Behind The Score - Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 by Oscar Araujo

MUSIC OF SHADOW

Castlevania - one of the video game industry's most enduring and iconic franchises.  Born long before the days of super-powered PCs and consoles, Konami debuted the original Castlevania video game in 1986.  Since, the franchise has gone on to see some forty titles released across multiple platforms.  Castlevania now entails a rich history and detailed timeline which chronicles the conflict between the vampire-hunting, Belmont family and Dracula and his resurrection every one-hundred years.  The music composed for the very first game came from Satoe Terashima and Kinuyo Yamashita.  They were later followed in the franchise by composers such as Kenichi Matsubara and Jun Funahashi.  While the games have gone on to spur feature film talk since 2005, their scores have spawned multiple remixes and even inclusion in some of the live, video game music performances, which are ever growing more popular and more frequent.

In 2010, CASTLEVANIA: LORDS OF SHADOW was released by Konami - rebooting the series and breaking from the extensive, pre-existing history.  LORDS OF SHADOW, MIRROR OF FATE, and ultimately LORDS OF SHADOW 2 would go on to catapult the series setting forward by a millennium, from 1046 to 2014 AD.   The composer that the Konami producers chose to handle this radical change musically was OSCAR ARAUJO, whose original score for 2010's LORDS OF SHADOW became one of the year's best reviewed video game scores.  In 2013, the franchise returned with MIRROR OF FATE and again in 2014 with LORDS OF SHADOW 2 both with Araujo as the game score's composer.

Tracksounds is proud to bring you this special, behind-the-score-feature which, in addition to our original review of LORDS OF SHADOW, offers three, brand new reviews and an interview with composer OSCAR ARAUJO in both English and Spanish:

Video: Behind The Scenes: Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2

Interview: Oscar Araujo | Espanol

Review:  Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 by Oscar Araujo

Review:  Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate by Oscar Araujo

Review:  Castlevania: Lords of Shadow  by Oscar Araujo (Ultimate Edition)

Review:  Castlevania: Lords of Shadow by Oscar Araujo

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Behind the Score: Call of Duty: Black Ops with Sean Murray

Behind the Score: Call of Duty: Black Ops

The war effort didn't end with the conclusion of World War II.  In fact, a new war was almost simultaneously born - The Cold War.  Warfare had gone underground, but the call of duty to serve remained strong.

Join with us as we go with them all BEHIND THE SCORE OF Call of Duty: Black Ops. In this edition:

- Photos from the Black Ops recording session

- SoundCast  Interview with composer Sean Murray

- Call of Duty: Black Ops Game score review

- BONUS Coverage:  2009 Interview with Sean Murray

- BONUS Coverage:  Call of Duty World at War Game score review

Check out this new Behind the Score Feature 

Behind the Score: Killzone 3 with Joris de Man

Behind the Score:  Killzone 3

Depicting the ongoing conflict between the human ISA colonists and the mutated halfbreed race known as the Helghast, the Killzone series has boasted extremely polished gameplay, mindblowing graphics quality, and fantastic music since its first title in 2004. With the recent release of Killzone 3 (actually the fourth game in the series, counting the PSP-exclusive Killzone: Liberation), we delve into the rich and sophisticated music of JORIS DE MAN, and learn how one electronic musician's brave creative vision brought the symphony orchestra to the First-Person Shooter genre in all its glory.

Join with us as we go with them all BEHIND THE SCORE OF KILLZONE 3. In this edition:

- SoundCast Interview with composer Joris de Man

- Killzone 3 Game score review

- Article:  "A Moment's Weight" by Jeremy Hardin

- BONUS Coverage:  2009 Interview with Joris de Man (Killzone 2)

- BONUS Coverage:  Killzone 2 Game score review

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Behind the Score: Assassin's Creed

Behind the Score:  Assassin's Creed
By Marius Masalar

A rustle in the crowd, a light breeze, a single bloodstained feather drifting from the rooftops...there is no shortage of evocative imagery associated with the Assassin's Creed series. The recent release of the series' third major title, Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood is a prime opportunity to highlight the music that underpins the drama. In the story of AC: Brotherhood, we return to the story of Ezio, who we met in the second game, and whose exploits we continue to experience through the memories of his modern ancestor, Desmond Miles. But besides the brotherhood of assassins accompanying Ezio, by his side is also veteran game composer JESPER KYD, whose creative and memorable work continues to be a cornerstone of the series.

Join with us as we go with them all BEHIND THE SCORE OF Assassin's Creed. In this edition:

- Interview with composer Jesper Kyd
- Assassin's Creed Brotherhood Game score review
- Assassin's Creed II Game score review
- Assassin's Creed Game score review
- BONUS Coverage: 2007 Interview with Jesper Kyd

Go Behind the Score here!

Behind the Score: The Force Unleashed 2

Exclusive Streaming Soundtrack from The Force Unleashed 2!

It's been two years since the world was introduced to Darth Vader's young apprentice. From serving the Dark Lord of the Sith to helping to birth the Rebellion, the young apprentice, Starkiller, finds that he is unusually strong in the Force, but which side will he ultiimately choose and what is he willing to sacrifice?   In 2010, Starkiller is back (in many many ways)  and he hasn't quite finished unleashing the force on unsuspecting members of the new Empire.  Returning right alongside the identity-challlenged apprentice, General Kota, Juno Eclipse and Darth Vader, to continue musically-bridging the Prequel and Original trilogies in THE FORCE UNLEASHED 2 is composer MARK GRISKEY. 

Join with us as we go with them all BEHIND THE SCORE OF THE FORCE UNLEASHED 2. In this edition:

- 10 streaming tracks from the original score!
- SoundCast Interview with composer Mark Griskey

- Game soundtrack review by Christopher Coleman

- SoundCast Interview with author Sean Williams

- BONUS Coverage:  The Force Unleashed review, 2008 Interview with Mark Griskey

Check the full feature here

Behind the Score: The Music of the Lord of the Rings Films

Likely the most appreciated, analyzed, and awarded scores of the new millennium has been HOWARD SHORE'S epic, original score for Peter Jackson's LORD OF THE RINGS TRILOGY. Years after the some of the most complete soundtrack releases ever, comes the lost awaited book and CD release, THE MUSIC OF THE LORD OF THE RINGS - A Comprehensive Account of Howard Shore's Scores. This unique volume was researched, compiled and written by author DOUG ADAMS alongside Howard Shore and his creative team. The result is an even more detailed look at, not only the music, but it's evolution.

Tracksounds is proud to bring you this in-depth look "behind the score" of The Lord of the Rings. In this edition:

- SoundCast Interview with author Doug Adams
- Book review by Peter Nickalls
- Rarities CD review by Peter Nickalls
- Select photos from the Signature Session in London.


Check out Behind the Score here

Behind the Score: Lost Planet 2 with Jamie Christopherson, Tomoya Kishi and Marika Suzuki

In May 2009, one of the largest orchestras ever assembled to record an original score for a video game was recorded at the Newman Stage at Fox Studios in Century City, California. The 96-piece orchestra performed the music of composers Jamie Christopherson and Marika Suzuki; orchestrated by Tim Davies. The performance was recorded and mixed by veteran audio mixer, Shawn Murphy.

In this edition of Behind the Score:

- Select photos from the recording and mixing sessions
- SoundCast Interview with composer Jamie Christopherson
- SoundCast Interview with Capcom's Audio Director, Tomoya Kishi
and staff composer, Marika Suzuki


Check out debut Behind the Score feature here