I grew up on Nintendocore; the likes of IAmError, Insert Disc, and I Shot the Duck Hunt Dog were regular listens on my iPod Classic in the early 2010s. The genre pushed instrumentation to its limits, the only limit being the creator’s imagination. While the harsh vocals may have scared some off, I kept an eye on Nintendocore for years to come. So, I’m wondering how I missed the boat on NinDjent0.
NinDjent0 covers soundtracks for classic Nintendo titles, like Pokemon Red/Blue, Banjo Kazooie, and Donkey Kong Country. I’m most excited with the Mario 64 record, with covers that would make even Koji Kondo throw down. These iconic songs get a djenty treatment that is monstrously-technical, almost to the level of bands like Rings of Saturn and Berried Alive. High-end production puts these tracks up as legitimate contenders in djent, with bouncing bass, syncopation, and stellar mixing.
NinDjent0’s brand of writing pulls out all the stops – blast beats, persistent eight-note riffs, all the while sounding in-line with the source material. I feel that the mark of a strong cover is transforming it enough to make it your own, and NinDjent0 accomplishes that with flying colors.
Next up for NinDjent0 is The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask. The artist already gave the treatment to “Thallcarina of Time”, so this should be a jam and a half. As of writing, NinDjent0 is in relatively-unknown stature with only a few thousand streams on Spotify. Help crank that number up by checking out some of djent’s best-kept secret here!
