CD Review: Biohazard 5 "Limited Edition" Soundtrack

Biohazard (known in the States as Resident Evil) has come a long way since Capcom introduced the first (somewhat campy, low budget) video game that has grown and survived for ten plus years. The latest game, number 5 in the series, brings back old characters from the series' rich history but also introduced a new team of composers to work on the game's score.

The team is head up by Kota Suzuki who was assisted by Hideki Okugawa, Akihiko Narita, and Seiko Kobuchi. Wataru Hokoyama was also on hand to arrange the twenty-odd minutes performed by the Hollywood Studio Symphony. Yes, orchestra music in a video game. Unfortunately, those tracks are not on the 3 disc (160+ minutes) soundtrack set release by Suleputer. No, we are only left with "digital versions" that adequately convey the music but is just not as rich as the "original versions."

Disc one opens with music typical of a Biohazard game. Want an eeiry track filled with foreboding creepiness? Look no farther than "The Town." "Voice of Darkness," in my opinion, best emplifies the rich, moody texture of a good Biohazard soundtrack. But Biohazard 5 is not like a typical Biohazard soundtrack. As you continue to listen the rest of disc one, as well as the remaining discs, you'll notice the predominance of action cues throughout the score.

The "Majini" tracks are various encounters with the main antagonists. My favorite's "Majini II," with a good balance of dissonance. "Majini IX" is strangely heroic sounding. But the main appeal is the boss battle music. "An Emergency" and "Wind of Madness" are the main reasons that I got interested in the soundtrack in the first place.

"Pray," the end credits song (sung in English) provides the main theme of the soundtrack. This theme is used sporadically through the soundtrack, but it does appear in both soft ("Excella and Wesker," "Plan of Uroboros") and loud ("A Big Despair," "Wind of Madness") tracks.

If you're looking for the atmosheric music of Biohazard 4, then you may not prefer this soundtrack, but it is a testament to the evolution, not only of the Biohazard series but of video game music in general. B+

CD Review: Star Trek (2009)

Now, for the first bit of serious writing for awhile...


There's a long list of composers who worked on Star Trek, and now you can add Michael Giacchino to that list. And to put it frankly, this music is very much Giacchino's. Don't expect his score to homage Goldsmith or Horner in style. True, he does use Alexander Courage's theme at the very end, but it's really the only tie to the original series.

The album starts off with Giacchino's new theme for the movie, and continues to be used in every track after. So, by "Enterprising Young Men" if you're still not sure what the main theme is, there's not much I can do for you. The main theme is simple, heroic, and slightly overused. Despite its genericness, I like the main theme, and it's probably the main reason I bought the album.

Unfortunately, most of the album sounds very Giacchino in nature, with not much to distinguish itself from an episode of Lost or Fringe. Luckily, when you reach "Nero Death Experience," you get to hear the Page La Studio Voices in their full glory. The only other track that really stood out was "That New Car Smell," which features an erhu (or so I'm told) which is used as the theme for the Vulcans (again as I'm told). The album ends with a huge end credits suite that features Courage's theme from the television series. I was a little disappointed with it, because the beginning didn't seem to flow that well, but it's a great representation of the themes from the movie.

The only real problem I have with the soundtrack itself is the length. It's roughly 45 minutes long, where most of Giacchino's soundtrack are closer to an hour in content. Now, if fifteen more minutes of score could have helped broken up the more typical music of this score, then I say this album is too short, BUT if fifteen more minutes would have just been more of the same, it's fine as is.

Overall, Giacchino's Speed Racer really knocked my socks off last year. Unfortunately, Star Trek didn't. It's still Giacchino in fine form, but nothing really stands out except for the aforementioned tracks. B-

Recommended Tracks:
05. Enterprising Young Men
10. Nero Death Experience
11. Nero Fiddles, Narada Burns
13. That New Car Smell

The scariest phrase in Hollywood

Brett Ratner's Youngblood (Ratner will direct an adaptation of Rob Liefield's comic book series.)

In slightly better news, there will be a new movie adaptation of Lee Falk's Mandrake the Magician. Unfortunately, it stars Hayden Christensen.

Resolute

For those embarrassed by the original GI Joe cartoon (or even the upcoming movie), Adult Swim created GI Joe Resolute, a 11 part series of mini-episodes (a la the 2D Clone Wars) designed with a sleek anime style. The series was written by comic book scribe Warren Ellis and watching the series feels just like reading one of his ultra-violent series. Most of the voice work was done by Charles Adler (Chris Latta's heir apparent) and Steven Blum, both supremely talented voice actors. Check out part one below: