This one came out of left field I must say. The PR kind of angled it towards dungeon synth/neo folk/medieval but not knowing the project or artiste I wondered what happened to Hands Of Necromancy 1 ‘cos I didn’t read the PR properly only to discover that there is no Hands Of Necromancy 1 from Asciimove. This is the soundtrack to a PC game, Hands Of Necromancy 2.
Now by the nature of an OST this puts it very much into a different ballpark as the music serves a purpose – to accentuate visuals, to fill in those gaps of emotion that were you actually in the game you would feel. It also makes it bloody difficult to review without context. So guess what?
Yeah I had a look at the game (I am very much a gamer though more a Soulsborne guy than retro. And at the moment relaxing in Baldur’s Gate 3. Don’t worry I’m not going to review the game – suffice to say if you’re into indie retro gaming of the original Doom/Wolfenstein variety you’d probably dig it for under a tenner on Steam. But it gave me a bit of context.
On the face of it this could very well fit into the DS genre; a very medieval and fantasy sound to the orchestral keyboards and clean choral vocal sounds. Even the lush production (utterly superb) is not out of sync with some DS despite what the mockers might think. However the feel, the images conjured do stray from this. There is the obvious touchstone of Vangelis here and there, but honestly I immediately had the rush of memory of the Elend (note spelling people) album Weeping Nights where they stripped out the death vocals and left this strange, almost monastic sound. That is the best comparison I can make though this does not have that works more harsh orchestration moments. And yes, as my adoration of those first four Elend albums knows no bounds this is indeed a huge compliment to the talents of suitably reclusive musician NHT.
I don’t often listen to soundtracks, I admit. Which considering the staggering quality of some music in games is pretty bad of me I know (though quick shout out to the Bloodborne soundtrack here…) but this does indeed feel like a journey through a world of magic.
Like the best DS and the best soundtracks you genuinely feel as though you are passing through a dark but oddly exquisite realm (though don’t go to the game looking for visuals as rich as the music – as I said it is low budget, indie retro with graphics to match.) There is menace and darkness, there is wonder and awe. There are even the odd moments of almost whimsy.
One of the best things about the arrangements here is how some aspects, particularly the percussion, feels genuinely organic. ‘Mire Of Secrets And Mysteries’ with its guitars sounds and clicking, tom and bass drumming is particularly effective. There is a sedate quality to all the music too, one with an effortless grace but oddly, particularly for a game soundtrack there are no real crescendos, no persistent battle melodies and oddly in the seventy minute length little that inspires a feeling of peril. The latter I find a little strange to say the least and it does shift the album, as a listening experience, into more of an eerie fantastical journey than a quest fraught with danger and challenge.
But for all that this is a fine and relaxing listening experience. It is beautifully woven and laid out for you. The production is deep and evocative. The music entrancing. At seventy minutes it would also be fine ambient music for some tabletop RPG times. Which neatly circles around to the dungeon synth and for me completely bypassing the neo-folk.
If I’m being picky I would have liked more contrast; I would have liked some sections of urgency, or peril and danger and struggle. But as it is, Asciimov has produced a genuinely fine work here. It does transport me, it does paint pictures in my mind and it does move me. And I think anyone with an interest in medieval ambience, dungeon synth or smooth electronic fantasy worlds would genuinely enjoy this. I certainly did.
(8/10 Gizmo)
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