Therewolf Media - "Virtuous Vengeance" ft. @BrandonYates | Raiden VS A2

This track is so cool.

First, The Way Of The Blade, and now Virtuous Vengeance! Therewolf and Brandon went all out with these Metal Gear Rising vocal tracks.

Back to Back MGR Vocal Tracks!🤩

I was not expecting this to be a vocal track. The instrumental was already great on its own.

Dam this is an all out track for what would likely be a brutal dance of blades.

When Way of the Blade's vocal track released yesterday, it reminded me of how hyped up I was for Virtuous Revenge's own vocal to release. So imagine my surprise when I saw this release today. Dunno if the timing was on purpose (I suspect it was) but regardless it's nice. And after listening to this song ? Well I'd say that it fully lived it up the hype. The fact that the main instrumental reference throughout the track was Rules of Nature put a lot of expectations on the vocals to me as it's my favorite MGR:R song (yes, I'm not really original in my preferences) and in the end it most definitely wasn't what I expected for the most part but not for the worst at all. Originally I was expecting something relatively melodic and with a prominent chorus all throughout the song (again, due to the Rules of Nature inspiration) but the track instead focuses on melodic lyrics, yes, but much more agressive ones and a much more linear progression that actually plays extremely well with the instrumental, possibly even better than what I originally expected would have. Of course it goes without saying that Brandon Yates' vocal performance is absolutely stellar (in the good way) but I still really appreciate how he manages to make lyrics that don't really get inline with the instrumental (for the most part) still feel perfectly fitting. It's one of those tracks where the lyrics don't actually try to combine with the track but instead "forcefully" take the spotlight from it only that here it's done in a really good way as it makes the instrumental shine more in what it's meant to be: an instrumental. And only at times when the instrumental actually is meant to shine do the vocals combine with it or stop which gives out a generally extremely appreciable dynamic. And speaking of dynamic, I must mention just how well done the lyrical and vocal additions are done throughout the track. For the occasion I went back to the original instrumental of Virtuous Vengeance to recall what exactly I mentioned in it and now that the lyrics are there, some of it still holds true but it gives a completely new dimension to the track to have the lyrics here. In fact, there's so much to say about them that I frankly don't know where to begin (hell, I've already 5 paragraphs and haven't even begun saying what I really wanted to note on the lyrics themselves). So welp, might as well start with the first thing that struck me when I first read the lyrics: the references. I mean, it was to be expected, especially since Brandon wrote the lyrics but the Exo references ("I've given all my life to this war") are really well put into the song without feeling too direct (unlike Metal Lotus' which was as blunt as can be (not a bad thing, just something to note)) and same goes for The Metal Lotus references ("These rules of nature I defy") which are nicely well included. But what's more, I simply adore the dynamic that the lyrics have in the song. Exo focused a lot on how both characters lost their humanity and had become but violent killing machines, Metal Lotus was about something similar in that it focused on how both characters were almost literally machines meant for a never-ending war. But this track ? This track takes that dynamic and flips it on its head. Here, instead of having the song being about how the characters have become killing machines made for war, it goes on about how the characters recognize all the wrongs and pains they've caused throughout their life by "giving all [their] life to this war" and how, despite wishing deep down that it could all stop, they know that they're never getting out of this cycle of violence. And so from start to finish we get a really good telling of how both characters, despite the fight they're into being one to the death, know what the other's gone through and sympathize at least partially with them. I really like that because unlike some other tracks that tell a similar story in a much more tragic and/or heroic way (IE: Awakened Sacrifice), this one doesn't shy away at all from having extremely brutally sung lyrics to get across how, despite the fact that they understand the other's hardships, those two still won't hesitate in the slightest to fight to the death without remorse. And I could spend probably another hour or two dissecting every single line of the track because honestly the lyrics are just that well written but sadly I don't have the time nor the characters in this comment to do so. So I'll instead go on to mention the sheer progression of the track which I've vaguely mentioned before. Similar to the instrumental, this track follows a very fluid progression that's quite appreciable, with most of the track being mostly agressive and brutal with a couple of breaks and orchestral segments throughout its duration. But here the contrast between the more agressive segments and the orchestral ones is even more notable because of how the lyrics are sung and said. I find it really cool that the more brutally sung lyrics are actually ones telling the story of how both characters understand one another while the orchestral ones of the chorus are the ones purely revolving around their fighting and battle. It paradoxically shows how those two are actually at their deadliest when they're most focused and not taunting their enemy nor trying to play around (I mean, you can argue the opposite for Raiden but as much as it seems insensible, he's quite focused on the battle when Jack the Ripper is out). Also I like the detail that the "I'll carve my name into the wires of your mind" can be heard as "I'll carve my name into the violence of your mind", it may just be me looking too deep into it here but if that's done on purpose it's really well done. And of course I must mention just how good the main orchestral segment prior to the song's ending is made with those lyrics. It already was the highlight of the track in my eyes but here's it's rendered even better by the chorus and Exo-referencing line. I mean, it's simple as hell, being only two lines long. But it's not meant to be long or deep in sheer content here. It's meant to perfectly combine over with the instrumental to amplify its already outstanding quality (which returns to one of my first points of the lyrical implementation being really well made as the song knows when to make the vocals, the instrumental or both stand out). Also another thing that I wish to note about the lyrics themselves is once again related to the dynamic they have. As I've said before, most of the song focuses on how the characters recognize how much they've sacrificed and all the wrongs they've done to battle. And you'll note that I also mentioned the fact that the track states that the characters themselves that they can't escape this vicious circle themselves. Hell, the last lines before the final chorus are "You fight against your chains, as I broke free from mine, But this war is still your life" which directly shows how they know that they can't get out of the perpetual cycle of death and battle they've created. But what's even better is that when the song ends, it ends with a repetition of the very first lines heard in the track, only difference being that the second half of the verse about the recognition of their similarities isn't there. So not only does the ending of the track directly show that one of them died because there's no comparison here anymore as only one of them remains, but it also shows how even after this battle, whoever the winner is just came back to the start as this whole battle was, in the end, completely meaningless. And to go even further you could argue that it even calls back to the "These rules of nature I defy," line as, yes, they do defy the rules of nature, but they do so in that they both are fighting meaningless battles for no results which isn't part of the rules of nature. And I just find this entire dynamic great. It perfectly fits what the lyrics are trying to convey and makes for an exceptionally well written song. I mean, it isn't too surprising. Brandon Yates' an amazing lyrics writer and he's shown it time and time again. But this track definitely showcases his writing skills in how well the lyrics are done. And of course combined with Therewolf's wonderful instrumental it was bound to give out an amazing song. Overall this track is pretty much everything I hoped it would be in terms of quality and then some more. It isn't what I expected but it's what the song needed for sure. As I've said before, this song has so much going on that I simply didn't know where to start or where to go so apologies if the review seems convoluted and/or confusing, especially since I've had to cut and shorten a lot of things I wanted to say and probably forgot even more. But this is also a testament to just how great the track is for there to be so much to say about the song. I'm sometimes told that my reviews are of good quality and, first of all thanks for that to anyone that says it, but I must emphasize that the sole reason I have such things to say is because the songs themselves are so well written, anyone could do what I do but not many are competent enough to produce such wonderful songs. And this track is a peak example of that as it perfectly combines Brandon Yates' amazing singing and lyrical writing with Therewolf's magnificent song-making and writing skills, playing to both of what is perhaps their biggest respective strengths. This song has everything it needs and then some more: it fits the characters, feels unique while still referencing its predecessors and is just extremely good in general. The instrumental of Virtuous Vengeance was good but damn this vocal version is exactly what it needed to truly excel. Absolutely wonderful work done here by both artists.

