RE: Discoveries / RE: Discoveries / RE: Discoveries

08/08/08 marks the release of RE: Discoveries, the first full-length album from the 8-Bit Metal project. One part heavy/power metal and one part chiptune, the 8-Bit Metal sound fuses electric guitars and sounds from the Nintendo Entertainment System to render original music and lyrics centered on classic video games from all eras.

RE: Discoveries features the following tracks, written, recorded and individually shared on the internet over the course of three years:
1. The Heroes of Yesterday (intro)
2. In the Year 200X (Mega Man 2)
3. Thirteenth Zodiac (Final Fantasy Tactics)
4. Saving the World Barechested (Contra)
5. The Founding of Booty Bay (World of Warcraft)
6. The Duke Got Nuked (Duke Nukem Forever)
7. Bloodlines (Castlevania: Symphony of the Night)
8. 'Twould Be Best (Castlevania: Symphony of the Night)
9. Moon Sugar (The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind)
10. The Devil and the Incarnate (The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind)
11. Behind the Mask (Final Fantasy IV)
12. Beyond the Mask (Final Fantasy IV)
13. Hatred Eternal (Final Fantasy IV)
Bonus track (feat. Mitchell Emmen): Where All Things End (Doom Castle) (Final Fantasy Mystic Quest)

Thirteenth Zodiac

(Based on Final Fantasy Tactics. Special thanks to Jonathan Dagenais for additional keyboard and strings, and help with the bridge section.)

Ramza:
Black and white
Two lions vie for the throne
Torn in the fight
Blood soaks the name I uphold

Lord above, where have we gone astray?
Every day, lives are taken away
Who are we to decide?

Shunned by the church and my own family
I must stay true to my beliefs
All the world's a stage but I just can't fit in
Like a thirteenth zodiac

Delita:
Open your mind and you will perceive
the voice of reason inside
Listen but once and you'll realize
That there is no divide

The Lucavi:
Dare not oppose us, remember your status
By now you of all should know
Manipulation can be a solution
The end justifies any means

Ramza:
Tell me friend, where have your ideals gone?
Power will claim you before long
You cannot win this fight

Cast aside, forgotten by history
No one will know what I've seen
Demonic stones turning men into slaves
To the thirteenth zodiac

The Lucavi:
Spoken from the sword, handed down from the stone
Spoken from the sword, handed down from the stone

Ramza:
Shunned by the church and my own family
I must stay true to my beliefs
All the world's a stage but I just can't fit in
Like a thirteenth zodiac
Cast aside, forgotten by history (Is this my fate?)
No one will know what I've seen (It's a nightmare)
Demonic stones turning men into slaves (For lust and greed)
To the thirteenth zodiac

Bloodlines

(Based on Castlevania: Symphony of the Night.)

Richter:
Four years after the battle took place
Under the glare of the moon
Walking past the castle gate
One more time I'll fulfill my fate

Called by a voice which I can't ignore
Enticing sounds and twists of the tongue
Shaft:
A vampire hunter without a foe
Is dead and gone, and no hero

Listen to me and soon you will see
Immortality can be reached by glory

Richter:
Destroying evil with holy power
For centuries we have prevailed
You will be brought back but I guarantee
My bloodline will triumph again

Alucard:
The world has changed during my timeless rest
Evil has stirred, the balance's disturbed
Darkness and light, like a song out of tune
The shadows at night play a symphony of doom

Past the front gate and into the halls
Where chaos awaits, the unending sprawl
Someone has to be pulling the strings
Why would a Belmont do such a thing?

Blood of the sacred,
Blood of the damned,
Destinies woven
in one melody

Destroying evil with holy power
For centuries they have prevailed
Immortal father, I guarantee
Your bloodline will end on this day

Shaft:
Congratulations young master hunter,
You have achieved your one true goal...
Where will you go now? (You have no purpose)
What will you do now? (Your existence's absurd)

Richter:
Lord, what have I done?

Destroying evil with holy power
For centuries we have prevailed
You will be brought back but I guarantee
My bloodline will triumph again
Alucard:
Immortal father, I guarantee
Your bloodline will end on this day

Behind the Mask

(First part of a trilogy based on Final Fantasy IV.)

