Grant "Stemage" Henry, the virtuoso behind the superb
Metroid Metal remixes, recently played a live concert of his music at PAX with the help of his skilled bandmates. Original Sound Version has a lengthy but insightful
interview with Henry, which covers everything from his musical influences to mixing techniques and his favorite Metroid game. Its a good read if you're interested in Stemage and the other talented musicians that composed Metroid Metal.
I've been a huge fan of Stemage's work for years now, it really is some of the best reworking of the Metroid music you'll ever hear and some brilliantly orchestrated hard metal in its own right. Stemage's first album, the cleverly titled
Varia Suite, is a collection of live Metroid Metal performances, and is available for sale on their website. The original arrangements are still available absolutely free for download. Any Metroid fan or game music buff owes it to themself to check out Stemage's work. I know I'll be looking for a way to attend the MAGFest 8 game music festival, where the Metroid Metal team will be performing their next live concert.