Who ever commissioned this, thank you for the mear mention of the best YoRHa Android and idea

So were getting Vocal tracks for Therewilf too? Nice.

Therewolf Media - "Who Is Number One?" | Waluigi VS Robbie Rotten

These 2 musicians collabs always put a smile to my face

While Iron Maidens is my favorite vocal commission from Therewolf, I think he and Brandon made Virtuous Vengeance my second favorite vocal.

Impressive vocals as usual

I've a question, can you make theme tracks for these Transformer mashups? 4. G1 Starscream vs General Grievous (Transformers vs Star Wars) 3. Bayverse Grimlock vs Deviljho (Transformers vs Monster Hunter World) 2. IDW Unicron vs the Scarlet king (Transformers vs SCP foundation) 1. TFP Megatron vs Darth vader (Transformers vs Star Wars)

("LET'S RISE DANCE!")

Metal gear!!!! I love when I saw Brandon Yates? I knew we get a version of the metal lotus. I'm proud of person who first commsion this. Then got vocals for it. Congualtions. now I awaits for mys. But? Until then? I found a another song to play during my games. rules of nature play a it's chord. Hope your vacation went well mr.media.

OMG! Aaron and Brandon, another vocal track? This is EXTREMELY AWESOME!

Just like with Yates, the MGR tracks consistently be ON TOP.

Nice work Aaron and Brandon😁👍

No matter who features who, whenever these two link up, it's a banger 😤 Very well done 👏🏿

Amazingly well done