High in the sky
I'm facing alone
My darkness inside
So far from home

Could this be the chance
for me to atone
for the sins of my past

I hear the wind
It's whispering (in my ear)
A servant of doom
Guarding the tomb

Climbing the steps
I'm facing the test
To break from my past
And be free at last

And as darkness recedes
All becomes clear
Still I will go on

I see the Light
It shines so bright (feel the fear)
Piercing the black
Tearing down my mask

As I'm staring at myself
In the mirror someone else
stands alone facing me
This is who I've come to be
There's so much he wants to say
But he silently obeys
The orders he was given
By a dark sword shunned by heaven

I'm searching for my soul
Can I fill the hole (you can't)
Doubt takes its toll (again)

Facing the darkness
I'll conquer myself
And bring out my best

As I'm staring at myself
In the mirror someone else
stands alone facing me
This is who I've come to be
There's so much he wants to say
But he silently obeys
The orders that he received
From a father-King long buried

The Holy Light shines down on me
It revealed the face hidden behind the mask
The spineless man I was before
Is no more

The Founding of Booty Bay

(Based on World of Warcraft.)

Baron Revilgaz & his crew:
Ev'ry one on lookout for the land of men!
(Ev'ry one on lookout for the land of men)
We've come to colonize,
to bring the Goblin dream alive.

(Land! Land!)
Now ye scurvy dogs...
(Land! Land!)
Shiver me timbers!
Looks like we've arrived
The Steamwheedle Cartel will thrive!

Heave-ho! (heave-ho!)
The ship she's a-turnin'
Heave-ho! (heave-ho!)
The fog's come rollin'!
Heave-ho! (heave-ho!)
Can't see where we're goin'!
Fleet Master Seahorn:
Starboard...Port!

Baron Revilgaz & his crew:
Crashed me ship in Booty Bay
Thought I might as well stay
Glitterin' prizes all around
Heave-ho...

(We crashed the ship in Booty Bay
Looks like it's there to stay
Get the rum, another round
For such a merry crowd!)

Mogh the Undying:
They come to defile our sacred temples,
but they will soon learn to stay away from the voodoo...

Zul'Dan ges mon
Fil'Zul Deloth mar
Fil'Los des Guth

Zul'Garrath es
Fel'Un Zen'Sma
Iga! Iga!
Felos Es

Grende Voo!
Grende Voo!
Grende voo!
Zan...

Random Murloc:
Rawgrlrlrlrrlglrl!!!

Duke Falrevere:
The Altar of Tides will soon sport their heads
Damned be that Baron I said!
The Bloodsail Buccaneers will win this fight
This vale and its riches will be mine

Baron Revilgaz & his crew:
I crashed me ship in Booty Bay
Thought I might as well stay
Glitt'ring prizes all around
Heave-ho

(We crashed the ship in Booty Bay
Looks like it's there to stay
Get the rum, another round
For such a merry crowd!)

Saving the World Barechested

(Based on Contra.)

A meteor falling
Aliens invading
The future is darkened and dreary
A threat is emerging
Red Falcon looming
Send out the Contra force

Waist-deep in water we're wading along
To the heart of the island, to strike at the core
(Soon you'll know fear)
The enemy's here, this is our war

The world's fate rests on
their four shoulders

Contra Force is rising
Throughout the jungle machine guns are sounding the fight
Their bullets are speaking, defending our homes
They're fighting for a better future for all
For blue skies to shine again

(Jump! Jump!)
(Jump! Jump!)
(Jump! Jump!)
Avoid the falling rocks
(Jump! Jump!)
(Jump! Jump!)
(Jump! Jump!)
To the top of the waterfall

The Red Falcon bleeds and falls to the ground
As we defeat all their soldiers around
Into their base, gate after gate
Shooting machines, blown down to smithereens

Contra Force is blazing
Throughout the snowy peaks and high-tech factories beyond
They're reaching the end of their struggle at last
The alien heart is the last thing to blast
Soon we'll be free again

Freedom has been won back
The Earth is at peace at last

Their battle was yours friends you must understand
These wars for your god, or for riches, for land,
Hurt us all in the end

Contra Force returning
Throughout the nations, celebrations resound
The lesson's been learned and united we'll stand
The future is bright and the skies blue again
The world's fate is ours to make

Five years later
The alien invaders
Have come back, repeating our history
Their spaceship is firing
Civilians are dying
The Alien Wars begin

Beyond the Mask

(Second part of a trilogy based on Final Fantasy IV.)

