Tracks inspired by video games are not something new, think back to deadmau5’s take on the Legend of Zelda theme, which became “Sofi Needs a Ladder.” For “Game Over,” Nick Terranova (aka Starkillers) teams with Inpetto, and rather than covering a video game theme, starts with an 8 bit-ish melody that sounds familiar and could easily be an ’80s video game soundtrack. The beat behind the soft and pretty melody gradually increases with intensity until a massive drum fill leads to the spoken “Game Over,” and the aggressive beats that you expect from Starkillers hits you dead on. The drop to just the pretty 8-bit melody comes as a bit of surprise and makes for a nice change from the elongated beatless dropouts that are currently de rigueur. Starkillers’ new track “Total Destruction” stars off with a similar video game vibe as the melody feels reminiscent of an old Mario game with the pseduo-Italian triplet beat. The melody fades away as a pounding drum beat builds the intensity and a single note is repeated, with a bit of glitch added, until the words “Total Destruction” are uttered and the expected Starkillers aggressive electro beats take over. Both “Game Over” and “Total Destruction” share a similar DNA, with Starkillers’ playfulness and sense of humor coming through loud and clear where he works with legendary German producers (Inpetto are behind the classic Fragma “Toca’s Miracle”) or rising Dutch talent (Tony Junior). With these two releases, it makes me wonder how incredible a full video game score done by Nick would sound…
Images courtesy of Spinnin and Doorn records.
Starkillers vs Inpetto “Game Over” and Starkillers & Tony Junior “Total Destruction”
