The Witcher Original Soundtrack

	Album Title: The Witcher Original Soundtrack
	Record Label: TWOST
	Catalog No.: N/A
	Release Date: October 24, 2007
	Purchase: Buy Used Copy

Overview

You’d be forgiven for not remembering any computer games heralding from Poland. Or at least you would have been until 2007, when Polish developer CD Projekt released The Witcher, a dark fantasy RPG that garnered strong reviews for its unusually mature take on the genre (and copped some flak for its hilariously gratuitous nudity and sex). CD Projekt’s ambitions and investment — to the tune of more than $11 million of development costs — paid off when the The Witcher sold more than a million copies. This in turn prompted the release of an extended edition of the game and an even better-received sequel, which arrived in 2011.

Just as unknown as the game’s developer or the property it was based on — a Polish fantasy novel called The Last Wish — were The Witcher‘s composers, Pawel Blaszczak and Adam Skorupa of music and sound production studio gamesXsound. As Blaszczak wrote in a blog entry about the soundtrack’s gestation, it was early decided that the music would be strongly shaped by Celtic, Irish and some other ethnic styles, while not neglecting the gloominess of the game’s morally ambiguous narrative. The Witcher‘s score was originally released as part of the game’s limited edition in 2007, before being reprinted for The Witcher Enhanced Edition in 2008. That edition included a second disc with an hour’s worth of material from various Polish bands and artists that CD Projekt had invited to write songs inspired by the game. This review refers to the original 2007 release.

Body

What makes the first and biggest impression on the listener is the melancholy beauty of many of the pieces on The Witcher. You wouldn’t necessarily expect the soundtrack for such a sombre game to be this melodically attractive, but here it is and it will be reason enough for many collectors to hunt down this score album. The enchanting female vocal solo of “Dusk of a Northern Kingdom” that opens the soundtrack will have you hooked and unlocks the door to a colourful fantasy world. That colour emanates particularly from the Celtic and Irish elements that Blaszczak addressed before the soundtrack’s release. And the composers’ reliance on these ethnic sounds is doubtlessly one of the score’s biggest draws. Particularly the frequent inclusion of uillean pipes adds a haunting feeling of longing to many pieces. “River of Life” is the perfect showcase for these tendencies and also the soundtrack’s standout track, gently carrying the listener along on waves of gorgeous, yearning melodies on uillean pipes, acoustic guitar, solo cello and harmonised female vocals, backed by a warm synth orchestral background.

The track’s free-flowing nature and its enrapturing ingredients are repeated on numerous cues throughout The Witcher and these never fail to leave the listener with a contend smile on their face. Blaszczak and Skorupa sweeten things further by adding some careful, well-applied changes to their winning formula. The calm strains for solo flute and violin in “Peaceful Moments” are given a soft but driving lilt through a percussive accompaniment that gives the piece an entirely appropriate, pop ballad-like character. The glistening melodies of “Silver Sword” are forged from glockenspiel, light chimes and female choir. And “The Dike” and “Withered Roses” let the wistfulness that simmers under the surface of many pieces come forward and turn into outright grief. The opening string motif of the former creates the most overly sorrowful moment on the soundtrack and the flute solo which then enters is stunningly beautiful. Things only get better when noble horns enter around 2:00, offering defiance against despair. Running at a generous seven minutes, “The Dike” is the perfect example of a piece that doesn’t require an elaborate structure to sustain itself, but instead can simply rely on the strength of its melodies that are heavy-hearted, yet full of inner grandeur.

Looking closer at The Witcher‘s track list, the need for this particular strength becomes apparent. There’s a good number of pieces that run from five up to eight minutes. And given that the more languorous tracks on The Witcher are rather loosely structured and tend to meander, there was the potential for these compositions to become endurance tests. But no, these cues elegantly sidestep these issues and remain involving listens. “Dead City” starts with lachrymose, ambient synth layers that slowly seep from the speakers like grey fog, setting a desolate atmosphere which is both enhanced and countered by a cautiously hopeful woodwind motif. This combination of a strong atmosphere and melodic moments that enrich the forlorn mood while subtly changing it carry the track through its extended running time. And while both “Dead City” and “The Dike” certainly don’t win prices for their slightly rambling structure, it speaks to the composers’ sense of development that both pieces end with upbeat finales that overcome the proceeding gloom and yet emerge organically. A similarly finely-tuned interplay between contrasting sounds characterises “The Princess Striga”, which oscillates between tense underscore aided by distorted guitar riffs and fierce orchestral outbursts driven by galloping percussion and all too brief majestic choir. Again, the track’s loose structure makes it feel that it might as well be half or twice as long as it is without much consequence. But the suffocating atmosphere is so strong and the balance between the contrasting sounds so well judged that this issue is practically rendered moot.

As one would guess by now, The Witcher derives a good part of its attractiveness from its colourful orchestrations that set it apart from many run-of-the-mill fantasy scores. Most strongly felt is the presence of many Celtic instruments such as uillean pipes, flutes, recorders and tin whistle. But vocal elements also come to make their impact on the music and increase its otherworldly beauty when appearing in the shape of operatic female solo voices on “Dusk of a Northern Kingdom”, “The Princess Striga” and “Dead City”. Elsewhere, choirs are added to the already lush compositions to increase the battle tracks’ power, heighten the sense of solemnity and sorrow on “Withered Roses” and “Twilight”, or render the oppressive mood of “The Order” even more asphyxiating through the guttural sounds of a deep male choir. Although “The Order” fails to develop sufficient counterpoint to the prevailing heavy ambiance to truly stand out, its ominously pounding timpani and churning double bass rhythms create tension music that is compelling, if not more than that.

