Trauma Center -New Blood- Original Soundtrack
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Album Title: Trauma Center -New Blood- Original Soundtrack |
| Record Label: Index Music |
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| Catalog No.: NECA-30221 |
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| Release Date: February 27, 2008 |
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| Purchase: Buy at CDJapan |
Overview
Japanese rock band MintJam made a spectacular transition from amateurs to pros during the last decade. Between their high-profile original albums and vocal arrangements, they also worked on a number of low-budget bishoujo and fighting games. One that particularly channels their core rock sound is Million Knights Vermilion, a fighting game released by NRF. For a modest 1000 JPY, they released the soundtrack several months before the game during Japan’s semi-annual Comiket festival. Unlike the game, the music actually lived up to the hype…
Body
Right from the opener “Bloody Nightmare”, MintJam showcase their modern yet nostalgic rock sound. The band lead towards a hard rock sound with their thrashing rhythm guitars and pounding drum kits, yet the rock organ melody that emerges is clearly inspired by the light-hearted game music of the SNES. The section from 0:38 seems to be a tribute to Castlevania with its harpsichord passages and elaborate counterpoint, while the guitar solo that succeeds it is filled with the heroism and exuberance of Street Fighter II. Proving they’re much more experienced than the average doujin band, the instrumental performances here are excellent and the recording quality is clean throughout. Despite the short length, setzer packs plenty of melodies and emotions into this one.
MintJam ensure a varied yet accompaniment to the various stage themes.
“Let’s Rumble” shifts from its slightly muffled vocoder introduction into a stylish rock anthem filled with a2c’s electric guitar mastery, while “Broken Blade” places an even stronger focus on the instrument and is certain to inspire an air guitar performance or two.
Capturing the challenging gameplay, “Burnt Cross” has more grit and density than most of the other tracks here; TERRA convincingly mixes in piano cluster chords
Similar to Street Fighter IV‘s favourites, “Archenemy…?” is an intoxicating blend of wailing Chinese flutes, pentatonic guzheng lines, and edgy trance beats; it brings some much-needed novelty to the gameplay and presumably reflects the origins of the featured character, Million Knights Vermilion‘s answer to Chun-Li,.
Relatively disappointing is “Mad Temptation”; while TERRA incorporates pleasant soundscapes and jazzy stylings here, the track is more about rhythm than melody. trance beats and Chinese flutes, presumably reflecting the
Summary
The soundtrack for Trauma Center: New Blood certainly suits a surgical simulation game. What’s more, there are enough catchy tracks and emotional soundscapes for the soundtrack to appeal on a stand-alone basis. However, Kitajoh and Tsuchiya’s themes are rarely innovative — they merely build on the approach of Trauma Center: Under the Knife for the gameplay themes and relying on scoring clichés for the event themes. In addition to being quite predictable, the soundtrack is also let down by an abundance of short tracks. Overall, cautiously recommended for those who played the game.
Do you agree with the review and score? Let us know in the comments below!
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Posted on August 1, 2012 by Chris Greening. Last modified on August 1, 2012.
About the Author
Chris Greening I've contributed to websites related to game audio since 2002. In this time, I've reviewed over a thousand albums and interviewed hundreds of musicians across the world. As the founder and webmaster of VGMO -Video Game Music Online-, I hope to create a cutting-edge, journalistic resource for all those soundtrack enthusiasts out there. In the process, I would love to further cultivate my passion for music, writing, and generally building things. Please enjoy the site and don't hesitate to say hello!
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