CD REVIEWS - MYST 5: END OF AGES & URU MUSIC

MYST 5: END OF AGES
Music by Tim Larkin
Cyan Worlds (U.S.)
17 Tracks 49:28 mins

Available from cyanworlds.com in a uniquely designed pamphlet with the CD attached to the back, is Tim Larkin's score for the final chapter in the Myst videogame series.
Like previous entries, the soundscape is a mix of otherworldly and ancient ethnic music, with all kinds of instrumentation, from more standard fayre to flutes, percussion, choral, even throat singing. Some tracks are eerie and mysterious, others ethereal, many more propulsive and rhythmic, often driven by said percussion. In fact, there are few moods not covered in the score. A fitting souvenir then for all you Myst fans.


URU MUSIC
Music by Tim Larkin
Cyan Worlds (U.S.)
16 Tracks 50:55 mins

Also available from the same source is Larkin's music for Uru: Ages Beyond Myst, which is similar in many respects to the Myst music, combining ethnic and Western instruments, electronics and human voice and covering many styles of World music to provide another interesting soundscape. I particularly liked the performance of soprano Tasha Koontz on the Gallery Theme, and she appears again in a duet with duduk on Baron's Theme. Safe to say, if you like the Myst music, you'll want to hear this as well.

Just to remind you, both CDs are available from cyanworlds.com, where you can also purchase the games themselves.