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Spider8reath

track cover

track cover

Tags: Vriska

By Tensei ( Bandcamp , SoundCloud , YouTube ).
Cover art by Lazylaz.
Released 5/31/2011.
Duration: 2:44.

Listen on Bandcamp or YouTube.

Download MIDI/project files.
Read artist commentary.

Tracks that Spider8reath references:

Tracks that reference Spider8reath:

From Fandom:

Download MIDI/project files:

MIDI by Tensei (original composer)

Artist commentary:

Tensei:

Alright, as requested, I'll do some indepth commentary on already released Homestuck songs, starting off with Spider8reath.

Now, you may have heard this from me before, but Vriska is HANDS DOWN the most fun character to write music for. It's hard to exactly pinpoint the reason for this, but something about her character just invites badass pentatonic blues riffs, squealing guitars and shrill horns all over the place.

Really, when you pick it apart, this song is actually very simple at its basis, containing a pretty typical blues progression, and the constantly repeated guitar/bass riff which is introduced right at the start and then just keeps on going ( dadada DA dada DA dada dada dadadada, it's really fun to sing along actually!)

The horn section actually adds the bulk of the songs 'gravy', providing lots of switch-ups, sometimes playing in unison with the main riff, sometimes splitting up and providing countermelodies or underlining the harmonized guitars. It was also by far the hardest part to write because I had literally no previous experience with brass writing, but I got some great feedback from other music team members.

Actually part of the reason that it was so hard to implement is probably because the song was already more or less 'done' before I thought of putting in a few brass stabs here and there. Then as I was writing the brass became more and more of a foreground element, and that's how Spider8reath became the screamy shrill funfest that it is now.

People who said that the exposed guitar solo at the start reminded them of Van Halen were totally right, because the song 'Eruption' was more or less a direct inspiration for it. I think it turned out really well, and it serves as a great intro to the song!

Really though, the main inspiration for this song simply comes from building on the previous Vriska songs that Radiation did. While the brass was a new, spur-of-the-moment addition, the guitar riffs and melodies were always supposed to be reminiscent of stuff like Spider's Claw, Killed by Br8k Spider and MeGaLoVaNia. People definitely seem to associate this song with Vriska too now, so mission accomplished I guess?

View original file ( kB MB). (Heads up! If you're on a mobile plan, this is a large download.)