Music and gaming have a mixed relationship. For not many gamers have not got heavily into the first two titular vices, but, usually have had no problem with getting into “Rock-‘n-Roll”. And, moreover music surrounds us. Whether one is at the cinema, watching TV or just walking down the street – one can scarcely avoid it – why should it not enter into the realm of gaming as well? Fortunately, I am not the originator of that said idea, it has a lineage almost as old as tabletop games themselves.
In the very distant past, in the Dark Ages at the dawn of gaming, Gamemasters had to rely upon combing and mixing through a multitude of albums and selecting tracks (CDs made this task infinitely easier) but this suffered method from either recognition by the players or worst yet non-recognition when the music was placed in as a clue to action.
In the Middle Ages, many companies experimented with musical/spoken word accompaniments to adventures. These were on the whole a good effort for the time but suffered when players, as they often do – think/play outside of the box. Furthermore, compositions were usually simple and played with familiar tropes.
Now in more recent times, there have been a waft of composers (Nox Arcana, Midnight Syndicate, James Semple, Sonic Soundscapes, Allicon, Alex Otterlei and of course - Musica Cthulhiana) that have taken inspiration from their own tabletop games and put it to music. The outcome of this Third Generation is usually fantastic both in terms of complex orchestration and familiar tropes as they themselves had to live with offerings Dark and Middle Ages and have avoided most of those pitfalls.
“Fragment” by Musica Cthulhiana are such an offspring. It is available in three formats. Deluxe Limited Edition 2 CD set (which is the one I am reviewing), a 20 track downloadable album {€11.99} and 5 tracks for FREE. The Downloadable album is also on iTunes and Zune catalogues. For details, may I direct you to their website - http://www.cthulhumusic.com/index.html
The music on “Fragment” is neoclassical dark ambient with elements of bleak and doom laden jazz. It is wonderfully appropriate to the Call of Cthulhu RPG or similar dark and foreboding game. The whole album is composed from on synthesizers but one can hardly detect that fact save in the seamless transitions. It is very much in the similar mode of aphex twin or a Lustmord, save, that it does have the jarring Metal interludes.
“Fragment” easily seeps into one’s stream of consciousness through gentle unassuming and discreet sound. Its genius lies in a more insidious and terrifying way for what they have done is insert a number of small ambient musical cues into the flow whether it is the beat of a heart or weirdly sounding screeches. The effect is unnerving and unsettling as these almost organic textures haunt you while you listen and long after you put away the music. The pacing is neither slow nor rapid but dreamlike descending to the depths of a shared nightmare. Favourites of mine would be: Madness, 13:37, Deep Orbit Anvil, Omnium Void, Avril Noir (Exposition), and The Bell Fragment. Music, of course, is subjective.
Nevertheless, the great novelty this album offers is that is perfectly suited to creating the right mood for Call of Cthulhu or Kult RPG – combined with dimmed lights. As the music not there to scare your players but just add to spooky vibe you are trying to create. In addition, another interesting innovation is that the tracks do not follow a firm musical narrative/journey which has in turn its advantages and disadvantages. The advantage is that one can mix up the track and it not necessary to play them in any said order. Indeed, the album is composed in such a way that the endings tie-in nicely with the beginning of any other (especially useful if have a wonky player). And, players will not feel railroaded by the music. The big disadvantage is that, even in a game like Cthulhu (usually at the beginning long before everyone either dies or goes insane) there are moments of whimsy and frivolity but this album will not have any truck or trade with this idea. Throughout, the music remains to a dark and doom laden abode.
What would one use album for? It is very much an album used to create atmosphere to be played in the background. Segments and certain tracks might be used as clues but unfortunately the pieces are a bit too long to be used as scene changers or clues (James Semple’s “Eternal Lies Suite” is good start in this direction). Notwithstanding, there is always a danger that one might have a group non-musical players – hence all clues are wasted. Hopefully, Musica Cthulhiana will remedy that with next release but given that it has been seven years since their last release – a new album – however desirable will not be on the horizon for some time. This is clearly a labour of love and the carefulness and thoughtfulness that composer put into each piece show it. A pity, as I would love to hear more of these original compositions.
Although, the music has Call of Cthulhu on its radar – almost any Darkish game could use this music with suitable modification and additions. So it would be perfect for the Ghost Stations of Maschine Zeit, Bug hunts in Traveller, tracking a serial killer from Crime Scene RPG, and, of course, Ravenloft.
What is the future of gaming and music, if one might speculate…? I think we are likely to see a proliferation of more albums like this as gaming takes on more multimedia aspects just as the eBook will slowly transform our reading experience – by means of the addition of flash animations – we are on the cusp of something new & exciting – and Musica Cthulhiana is paving the way forward.
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