CD REVIEW - GENESIS RISING


Genesis Rising
Music by Aleksandar Randjelovic
KeepMoving Records KMRCD 009 (Russia)
11 Tracks 32:47 mins

Another new name to me features on this game score release by KeepMoving Records, that of Aleksander Randjelovic, whose debut score for the medium this is, having had a long standing desire to write music for games. Randjelovic worked on many projects for Goran Bregovic, both film and the composer's ballet Queen Margo, before becoming a composer in his own right for commercials, documentaries shorts, feature films and now games.
2007's Genesis Rising, a futuristic sci-fi game features a mix of epic symphonic-styled (though realised with synths and samples) scoring, with ethnic touches, percussion, and mixed choir; the album commencing with the propulsive "Main Menu" music, which perfectly displays this style. The following "Defiance" opens with the kind of ethnic female chant present in so many contemporary historically ancient scores, and follows up with primitive percussive rhythms, allied to choir, with the ethnic vocal returning at the close. "Premonition" is a dark and threatening affair' whilst "Love Theme" comes as a complete contrast, with a wordless female vocal leading the choir. "Inquisition" is another propulsive cue; and "Lapis" starts out similarly, before going down a more weighty path, leading into "Battle Theme," which pushes all the right buttons. The longest and possibly most interesting track on the album, "Cruciform," follows, opening with haunting sampled voices, before menacing percussion enters, and Gregorian Chant leads us on to a climax. The brief "Revelation" closes the album with a huge choral crescendo.
As regular visitors to the site will know, I am not a great lover of synths and samples, but when they are mixed with percussion and choir often good results can be achieved, and this is the case with this entertaining score; and with quite a short playing time, if anything, it leaves one eager for more.
Go to www.keepmovingrecords.com/eng/disc/31/ for samples and to order your copy of this limited edition of just 500 units.