Inspiration Through Music: Tomb Raider – Angel of Darkness Soundtrack

Yup, you now know that I’m a Tomb Raider girl. I love absolutely everything about the series and I think that Lara Croft is one of the best feminine heroes ever created. And while the first five games were really iconic and featured lots of globe-trotting, cave-spelunking, yeti-tackling, and deep-sea diving adventure, plus the occasional tomb exploring, my adoration for the series really took off with the release of the sixth title, Angel of Darkness. Unlike most of the other games, Angel of Darkness takes place in only two cities: Paris and Prague. I liked having the chance to stay in one place longer and explore all the different facets of each city, the building tension, and uneasy atmosphere. This game played a lot darker than the previous titles and that also drew me to it. But one of the things that really made me sink my teeth into the game was the music.

Peter Connelly and Martin Iveson’s engaging score for this game is one that I have gone back to time and time again while working on books. There’s this ominous undercurrent of menace that runs through each piece. These songs have proved invaluable while writing my horror series, The Monstrum Chronicles, as well as other books that I’ve worked on in the past. I remember coming home and playing the songs while I worked on a suspense novel during my high school years. I even listened to the music on the way to and from school on the bus. It was just the right thing to transport me back to those twisted backstreets and nefarious characters. Today, I’ll be sharing four songs from the unofficial soundtrack of Tomb Raider: Angel of Darkness and giving you an idea of what I see when I listen to them. Enjoy!

The Accused: He peered around the corner. The man was just a couple yards away, negotiating his way down the busy street toward the marketplace. The rain poured down in sheets. Visibility was terrible. He crept out from his hiding spot and started toward the man. Blend in, he told himself. There were dozens of people on the street today, out in droves for the art festival. Leave it to the city to schedule a giant social event during one of the worst rain storms of the season. This provided extra cover, a way to get close and not be seen. He couldn’t be angry about that. It was the luckiest break he’d had during this entire investigation. If he wanted to know more about this mysterious man, he had to be able to get close…right under his nose.

Parisian Ghetto: That time in the afternoon, the sun banked off the western edge of the buildings, sending angled streams of orange light over the bricked walls. This city almost seemed safe. But darkness was encroaching. It wasn’t safe, no matter how the light hit it. It was all just an illusion, an innocent deception to give it some appeal. There was no telling just what could happen here when the sun went down. There was no telling what dark secrets were spilled in the day that would lead to evil things done in the dark. It was madness to be back here. But he had to. He only needed one thing…and then he could leave. So why did he feel that it wasn’t going to be so simple?

The Louvre Galleries: He opened his eyes, the gun clutched solidly in his hand. This wasn’t what he’d wanted. He had made a mess of it all. Had he followed through with his sire’s orders, he never would have found himself here. None of these people would have had to die. She wouldn’t have had to die. The others had been scum. They would have killed him within a moment’s notice had they thought he was on his own. And they’d have killed her, too. In every scenario, she would have died. He had only hoped that it wouldn’t be here like this. It was all his fault. They were still out there. They hadn’t all gone down without a fight. Stupid. Had they just not intervened, everything might have turned out okay. They were hunters though. They never gave up without taking something. He had to make sure they wouldn’t get away to warn others. They had to end here. (a scene from Memento Mori: Book 3 of The Monstrum Chronicles.)

The Monstrum Crime Scene: And now you know where I got the name idea for “The Monstrum Chronicles”. I remembered the villain from this game only known as “The Monstrum” and I thought it was the most sinister sounding thing that I’d ever heard. Not only was this game a dark murder mystery, it had a very “DaVinci Code” type of story line that I always admired and thought the world of. This game and this song in particular are among a few of the reasons that I began writing “The Monstrum Chronicles”. This is one of the most atmospheric songs on this soundtrack and for me, I always picture the characters, places, and monsters in my series. I’ve placed a link to my pinterest Monstrum Chronicles board here so that you may listen and browse. It seems like this is the best way to show you what I think of here.

Want to hear the rest of the Tomb Raider: Angel of Darkness Soundtrack? You can stream the whole thing here on youtube. I recommend “The Lux Veratatis”,  “Galleries Under Siege”, “Cabal Attack”, and “By Moonlight” as some of my other top picks. Want to know more about the composers, Peter Connelly and Martin Iveson? Here’s Connelly’s website and here is Iveson’s ATJAZZ website! Interested in learning more about Tomb Raider: Angel of Darkness? You can read all about it here at WikiRaider. And lastly, if you are interested in learning more about The Monstrum Chronicles and moi, you can head on over to my official website at http://www.voxthebook.com.

Next week, I’ll be bringing you the soundtrack of yet another engaging, dark, and wonderful game. Gustavo Santaolalla’s mesmerizing score from “The Last of Us” is next week. Stay tuned!

~KSilva

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