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Akira Yamaoka
Silent Hill 2
Original Soundtracks, 2001
Available on Amazon!

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Be afraid …

Silent Hill 2 Original Soundtracks are the eerie otherworldly musical creations of Japanese composer Akira Yamaoka for the long running video game franchise. These recordings were meant to match the video game’s ambitious cinematic visuals while enhancing the storytelling. As with motion picture soundtracks, instrumental music moves the story along by providing audio clues as to what is going on presently, punctuating the action, foreshadowing future events, and helping to define the characters.

A daunting task on a good day, now apply that to this video game’s disturbing graphics, repetitive action gameplay and twisting nonlinear storytelling techniques to understand Akira Yamaoka’s epic struggle. The tracks do not lose their impact even without the game imagery to partner with.

Your chilling journey begins:

1. Theme Of Laura, time … 3:26

2. White Noiz, time … 1:23

3. Forest, time … 1:43

4. A World Of Madness, time … 1:47

5. Ordinary Vanity, time … 1:39

6. Promise (Reprise), time … 1:45

7. Ashes And Ghost, time … 3:08

8. Null Moon, time … 2:50

9. Heaven’s Night, time … 2:04

10. Alone In The Town, time … 2:19

11. The Darkness That Lurks In Our Mind, time … 1:16

12. Angel’s Thanatos, time … 3:17

13. The Day Of Night, time … 1:37

14. Block Mind, time … 1:12

15. Magdalene, time … 1:52

Halloween for adults

16. Fermata In Mistic Air, time … 2:16

17. Prisonic Fairytale, time … 1:54

18. Love Psalm, time … 4:26

19. Silent Heaven, time … 2:13

20. Noone Loves You, time … 1:32

21. The Reverse Will, time … 3:33

22. Laura Plays The Piano, time … 1:55

23. Terror In The Depths Of The Fog, time … 4:31

24. True, time … 3:07

25. Betrayal, time … 2:30

26. Blank Fairy, time … 1:12

27. Theme Of Laura (Reprise), time … 1:51

28. Overdose Delusion, time … 4:31

29. Pianissimo Epilogue, time … 1:37

30. Promise, time … 4:40

A couple of the highlights in this impressive thirty tunes collection are:

Block Mind … scraping + churning + heartbeats = scary!

Ashes And Ghost … unrelenting, menacing and militaristic.

Angel’s Thanatos … a maddening heavy metal sound.

Overdose Delusion … a big budget mainstream movie vibe.

Promise … a seventies-ish love song theme that starts to rock midway through.

The CD design features a cut scene still and picks up some of the game textures but only hints at Silent Hill’s depth. For the uninitiated, think Twin Peaks, X-Files and various J-Horror / K-Horror movies stewed, fermented and regurgitated for this eye candy creepshow and a long walk home on dark unfamiliar streets for the supernatural atmosphere.

The Takeaway:
RiceburnerFM recommends Silent Hill 2 Original Soundtracks by Akira Yamaoka. The provision here is that you listen to it with the lights on because this soundtrack is Halloween for adults.

Silent Hill 2 Nurse
photo courtesy from flickr / aworldwithoutlogos

Notes:
Credit listed as Konami Kukeiha Club on the MP3s, but as Akira Yamaoka on CD booklet.
The only spelling correction made was to the name Laura.