Ante Bellum Original Soundtrack: Dev Diary #4
This week we are kicking straight into it with the full album tracklist!
In it you will see the title and order of all 16 tracks, including a couple that have not been mentioned yet. One of my personal favourites is "Requiem for a King" as well as "Mediterranean Sun", so I will talk briefly about these two tracks below before discussing overarching design philosophy of the music.
Also, if you follow YouTuber Chewyshoot's ongoing Ante Bellum Byzantium series you may be able to catch a couple of the new songs being played in game.
Song: Requiem for a King
This song is similar in style to the Inception (yes, the movie) Theme Song. It starts simple and gentle and gradually builds up with ever-increasing swells involving more and more of the orchestra. By the end it is deep and emotional. It is not an upbeat or grand piece. It is melancholic and pensive. It is always one of the longest pieces in the album. When I hear it I think of a funeral, but a funeral for someone well-known or significant to many people's lives.
In the Ante Bellum context it is mostly intended to be a sad song for the passing of a ruler; particularly those of the great empires of old (looking at you Lotharingia).
Song: Mediterranean Sun
I like this piece because it is just so chill. There is nothing heavy going on, no brass or epic fanfares; only relaxed background music with a warm and summery kind of feel. Think of merchants sailing over a smooth and calm Mediterranean Sea, or people lazing about on the beaches of Sicily. It has a more positive and upbeat feel to it, which is different to most of the other tracks and is refreshing amidst all the war and despair.
In the Ante Bellum context the track serves purely as generic background music and does not have any unique and sneaky things built into it.
Design Philosophy
In approaching the new music my primary objective was to expand on the dark and tense atmosphere set by the main theme ("Into the Beyond"), which was released in 2020. This, in turn, was intentionally based on Ante Bellum's starting setup and the grim lore that lies behind it. It is this tension that led to the creation of the Catholic theme, the Islamic theme and the entire conflict that occurs between the two within the music.
However, one thing I wanted to do wth the soundtrack was use the instrumentation to emphasise these themes. Hence, you will hear less strings and more brass, as the brass gives us both the deep darkness and the heroic glory.
More significantly, I introduced an organ into the mix as a primary instrument in a couple of tracks (and supporting in others - particularly those low, deep pedals). In "Empire's Downfall" it provides the sad soundscape that the rest of the piece is built on. Meanwhile in "Into the Beyond" it plays a very active role in the second half of the piece to bring it to its epic finish. In "Nicene Legions" it is used to build tension with non-standard chords in conjunction with the strings.
Finally, a fun little easter-egg of-sorts is the appearance of saxophones right at the end of the very last piece, "Victorious War". Although a saxophone lies outside of the general timeframe of EU4, it is meant to represent the future, especially if the piece is considered in the context of a jubilant celebration following the last war in the EU4 timeline (say, defeating Napoleon). Even more justifiable is the fact that Ante Bellum extends out the end-game a bit and develops it further, which makes a saxophone not seem so unrealistic during that time (from memory saxophones were invented in the late 1800's).
What song are you looking forward to the most?
The Ante Bellum Original Soundtrack releases worldwide on 4 February 2022.
- Utopia