Where to begin? I guess I’ll start with how good this music is (believe me, it’s really good!): It’s powerful, it’s energetic, and, it has this vibe of what I can only describe as “grandeur.” This track also has hints of nordic-sounding music near the beginning and end, which definitely helps contribute to the aforementioned vibe. Overall, this is a beautiful piece of orchestral!
Original
[ETC] DAϟH – GIGA STORM OVER PONYVILLE! | Splittercore/Extratone
It’s not mayhem until natural disasters, right? For one of the closing acts on COREQUESTRIA Vol 1:PonyVille, DASH has composed the musical equivalent of tyrannical downpore. They synthetically use a deep, booming bass, as well as scratching and screeching effects to create a melody of a raging monsoon, and a certain Pegasus sleeping at the worst possible time. The sounds of doom add to this with a haunting gong. The pace of the track gets more intense as things go on and you wonder if Ponyville can survive, effectively simulating more chaos! Splittercore is a genre that is particularly present in tracks of pure horror and mayhem! Hold on for dear life and check this track out. As always, this Qilin asks you to judge for yourself.
[ETC] PeKaNo – The Castle Grows | Tribecore
COREQUESTRIA‘s 20th track is quite possibly the album’s softest track, The Castle Grows! This is PeKaNo’s second attempt at tribecore (a form of free tekno), and a good one at that. This song has a fast-paced drum line and an uplifting synth melody, with a magical feeling permeating throughout the whole track thanks to the arpeggiated synth. Can’t get enough of this chill vibe!
PumpkinZ – Through an Alternate Dimension of Chaos | Industrial / Hardcore
PumpkinZ has been improving fast since they started out last year and worked their way up to be featured on Equestrian Terror Corps. The song can be roughly divided into two distinct parts. First, an ambient intro section with beautiful piano. Then, a strongly melodic hardcore part with a wild lead and a heavily distorted kick. Here’s to hoping they keep having fun writing music and improving.
[ETC] DAϟH – Discorded Ponyville | Speedcore
Dark starts this sick and speedy new tune from DAϟH. Spick and span from the fairly recent compilation album Corequestria Vol 1: Ponyville is this speedcore tune, containing mind-bending fast rhythms and voice samples from Discord that truly connects this piece with its title. This collage of chaos, this frenzied assembly, this hoard of discord, will surely set ablaze any rave floor you play it for! Also, I’m extremely excited to see the future of Corequestria Vol 1: Ponyville!
[ETC] Spikey Wikey – Facts and Figures VIP | Hardcore
A V.I.P. so clean you could eat off of it! There’s nothing more intriguing in a piece like Facts and Figures than a traditional techno kick and the “Think Break.” And the curiosity gradually pays off with the filtered introduction of a smooth legato synth playing melodies in minor. The saw bass and vocal samples combine to create a truly beautiful and ominous atmosphere. And what better follow-up to that atmosphere is there than heavy gabber kicks, an industrial snare, and the sweet varnish of glitches? Then there exists an awesome implementation of vocals from The Failure Song to take you back to the goosebump-giving atmosphere of the introduction. This is honestly one of the best tracks I’ve heard from Spikey Wikey, and who could expect any less from a track included in the great compilation album Corequestria Vol 1: Ponyville?
BeatSpark – Hooves Upon Tartarus | Dubstep
In the midst of the nonexistent EDM festival season, BeatSpark decided to take a few pages out of Disciple’s playbook and make this nasty beast of a track. Seriously the distorted sub at the beginning, the build with those nice punchy (to the point my subs in my 4 inch monitors were producing so much power that I could feel it across my studio) kicks, that nasty predrop to the drop was just pure festival vibes. When it hits to that breakdown after that first drop and that soft saw wave melody came in, I audibly said, “Is it ending already? No way!” especially when everything faded out with the reverb tail. The second 8 bar predrop to the drop was surprising and seriously threw me off which I enjoyed quite well! BeatSpark is definitely one of the dubstep producers to keep an eye on for more bangers in the future!!
Equestrian Terror Corps – COREQUESTRIA Vol. 1: Ponyville | Compilation Album | Horror Hardcore / Breakcore
(Warning: The following album has strong adult language, and intense horror themes. you have been warned.)
This article was Co-written by Nevermourn and DrakeEmberHeart.
If you’re looking for something really out there, or if you’re feeling adventurous in the realm of the brony music community, then my partner for this article, Nevermourn, and I want to point you to Equestrian Terror Corps’s first compilation album, “COREQUESTRIA Vol 1: Ponyville”. From listening to this Album, it’s very different from a lot of electronic music out there in the fandom. The theme of this album is horror, chaotic and disturbing electronic music that tells the tale of a disorated Ponyville, plagued by these themes. You’ll find hardcore, rawstyle, speedcore, terrorcore, breakcore, Spittercore and even some chiptune! The tracks themselves are full of some of the most interesting productions of music I’ve heard. The use of vocal chops and insanely fast, haunting and eerie-sounding elements are well done. The album will basically brainwash you into listening, as well as give you a sense of the bizarre! One of the most intriguing things is the recurring theme of various moments or episodes from the show and getting them twisted and turned for some of these tracks. It’s worth a listen. Let’s have a look, shall we?
(Continued after the break)
[ETC] Srgt. Moon/Enuna – The Twilight Zone | Hardcore
Keeping with the theme of insanely bizarre compositions, Sergeant Moon\Enuna seems to have a thing for vocal chops in a lot of them! This one has a melody of what I like to think is distorted hip hop music with a haunting texture to it. Just like the show The Twilight Zone. No pun intended. This song goes into the mind of a crazy Twilight Sparkle. There is a flavor of distorted vocal chops in this track of well-known mainstream rapper Lil’ Jon manipulated to the point where it sounds like he is saying horse puns. Off-putting as that sounds, it’s strange but it works! The composer amps up as the track gets more insane. Even Twilight herself asks for more with the help of Pony.Ai. This track, like I said, may not be for everybody, but it’s certainly something that stands out about how bizarre in creative Corequestria Vol 1: Ponyville is. You must hear it for yourself. As always, this Qilin really wants you to judge for yourself!
TCB – Integrity VIP, YONA GONNA, GLOOM & BLOOM, Death in The Afternoon VIP | Multi-Genre
TCB has been quite active recently and submitted songs to most of the labels in the fandom. He uploaded four of them in the form of the present mix and all the links to the albums and the entire tracks are in the video description. Uniqueness is a defining trait of TCB’s music, every time bringing fresh and original ideas to the table. With insane sound design, the use of a wide range of orchestral instruments and ingenious work with vocals, TCB builds a universe of sounds from the ground up with each new release of his. Integrity VIP is a variation of a track from the Keys & Cuts EP using vocals from The Magic Inside. YONA GONNA has input from Loophoof and hits very hard, even if it has emotional moments nonetheless. GLOOM & BLOOM uses the lullaby from Bloom & Gloom, aims to target the feels and succeeds. Death in The Afternoon VIP is a new take on the track from the album The Closet Anthology that unfortunately went a bit under the radar so it is nice to see it getting some more love. It still features Ditherer but gives a more central role to the instrumental which doesn’t only serve as a backbeat to support her rapping anymore. As a last note TCB’s set at BronyBashOnline includes exclusive yet-to-be-released VIPs and Remixes, it would be a shame to miss them.
Horse Music Herald 