One to be born from a dragon
Hoisting the light and the dark
Arises high up in the sky to
The still-land above

Golbez:
Am I the chosen, the savior of my race?
The crystals are shedding their light silently
They're calling, they're holding the key
to my people's fate

Zemus:
Rise up my friend and do as I tell
Your deeds will be sung for centuries to come

Golbez:
Sometimes at night
I hear someone fight
Like a voice trapped inside
That is trying to bring back the light
I'm garbed all in black
but there's light left in me
How I wish you could see
Beyond the mask

Zemus:
The crystals will open the way to the moon
The crystals will open the way to the moon

Cecil:
He's just a dark knight
Shadows clouding his sight
He gave up the fight
And has forever forsaken the light
His soul is consumed
In darkness entombed
Now he's helpless to see
Beyond the mask

Golbez:
Who has been causing these evils before
Have I lost my mind or was I bound to obey?
Was I not speaking through my own voice
Was someone behind or even leading the way?

I wish I could say
Someone else made me do all these things
Against my own will
But I think that I may have
Resisted if not for a dark side in me
I'm guilty

Golbez & Cecil:
Brothers we are, born from the moon
Hoisting the light and the dark
We'll be rising, beyond the skies
And beyond our masks

Golbez:
The madman will pay for all he took away
My conscience, my free will, my existence itself
Were stolen from me to further his goals
But revenge will be mine

Golbez & Cecil:
One for myself
Two for my king
Three for our planet
And four for the sake of your kin
Hate, fear, regrets and the darkness they bring
Form a mask on ourselves we must break
Sometimes in life we aren't given a choice
But we can always strive to see the world
Beyond the mask


In the Year 200X

(Based on Mega Man 2.)

Out in the night
Atop a skyscraper high
The city lights are shining on
And I know they're worth fighting for

I try my best to justify
The meaning of my quest
I long for peace and that is why
Ironically I have to fight

In 200X
When the world's in decay
And the heroes of yesterday passed away
A new man will rise
And for mankind he'll fight
In the year 200X

Running through the halls
of a maze of crystal and ice
The master waits beyond the gates
With the power to freeze time

When you face your demise
Your weapon will be mine
I can take on anything
As long as I keep trying

In 200X
When the world's in decay
And the heroes of yesterday passed away
A new man will rise
And for mankind he'll fight
In the year 200X

Oh, when will I see it?
(A mirror of the world)
Peace everlasting
(The battle's for)
Man and machine and nothing in between

In 200X
Fire spreads out
The oceans are swelling
And storms shake the ground
When science has failed
My heart and soul still prevail
I will save the world

In 200X
In the Year 200X


Hatred Eternal

(Final part of a trilogy based on Final Fantasy IV.)

(Zeromus)
Hatred
Hatred Eternal

(Zemus)
Trapped inside the moon's core
For centuries I've grown so bitter
I tried to command
Other minds to claim a new land

My kin's home is gone
And the Blue Planet shined so bright
I said we should take
The humans' Earth and seal their fate

(Cecil)
Light guide my hand
For darkness consumes all
(Golbez)
Piercing the black
I'll make the madman pay

(Zeromus)
Blackened in chaos I mastered the void
A cosmos to doom and destroy
Galaxies die for all things must end
The stars are my will and they burn with pure
Hatred
Hatred Eternal

(Golbez)
So it ends for me
in the darkness of space

(Golbez & Cecil)
Redemption can be far
But never out of reach


Moon Sugar

(Based on The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind. A Vision in a Dream: A Prelude.)

