Overview

2012's Twisted Metal rebooted Sony's long-running franchise of car combat titles with exciting single player campaign and incredible multiplayer options. For the game's soundtrack, Sony's producers compiled a selection of licensed and original tracks, most of them in a heavy metal style. The original score featured the series' most diverse cast to date, combining the talents of heavy metal guitarists, Hollywood cinematic composers, and veteran game artists, among others. The 20 tracks they produced were released on iTunes at the same time as the game.

Body

The soundtrack opens with the theme tune for Twisted Metal, featured on the game's main menu. Returning to the series' roots, heavy metal artists Larry LaLonde and Dan Monti fill the track with electric guitar work. The haunting and eccentric melody surely reflects the premise of the series — a tournament held by a jester — while the backing keeps things rugged and energetic. Greg Tripi incorporates some Hollywood undertones along the way without losing the track's distinctive sound. It's a little on the short side, but enjoyable regardless. The similarly styled "Deathwish" and "Boom" incorporate metal stylings to reinforce the sound of the game: brutal, chaotic, and a little mischievious. They're just soft and melodic enough to be accessible, without losing the game's coolness.

Chuck Carr — one of the three Chucks who have contributed to the series' music — reprises his role from Twisted Metal: Head-On to contribute three successful tracks. "Gentlemen, Start Your Weapons" is the perfect track for starting up the car combat. "Hell on Wheels" is much more rhythmically driven and rawly textured, albeit a little too similar to other metal tracks here, while "Motorpsycho" is reminiscent of the series' roots with its exuberant Americanised guitar solos. Continuing the nostalgic note, the classic Twisted Metal theme, composed by Chuck E. Myers, makes its eagerly anticipated return on "Carmageddon". It retains the charismatic melody of the original, while rebooting it to sound more badass.

Many of the newcomers to the series bring something novel to the soundtrack. One high-profile scoop, guitarist Buckethead brings plenty of charismatic tones and eccentric rhythms to "Ready To Die" — reworking a track from his collaboration album with Bryan 'Brain' Mantia Kind Regards. Seasoned score producer Sascha Dikiciyan brings his dense, electrifying sound to "Ready Set Destroy"; after finding himself limited on many projects, he at last gets a chance to integrate some Quake-style guitar riffs into a score once again here, much to the delight of fans. Relative unknown Brian Lovechild also contributes some of the more groovy tracks, notably "Bruise Control" and "Shoot to Kill". These tracks aren't major highlights, but are a welcome contrast to the cookie-cutter metal riffs that often dominate the score.

While Dikiciyan and Lovechild brought electronica to the score, Hollywood's Michael Wandmacher offers some orchestral hybrids in his latest contribution to game music. He is responsible for depicting Calypso in a trio of tracks. "The Twisted Fate of Sweet Tooth the Clown" undergoes plenty of twists and turns during its development, but remains for the most part ambiguous and understated. "Calypso Industries" with its strong gothic influences provides a more definitive depiction of the antagonist. In a less than expected collaboration, Brain closes the album with a collaboration with rapper and video game journalist Hip Hop Gamer. Modern, catchy, and not too serious, it's a fantastic song for the end credits.

Summary

All in all, Twisted Metal's original tracks work well with the licensed tracks to provide a hard and energetic accompaniment to the game. Through sourcing the talents of numerous artists, Sony Computer Entertainment ensured the soundtrack was the series' most stylish and well-produced to date. That said, some of the heavy metal tracks are too samey to produce a consistently entertaining stand-alone listen. Nevertheless, the substantial highlights mean that this soundtrack will be worthwhile for most fans of instrumental rock music.