The recent success of video game scores, introduced the partly because franchises with success as the Medal of Honor and Halo, have raised the bar and drew attention to the potential of the music composed for this medium. This upward trend is the recently published Castlevania: Lord of Shadows, a revival of the franchise that began in 1986. Replace Michiru Yamane as composer for this project is relatively unknown Spanish composer, Oscar Araujo. Also replaced the rock and synthesized sound of these scores for a full orchestral score which are, in a Word, epic. Part of push marketing franchise of stimulus was the fact that the score of characteristic Araujo 120 pieces Bratislava Symphony Orchestra and a choir of 80 people. The result is undoubtedly one of the best video game music heard over the years and same stands on its own against action fantasy film scores.
Fans of scores prior to the Castlevania franchise may lament the absence of any musical reference to previous work of the Yamane. And while Araujo develops a main theme clearly, there are many thematic ideas that plays music to keep the listener interested throughout the entirety of the album. A common frustration of mine is when a video game score was a signal of large main title, which never returned to in the line of generic emphasis. This is not the case with the Lord of the shadows. The melodic and rhythmic ideas are woven throughout the entire partition. Two themes, which I identify here as the themes and B, stand out and are only heard together in the tail of the final after development through the rest of the score, "final Confrontation".
The theme, a series of agreements of brass, is introduced at the beginning of "The Warg", supported by bat pounding chorus and the drums of war. "Titan of ice", one of my favorites cues, leads in this theme with the choir and percussion, building of the theme in the brass and stressed by running string ostinatos. A quieter version of this theme can be heard in the solo violin at "De Laura mercy", illustrating the versatility of the theme. The b theme is less and less frequently used and is in fact only heard in full at the end of "Final Confrontation", following a bold statement of the theme. It can first be heard in the strings "Maze entrance" and "Of Laura Mercy", as alluded to the beginning of "cornell" as a descending pattern. Only the theme has been heard at the end of the album in the solo violin before a declaration for Orchestra and final chorus in "the last battle".
Comparisons will be made to the Lord of the rings scores, but it is actually more along the lines on your score of Debney's Lair video game, featuring heavier orchestrations and less reliance on thematic development. ?Lord of shadows also has a more Gothic feel, with strong low presence of brass and mixed chorus with drums of war and other percussion, as Van Helsing Silvestri, or Sleepy Hollow of Elfman. These heavy orchestrations represent the first six signals, and then the album slows down until the final pieces. Do you feel the rhythm of the album seem a little off, as the middle portions drag. However, slower cues in the environment, such as "De Laura mercy" and "Cascades of Agharta" allowing the thematic development more. The only out of place, cue is "Of Belmont Theme", which is a sound that has not heard elsewhere in the partition. Another missing element here, as I mentioned previously, is a main title, which most of the video games, which would have helped introduce thematic elements. Listeners should seek "Final Confrontation" cue for the good representation of the themes, instead.
Score of Oscar Araujo for Castlevania: Lord of Shadows is nothing extraordinary. The use of the choir of 80-person overall, in almost every cue, elevates this score at another level, adding a Gothic and epic tone to an already massive and impressive sounding Orchestra. Unfortunately, this soundtrack is only available in the "Edition Collector" of the video game - it is not a release of the standalone album yet. However, fans of big epic scores he should seek out whenever it becomes available, and we hope Araujo will become a visible presence in the video game and film score industry soon.
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