Trine 3 -The Artifacts of Power- Original Soundtrack
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Album Title: Trine 3 -The Artifacts of Power- Original Soundtrack |
| Record Label: Aritunes Records |
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| Catalog No.: N/A |
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| Release Date: September 16, 2015 |
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| Purchase: Buy at Official Site |
Overview
Ari Pulkkinen, known for his work on Angry Birds, Super Stardust HD, and Resogun, returns for the third game in another series in which he is the composer, Trine. The latest game in the series, Trine 3: The Artifacts of Power, once again continues with the fantsay sound of its predecessors. The soundtrack, featuring 15 tracks, one of which is a bonus, can be purchased through Ari Pulkkinen’s record label, Aritunes Records. How does the overall soundtrack stack up to the previous entries in the series?
Body
The album opens with “Trine 3 Main Theme” and establishes the soundscape for the rest of the soundtrack. It has both an adventurous tone to it as well as one of mysticism, things that I associate with a fantasy genre. The brass and woodwinds help bring out the aforementioned adventure whereas the inclusion of some haunting, ethereal vocals in the accompaniment help to conjure up a sense of mystery. The three character themes on the soundtrack, “Pontius the Knight,” “Zoya the Thief,” and “Amadeus the Wizard,” all offer varying soundscapes unique to their character. For “Pontius the Knight,” the overarching feel of the theme is one of adventure, with its march-like sound and brass led melody. The B section of the piece definitely has a spaghetti western influence, especially with how the percussion, woodwinds, and vocals help create a bit of a rustic sound. It might sound a bit out of place in a medieval inspired fantasy soundtrack, but it is a solid tune, nonetheless. “Zoya the Thief” is a beautiful woodwind led piece with ethereal vocals. It has a very delicate quality to it, but also captures the spirit of the acrobatic character. Lastly, “Amadeus the Wizard” is a more percussion heavy piece with a bit of quirkiness, which, to me, fits the character quite well. Like many of the tunes on the soundtrack, the melody feature a combination of woodwinds, brass, and vocal work, but the end result is one that is quite marvelous.
There are also a few action cues featured on the soundtrack, to varying success and length. The shortest cues on the soundtrack, “Smash Puny Goblins” and “Guardian of the Walls,” with the former being very brass and percussion oriented as well as mixing in some more Germanic instrumentation as well, while the latter features more of a heroic sound, but doesn’t stand out as much in an out-of-context basis. “The Infernal Minions of Sarek” is another theme featuring heavy brass and percussion. The melody itself definitely has a sense of urgency, but also a sense of heroism as well, that helps to support the wonderful melody. Lastly, “The Beast in the Trees” is my personal favorite of the action-oriented cues. The haunting vocals and piano create an extremely chilling effect that combines well with the grandiose nature of the accompanying orchestral sounds. It’s one of the highlights for sure.
Of course, there are plenty of area themes as well. “The Academy Gatehouse” features a beautiful melody with a rich soundscape. The interplay between the strong brass melody and the woodwinds is quite lovely while the vocals and harpsichord provide some extra musical texture to great effect. Two themes from the first game in the series return in “Astral Academy Recrudence” and “Academy Halls Resurrected,” both of which sound much improved over their initial debut, thanks in part to the richer sounds used in these versions to fit the scope of the game. “The Redwood Forest” opens up with a very ambient soundscape before moving into a woodwind driven melody. There is a certain air of mysticism in the piece and I like how it gets more adventurous in nature as it progresses. Lastly, “The Lost Mines” focuses more on an ambient sound and an ominous tone. It is very dark and while lacking a strong melody, making it harder to listen to out of context, it does feature some rich musical textures.
One of the highlights on the album is certainly “The Chronicles of the Guardian.” It features a very Renaissance inspired sound with a fantastic woodwind melody while ethereal vocal work helps bring a sense of exoticism to the piece. The final track on the album, “The Legend of Trine” is the bonus track featured on the album release. It’s another rendition of the main theme with the flute and vocals working together to create a very mesmerizing tune. It really manages to capture the esse of the game quite well while the additional orchestral components help to add a lot of depth to the piece. It’s another strong piece for sure.
Summary
In the end, the Trine 3: Artifacts of Power Original Soundtrack is more in line with the style of the first game in the series and is closer in terms of success to that compared to the second game in the series. While there are a few tunes that might not always be engaging out of context, the overall result is a soundtrack rich with lush instrumentation, inspired by medieval fantasy. Fans of the series’ music should appreciate Pulkinnen’s latest effort for the series.
Do you agree with the review and score? Let us know in the comments below!
4.5
Posted on September 17, 2015 by Don Kotowski. Last modified on September 23, 2015.
About the Author
Don Kotowski Currently residing in Philadelphia. I spend my days working in vaccine characterization and dedicate some of my spare time in the evening to the vast world of video game music, both reviewing soundtracks as well as maintaining relationships with composers overseas in Europe and in Japan.
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