3 out of 5

Label: Spacelab9

Mastered by: Anders Peterson

Generally with game scores, my rankings have some sliding scales based on “feel:” does the music make me feel like I’m playing the game? Does the music make me feel something outside of the game? Obviously those two can play together differently – music can be vital while you’re in it, but not stir much on its own or vice versa – and then are further elevated by the quality of the music itself, which is as subjective as anything else.

Dark Souls’ score wiggles its way between these values interestingly, with some additional hampering in presentation. From the outset, though, the overall uniqueness of Motoi Sakuraba’s approach is quite clear, blending horror movie stings with cinematic bombast, allowing the tone of the music to swing from massive to minimalist and still be part of the same journey. Even when things are at their most fraught, though, with devilish string pluckings atonally scraped across melodies, and demonic choirs on full blast, Sakuraba controls the emotions: Dark Souls is never just about being tense or scary; similarly, there is no outright moment of adventure, or sadness. Core themes like that of Firelink Shrine, Gwyn’s, or the Nameless Song exist in some otherworld of emotion, perpetually between states. This is clearly perfect for an otherworldly experience like DS, and so the “make me feel like I’m playing the game” vibe is strong.

And while the power of the music thus extends to the “feel something outside of the game” as well, there are some limitations to that: mainly, the choice to really only score the boss battles in the game. Playing Dark Souls, for those that it clicks with, is almost always revelatory, and the environment is a big contributor: the ambivalent silence of most of the overworld purposefully clashes with the crush of a boss battle. As such, boss themes hit incredibly hard (no pun intended), and themes from these instantly draw to mind those interactions. However, that means each song on here that’s for a boss – with some notable exceptions – has to jump to level 10 right away and be made for looping, making the actual soundtrack experience not nearly as immersive as the game. Also, to be fair, Sakuraba was working from a kind of similar bag of tricks for the A- and B-sides’ worth of songs on this set, making a lot of songs similar at the outset, if more impressive themes emerge a few moments in. This effect is furthered when compared to the excellent D-side, which collects the DLC tracks, as these are much more varied and “complete” in and of themselves, suggesting there was maybe a little more time to get the full package (game and music) together, as well as having the main game’s events to reflect and musically comment on.

Lastly, outside of the actual content, is Spacelab 9’s presentation of the score. This was priced regularly, so I suppose I can’t criticize for only doing a gatefold with familiar images and no liner notes, but nonetheless, the packaging ends up coming across as a kind of budget release. Carry this over to the quality: my copy sounds clear, but the master (or mix) is rather compressed – not a lot of highs and lows. This songs seem like they would benefit from a full orchestra and the big and bright sound to support that; this recording instead is akin to piping the tunes from the game through mid-level speakers.

But, y’know, I wanted a copy of this score, and original editions tend to be rare or cost-prohibitive. Paired with game memories, it is fantastic music, so I appreciate Spacelab9 frequently repressing the vinyl at an affordable pricepoint.