pun intended) of the original.

Games that were similar in style to Heretic that came later were Witchhaven and Witchhaven 2, Dark Messiah, and even Quake somewhat with its Lovecraft meets fantasy atmosphere. I enjoyed all of those, but nothing really grabbed me like the original Heretic. Heretic was by some just a Doom clone in a fantasy setting, and I would agree to that, but that is why I loved it. Hexen was good but it has less weapons though it had classes, Heretic 2 was in third person and was a blast multiplayer wise (Who could forget the super Chicken?) but it wasn't really like the original game, and Hexen 2 was fun but was again more like Hexen, and didn't have the same feeling or intensity of the original. (UPDATE: I had forgotten about a great game from Starbreeze called Enclave, which was one of my favorite original Xbox games. Still not as fast paced as heretic, but a great fantasy First person shooter and released in 2002. You can buy it on GOG.com for PC)

Heretic came out in 1994 and there hasn't been a great intense fantasy FPS game (that I know if) since Hexen 2 came out in 1997. Dark Messiah of might and magic came out in 2006 but I wouldn't really compare it to Heretic, it was a bit more like Hexen, as it was not as action heavy but still a very good game.

Today I read about a new game from Techland called Hellraid and I could not be more excited about it..
It looks to be the game I have been waiting for, a fantasy First person shooter/ action title, heavy on the action but with role playing elements. This is literally a dream come true for me, I have been waiting for this game a long time!

                                                       You can watch the trailer below



You can read about the game at Eurogamer here, VG247 Here, and check out a Q&A at Worthplaying here

I also recommend checking out Kevin Schilder's website here and if you just listen to one of his tracks, please check out the opening theme to Heretic, still one of my favorite gaming themes of all time.




Kevin's music has been an influence on my own compositions. When he wrote this it was midi file and only as good as your equipment, most had the crappy FM soundblaster and it wasn't till soundcards like the Gravis Ultrasound and Awe32 that you heard what was really intended. There was the Adlib of course, but
it only did music, not audio, and most people I knew didn't have it.



They have created some marvelous texture mods with the Heretic games, the video above shows the hi res models and textures for Heretic's Sequel, Hexen.


Thursday, May 2, 2013

(Music) - Kelsey Mira's new EP is out!!

 I can't believe I hadn't updated since December, but due to different factors, I haven't released much music lately, but new songs are in the works. :)
I wanted to take the time to let everyone know about Kelsey Mira's new EP - Don't Stop now.
Kelsey is a fantastic vocalist from Cincinnati that I have had the pleasure of working with on two songs so far (working on a third now), and has released her EP with 5 tracks that she recorded in LA. She is a great songwriter, and these were all written by her. 
The tracks feature some top studio musicians (like Lawrence Juber from Paul McCartney's Wings, and Chad Wackerman who has played with Steve Vai and Frank Zappa among others)
The tracks are free downloads for 24 hours and can be bought on Amazon, Itunes, Google play, etc, and played on Spotify as well. I highly recommend checking them out, all 5 are great songs, and she has an amazing voice.
Kelsey's Soundcloud page is here - http://soundcloud.com/thekelseymira
Kelsey's Facebook artist page is here - https://www.facebook.com/thekelseymira
Kelsey's homepage is here -  http://www.kelseymira.com/
Kelsey's Youtube page - http://www.youtube.com/user/TheKelseyMira
Kelsey's Twitter is here - https://twitter.com/KelseyMira
The first track I ever heard from Kelsey was "The Wall" and it blew me away.  The EP version with it's top class musicians is even better and it's still one of my favorites.  Watch her video here
I thought I would also link the title track to her EP "Don't Stop now" - It's just an amazing song with her amazing vocals and the end just leaves you wanting more, it's perfect. You can listen to it here 
For the rest of her tracks on YouTube, go visit her YouTube channel and be sure to like and leave a comment :)