Dark Model – Danse Macabre (Dance of Death)

This mysterious, suspenseful, and fast-paced track features choir sound, orchestral arrangement, and massive electronic beat. When I began to sketch this track, it was much slower (around BPM 120) than the album version. Also, I didn’t think of using a choir. As I had felt some twist or punch was missing in the early version, I decided to leave it as it was until I came up with a breakthrough idea that could give some intensity or “shock” to the track in a definitive way. It was 5 or 6 years ago, even before I embarked on the first album of Dark Model.

Then, while I was creating a couple of other tracks for “Saga” concurrently, several significant ideas which ended up representing this track came to my mind all at once. That is to say, the Middle Eastern-esque main theme, multi-layered choir voices, the combination of massive beats and growling synth bass, and a baroque-influenced drop/bridge part. It didn’t take much time for me to complete a rough mix of the new version of this track after I resumed the production. I wouldn’t have been able to reach the completion if I hadn’t worked intensively on some other tracks in the album, such as “Inferno Suite” and “Rage and Redemption.”

I have seen many composers often suffer from “composer’s block.” There may be a lot of ways to overcome it, but I would recommend you take advantage of the power of “serendipity,” which means an unexpected, fortuitous discovery. Unless you are on a tight deadline for the music you’re working on, it might be better to leave it and compose something else. But don’t stop composing music. In a narrow sense, serendipity works only when you keep working on the same creative activity.　

By the way, some of you may think Camille Saint-Saens’ same-titled song inspired this song. That is NOT true. After finishing this track, originally I came up with “Death Wish” as the title. However, I discarded the idea because I thought it would remind you too much of Charles Bronson’s 1974 movie of the same name (or its remake by Bruce Willis). Then, “Dance of Death” came to my mind, while sounding to me a little pun on the title of Bruce Lee’s 1978 movie “Game of Death.” I thought the title would fit the intense and apocalyptic feel of the track pretty well, but at the same time, it sounded a bit banal to me. Moreover, Dark Model had already had a track called “Dance of Wrath.”

Needing a twist, I consulted with my American friend who specialized in literature. After listening to the track, he suggested the French version of the title. He added, “it was an artistic genre of the French late-medieval allegory on the universality of death. And it’s the origin of the phrase, I believe.” Although I didn’t know “Dance of Death” wasn’t a general phrase but a unique one which had its origin, I was fascinated by the sound of the French version and found a lot of common ground between the allegory and the track in terms of concept and background. The fact of the matter is, while I ended up choosing “Danse Macabre” as the title, my original inspiration and concept for this track came from somewhere else.

Here are some reviews which described this track. Enjoy them as well as the music.

“‘Danse Macabre (Dance of Death)’ is a standout track with its exotic middle eastern melodies and chirping synth line. This song sounds like the soundtrack to what would be one sweet ass video game.”

“‘Danse Macabre (Dance of Death)’ with its techno energy and groovy vibrations follows an amped course of mostly heavily layered interwoven material. The choral singing weaves in and out of the refrain as well as seamlessly syncing with the entire composition a powerful array of timeless beats and breaks.”

“Danse Macabre sounds like a very nuanced anime soundtrack. The vocal track alone can inspire a trance.”

BPM: 150
Keywords: Choir, Intense, Uptempo, Dark & Heavy, Middle-East, Tutti/Impactful, Mysterious, Drum’n’bass
Composed and produced by Tatsuya Oe

These tracks are excerpts from Tatsuya Oe’s composition and production works. Regarding media synchronization such as advertising, film/TV, and video games, third parties must obtain proper commercial licenses prior to any usage of the musical works contained herein which are considered to be protected musical works. Please contact us via License Form to obtain a license. Several tutorial pages for music licensing are available as well.