Buy it... if you seek hugely orchestral and choral video game music that vaults past most film scores produced in the same era.

Avoid it... if you are generally dismayed by the employment of tired chord progressions inspired by countless other scores, even if they are rendered with enormous majesty.

Primal: (Andrew Barnabas and Paul Arnold) Music for video games has consistently taken the form of low-budget, midi-technology efforts since their emergence decades ago in mainstream culture. If you stop to consider the sheer volume of video games existing on the market, it is easy to understand how the vast majority of those games use midi electronic scores or license out rock music from stock libraries created specifically for this purpose. In the late 1990's and early 2000's, however, a handful of directors of video games convinced their executives to fund ambitious orchestral scores for the promising flagship gaming products. In the case of "Primal," Sony's European Computer Entertainment division was convinced by the midi-score creators that an orchestral score would be viable and extremely effective in the cinematic portions of the game. "Primal" was among Sony's top projects in 2003, with the same creators having produced the popular "Medievil" games in previous years. The decision to record an orchestra over using the existing midi score for "Primal" was made in part because the game features several hours of storytelling in a format similar to a cinema presentation. As the main female character, Jen, battles through several levels of hideous creatures to rescue her boyfriend, Lewis, the game offers these film-like passages in between many steps that Jen takes. Thus, an orchestral score became necessary for almost three hours of these moments, with parts adapted for the 15+ hours of actual gameplay time (do employed adults really have time to play these things for that long with any consistent satisfaction?). Composers Andrew Barnabas and Paul Arnold, who go by the work, screen, and professional names of "Bob and Barn," gladly translated their midi score for "Primal" into a massive orchestral effort using their British classical knowledge. The well-known City of Prague Philharmonic and its 86 players were supplemented by a full chorus and a soprano female voice to create a large, symphonic score of an epic, Hollywood scale similar to that of David Arnold's early film music recordings. The immense size of the "Primal" score will surprise almost any listener. The group recorded over 100 minutes of music over five weeks, working with the 109 total musicians from dawn to dusk on many days.

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To distinguish each of the five levels of the game, the composers wrote what sounds in many ways like five distinct scores, connected by a central theme that is presented at the opening of each segment to maintain continuity. The Nexus level presents the haunting thematic beauty of the score, while the Solum level is dominated by brass and heavy, driving rhythms. The Aquis level utilizes the chorus at the forefront for its watery environment, and the Aetha level of Chaos is perhaps the weakest of the five, relying on sparsely developed waltz rhythms and several violin solos for its personality. A slight Middle Eastern motif is gained in the final Volca level, which finishes the game with a blaze of unrestrained orchestral bombast. The highlight of the album is clearly the Nexus level, in which Bob and Barn establish the characters of Jen and Arella with their lovely musical counterparts. The female soprano, Michaela Srumora, offers a perfectly mesmerizing and almost seductive atmosphere from the game's outset, luring you into its gothic atmosphere. The trio of "Arella's Theme," "A Love Lost," and "Jen Meets Arella," as well as "A Kingdom Restored" later in the narrative, contain stunning thematic constructs for the full ensemble, with the choir providing a depth to the recording that exceeds almost all film scores in majesty. The involvement of Prague veteran Nic Raine in the project was likely a key to the remarkable symphonic sound. It is ironic that in a game of this much fright and action, the best portions of the score are the resilient, harmonic passages of mellow charm. The heroic "marching off to war" moment for snare and solo horn presented at the end of "A Love Lost" is a subtle highlight of the album. The weaknesses of the score are few, but trained ears will hear many cliched chord progressions that sound good, but have been identified with countless scores of decades past. Thus, in originality, the score lacks a bit, but it compensates by overwhelming you with its dynamic orchestral mass. Much in the same way Vangelis can blow you away with a wall of sound, Bob and Barn accomplished the same environment with "Primal." For the realm of video games in this relatively early time for such expansive endeavors, it is an especially impressive effort. Those who play the game should note that the mass of looped battle music in the game is provided by the electronic rock band 16 Volt, and none of that material appears on this album. Overall, this score is a very pleasant surprise. ****   Amazon.com Price Hunt: CD or Download