Danish prodigy composer Jesper Kyd’s very well-known for his trademarked epic game sound which combines sounds of dark ambience, electronica and symphonic music. Through his modern and popular-among gamers and film music lovers-sound, he quickly gained respect in the industry and many awards. His musical identity developed particularly through the years alongside the Hungarian Radio Choir and the Budapest Symphony Orchestra. With them he’s worked numerously, like for e.g. the Hitman game series scores. For his following compositions, namely Assassin’s Creed, Assassin’s Creed II and Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood he recorded in LA with Hollywood musicians. Whichever the setup, Assassin’s Creed sends gamers’ juices flowing with every new release.
Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood is a historical fantasy third person action-adventure video game developed by Ubisoft Montreal for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, set in open Italian landscapes with a very strong Roman air to it, which also reflects in the music as well (orchestration-wise mostly and stylistically). For this 3rd installment of the game, Jesper’s back with a bag full of familiar moves but also fresh ideas, always in instantly identifiable territories.
It’s got robust and rhythmic percussive pieces were the grand male choir really shines in awe-inspiring latin and tight tempi, like for instance the outstanding “The Brotherhood Escapes”. It’s got melodic middle eastern-colored music that thankfully doesn’t sound like anything from the RC studios and it has subtle, ambient electronica of course, also a trademark in every Kyd score. This always sets a strong contrast between the the trailer-like epic symphonic pieces on one hand and the electronic stuff on the other. There are also more subtle breaks in the form of Vangelis-colored pieces with long synth pads and extended melodies, which set a pretty nice atmosphere and fit the game like a glove.
The CD is a very strong and varied whole for loves of game music, and flows naturally without tiring the listener. A very strong entry in the best game scores of the year for sure. Kyd’s fans especially will find much familiar grounds to get joy from in this one.
Check the score out at amazon.com and also at the official page of the composer here where you can preview tracks from the score. You can also follow the composer and preview the score at his facebook page and buy it on iTunes
