July 27, 2006

Composer Named for Perimeter: Emperor’s Testament

Today, Paradox Interactive revealed the composer of the soundtrack for their next strategy title release, “Perimeter: Emperor’s Testament”. This sci-fi RTS transports players into an intricate and twisting storyline which plays out in multiple dimensions, where abstract worlds and complex emotions take center stage.

Famous Russian musician Andrey Komarov, a.k.a. Vishudha Kali (V.K.), has been selected as the composer for “Perimeter: Emperor’s Testament”. During his ten years of composing, V.K. has created six albums of various musical styles, ranging from martial electronic noise to mystical ambient.

During the process of creating the game’s tracks, a diverse number of tools were used, including not only the electronic sound of modern synthesizers, but also analog synthesizers and electro-organs, bells, fisgarmonics, stones and various handmade instruments. Some tracks also contain special guttural singing by V.K. himself.

In this project, V.K. has utilized the same ideas that had been the basis for his early industrial/noise and underground albums. Each track embodies a particular concept; to write each one, the composer had to embody the game’s characters, and the inspiration that was derived from such moments was used in the process of composing and performing.

The soundtrack for the game contains 10 tracks, or about an hour of original material, which is based on the principles of “psychoacoustics”. During mission briefings, the music relaxes player; conversely, the music will maintain a vice-like grip players throughout action sequences. These effects have been realized not only via acceleration/deceleration of the musical rhythm, but also by establishing a complex track structure. As a result, the music has been given careful treatment, which should provide a much more melodic and complicated experience than the original “Perimeter” score.

An additional track – the theme for the game’s main menu -- has been written and performed by another Russian composer and musician, Andrey Gladkov, a former member of the famous electronic band, “Los Chikatillos”.

A great deal of attention has been given to the issues of stereo sound and mastering during the process of writing the soundtrack for the game. It is highly recommended that gamers play music from “Perimeter: Emperor’s testament” not only on their PCs, but also on good acoustic systems that are capable of properly interpreting the complex sound architecture. The composers have gone to great lengths to highlight the game’s sonic experience.

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