And Ireland isn’t the only location The Witcher‘s score travels to. Middle-eastern sounds are integrated into some tracks and while they’re not as omnipresent as the Celtic influences, their striking sounds make their mark and are flawlessy incorporated into the score’s palette. Muezzin-like vocals float over a sparse harp accompaniment in “Elaine Ettariel”, adding another facet to The Witcher‘s varied use of vocal elements. Duduk and vivid hand percussion rhythms help make “The Princess Striga”‘s shifts of tone that much more interesting. And while “An Ominous Place” could have been a mere retreat of “Dead City”, the arid tones of a kanun (a Middle-eastern zither) and more hand percussion help paint in shades of stark brown and yellow rather than grey when set against familiar synth washes. Finally, there’s also the obligatory folksy dance tunes on “Evening in the Tavern”, “Catch Me If You Can” and “Tavern at the End of the World”, which are all competently composed and quickly forgotten. And the electronic pulse powering “Prepare for Battle!” simply feels out of place in the soundtrack’s organic soundscape.

Speaking of battle tracks, they actually exist in decent numbers, but they still impact the soundtrack less than one might think. It’s not difficult to see why: the longest action cue runs a mere two minutes, while most others just make it past the one minute mark. The battle cues then inadvertently serve as pacechangers rather than as compositions in their own right, injecting the usually slow and serious proceedings with some energy. Most of these tracks go for the familiar combination of thundering (and very well recorded) percussion, urgent string ostinati and mighty brass figures and follow this recipe all the way through. These ingredients generate fitfully impressive results on “Mighty” and “Last Battle”, mainly due to the music’s sheer forcefulness. And Skorupa and Blaszczak sprinkle these compositions with some interesting details, like the fluttering ethnic flute calls on “Prepare for Battle!” and “To Arms (Rebellion)”, the metal percussion of “Night Approaches” and “To Arms (Rebellion)”‘s slower, monolithic rhythms. But despite the composers’ best efforts, it’s impossible not to wish that all this driving energy would have been given a greater chance to develop and characterise the soundtrack — and not just pop briefly here and there and then disappear again. And when the composers incorporate the action tracks’ sonic power into more varied pieces to heighten their drama, the results are mixed. “A Wolf’s Demise” impressively builds from male choir chants and growling double bass chords into an intense choral climax, before ending with a peaceful flute solo. But “A Matter of Conscience” tries to cram too many tonal shifts into one short composition, while “The Lesser of Two Evils” relies so heavily on stereotypical unisono percussion and brass hits set against swirling strings and “epic” choir, you’ll think you’re watching a trailer for the next summer blockbuster.

The battle tracks’ short running time points at another problematic detail of The Witcher‘s score presentation. The album struggles somewhat to establish a smooth flow, not because of the manifold musical styles it combines, but because of the erratic running times of its pieces. Simply put, compositions on The Witcher are just a bit longer than one minute or they run for than more than five minutes, with hardly any middle ground. And that makes for some jarring transitions between tracks — why are “The Dike”‘s languid, hugely emotional strains surrounded by a short dance tune like “Tavern at the End of the World” and a throwaway track like the 23-second “Twilight”? And since most of the briefer compositions are dumped into the album’s second half, any tension that has been built up starts to fizzle towards the soundtrack’s end. Maybe “Last Battle” simply shouldn’t be track six on a 29-track album? Truth be told though, at least do Skorupa and Blaszczak ensure that most of the brief cues on The Witcher feel weighty and substantial enough to not disrupt the listening experience too much.

Another factor that diminishes enjoyment of this soundtrack is the slightly murky album sound, which is particularly apparent on the more lavish compositions like “Peaceful Moments”. The issue here is a lack of clear definition in the solo instruments’ sound, which is often overly reverberant in a very wet mix that sees musical textures blurring into each other. The often sumptuous melodies would greatly benefit from a clearer mix that clearly separated each instrument group and spread them across the whole soundstage. Unfortunately, this issue of a less than ideal album sound makes itself known right from the start when the vocal solo on “Dusk on a Northern Kingdom” sounds a bit distorted when reaching higher registers. Equally, the brass entering at 0:43 in “Leo’s Farewell” feels unnatural in its reverberations and hollow sound.

Summary

The Witcher has a lot of things going for it. Its melodic strength surpasses many similarly-styled fantasy scores and is doubtlessly the album’s strongest point. The integration of ethnic elements, particularly Celtic sounds, gives the soundtrack a dash of colour and makes its glorious melodies even more attractive by imbuing them with a moving feeling of melancholy and longing. Even though a good number of tracks run for five minutes and more and can’t rely on an elaborate structure to sustain themselves, Blasczcak and Skorupa mastery of melody and atmosphere is easily strong enough to hold the listener’s interest. The album’s often too brief battle tracks don’t reach the heights of their lyrical counterparts, but they’re satisfying compositions in and of themselves.

What really stops The Witcher just short of being a four star score are the issues related to its album presentation: the extreme differences in running times between tracks which can make for jarring transitions; the odd track order that fails to build up tension during the album’s running time of more than 70 minutes; and most importantly the muddy mix of the orchestral synths that doesn’t let the album’s numerous beautiful melodies shine as much as they could. Still, there’s more than enough on The Witcher to wholeheartedly recommend it to fans of lush orchestral soundtracks and several of its tracks will become mainstays on many people’s playlists.

Posted on August 1, 2012 by Simon Elchlepp. Last modified on August 1, 2012.

About the Author

Simon Elchlepp A former German film student now living in Melbourne, Australia and working at the University of Melbourne's Architecture faculty - and a passionate music lover with an eclectic taste. Specialising in Western game music, I'm here to dig out the best scores Western video games have produced in the last thirty years.

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