Yesterday quickly slips away
as the ship breaks the waves of my past

Dreaming quietly, today’s gone in a hurry
Images blurry of stars I can’t see

A little more sweet Moon Sugar and the Lady speaks once more to me
Apparently they’re taking me to the East and to my destiny
Tomorrow
Tomorrow
To Morrowind

Oooh…
Valleys of ashes, a scar and a wound
Or is it the Skooma that I have consumed?
I dreamt of mountains ripped apart
A golden mask hiding the blackest of hearts

Oooh…
Armies are marching to conquer these ancient lands
But the Devil sleeps beneath
Soon he’ll wake from his sleep

Oooh…
Ashes to ashes, a life left behind
Somehow this island can turn back the time

I dream of mountains no more when I see
Darkened skies plagued with the Blight clouds
that’ll spread beyond the seas

The Moon Sugar shows me the signs of my destiny


The Devil and the Incarnate

(Based on The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind.)

Frontier, Conquest, the Legion marches
Praise the Nine Divines and the Empire

Freed from my cell, I was thrown in this land
Everyone's asking that I take a stand
I don't know what I should think

Colonization attempts have been made
The Empire's plan was to assimilate
The proud people of Morrowind

Scenes from a life left behind forming up in my mind
I know that I've been betrayed by my closest friends

The Tribunal Temple is weakened by the corrupt Heart
And the Devil speaks in dreams
His power grows unseen

Frontier, Conquest, the Legion marches
Praise the Nine Divines and the Empire

Born to uncertain parents,
on a certain day, to a certain sign

Seven visions I have seen
Woman, tell me: what do they mean?

The curses came and paved the way
for the stories of old forgotten ages ago

The people are besieged
as darkness spreads disease
and misery sweep this land high and low
from Ebonheart to the Sea of Ghosts
The ancient Immortal Evil is here

Am I the hero of prophecy who'll set them free?
Will I be marked as a traitor to my emperor?

The Ashlanders' trials proved I am St. Nerevar reborn
But the Devil has a scheme
And his reasons seem sincere

(Dagoth Ur:)
By the winds of the blight all shall feel the divine
And my house will arise from the ashes to life
I will provide them with their freedom of yore
to drive out the Empire and cast down the false gods

Never again will the skies turn to ashen gray
Now the Dreamers have been freed
Soon they'll wake from their sleep

There's still so much to do, I think I'll stay
in Morrowind


Where All Things End (Doom Castle)

(Cover version of "Doom Castle" from Final Fantasy Mystic Quest. Special thanks to Mitchell Emmen for the guitar solo!)

Dark King:
Come hither where all things end
At last
I'll rule

The one behind the 4 is
darker than the night, and rises midst the land!

Benjamin:
Dark King, we meet at last...

Dark King:
Indeed, and now you will serve me...

Benjamin:
No!

Dark King:
Welcome to the power of Darkness!

The crystals shine again
In the Focus Tower
Light flows in




The Duke Got Nuked

(Based on Duke Nukem Forever.)

Let's rock!

Wake at noon, three beers soon
and a pack of smokes to boot
Another day waiting by
the phone for a call

9 years' time, I'm feeling fine,
I ain't past my prime
Just give me a piece
and I'll walk the streets
I'll blow their brains out
and dump my feces...bwahaha!

I'm gonna rip your head off and shit down your neck
Hail to the king baby!
Who wants some?

I miss the good old days
Reckless violence in the Red Light's haze
Oh yeah, hahahah
*Sigh*
"Glorified, steroidized
hoodlum on the run"
But now I'm just sitting around
Getting my check on the first of every month

You're an inspiration for birth control
You suck

I don't know why this is happening to me
I'm still waiting to play the next part
But nothing moves on
Feels like forever

When will I get to star again
I'm still waiting, I'm still waiting
I'm still waiting, I'm s...ick of waiting

It's time to kick ass and chew bubble-gum...and I'm all out of gum.

Groovy!
Damn...I'm looking good!

I don't know why this is happening to me
I'm still waiting to play the next part
But nothing moves on
Feels like forever

When will I get to star again
I'm still waiting, I'm still waiting
I'm still waiting, I'm s...ick of waiting

I'm trapped in my gym
Smoking and drinking and weightlifing
They promised me a new gig
But they let me down, time and time and time and time and time again
I guess the Duke got nuked...hah!