March 8, 2014
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Oscar Araujo Returns to Castlevania
The Belmont family’s shocking secret revealed in Castlevania: Lords of Shadow moves to its thrilling conclusion as Dracula returns. Oscar Araujo returns to provide the epic musical backdrop mixing fantasy and epic struggle in this new Sumthing Else release.
“The Throne Room” has a slowly-building thematic idea that blends orchestra with some electric guitar slightly modernizing the sound of the score though the large-orchestral epic music is very much at the forefront. Three- to four-measure motivic designs are used to build excitement with a blend of both harmonic repetition and thematic introduction. It ends with a variety of unusual contemporary string glissandi. Araujo managed to find plenty of exciting ways to ratchet up action in the first Lords of Shadow. Here he has evidently been encouraged to insert a bit more electronic material in tracks like “Brotherhood Assault”. It would seem that this would take one out of the historical context of the game, though that would only be borne out by those experiencing the immersion into the playing itself. The music is all the same rather exciting. Using a variety of ostinato and slight thematic variation techniques, Araujo is able to continue building this by then veering into different pitch material. In “The Toy Maker”, pounding drumming accompanies chanting, dark thematic ideas, and a rather odd trumpet line that sort of comes out of nowhere as the track begins. There is a lot going on in this track including some Matrix-worthy orchestral swells and extensive orchestration. There is some echo of this in “The Siege Titan.” The big fantasy thematic moment launches “Descent to the Castle Dungeons” where lyrical thematic lines are allowed to breathe a bit and the orchestration thins out momentarily for solo lines and grows into richly-scored moments with some rather gorgeous harmonic surprises along the way. Another interesting break is the piano-driven lyrical “Dracula’s Theme” with plenty of dark edges and melancholy to this beautiful moment in the score. Interesting full choral work appears in “Gods Chosen” with string clusters providing added tension as Araujo uses a variety of glissandi with brass and growing rhythmic pulses to add tension before a dramatic pause gives way to a brief martial section. “City of Flames” is a rather moving string track that allows for an almost religious feel with some glimmers of hope as the piece moves along. Music for Carmilla is given its own track to unfold and makes for an equally moving final track as well in “Carmilla’s Spell”. There are sometimes ideas that seem to float out of these textures that are not explored much beyond their initial appearance which may be part of a larger loop where they would repeat more and thus drive the story better than they might on their own here.
For those who enjoy explosive action music, the score will certainly not disappoint as a unique listening experience. It is obvious that the Konami designers are making full use of sonic imaging as the score itself is split in the sound picture such that one can hear electronics more in one channel, unusual percussion in another, and the orchestra itself imaged somewhere in the middle of these in good sonic balance. This in and of itself is a rather different approach that further enhances the excitement and energy of the score. An “extended version” of this score will include 12 additional tracks available for download. Araujo has certainly provided another stellar entry in this series adding a bit more electronic layers than previously.
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