Overview

Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare was a reboot of the game series, featuring a modern day setting and a darker emphasis. The multi-platform release was well-received and even inspired a critically panned film sequel by Uwe Boll. To match the gritty image of the game, Thierry Desseaux — founder of low distortion unit — was hired to create an industrial ambient soundtrack for the title. While the soundtrack never made it on to shelves, it can be downloaded as a bonus with the game through GOG.com This compilation of tracks is not the best presented: the tracks are encoded in 192 kb/s, aren't properly tagged or titled (instead assigned abbreviations such as "Act a1", "Dark B", "Susp C1", etc.), and there is a notable omission. Regardless, this release stays faithful to the music featured in the game.

Body

Right from "Intro B1", Desseaux takes a very psychological approach to horror scoring. He focuses almost entirely on warped industrial sounds and heavy percussion parts — rejecting any traditional instrumentation or conventional melodies. Such tracks are too abrasive and repetitive to have a stand-alone appeal, but they are quite effective in context: the rhythms focus, the distortions penetrate, and the loops ultimately disorientate the minds of players. But the artist does show some concern was given to mainstream listeners. Even in the most urgent tracks, notably "Action B1" and "Gothic A1", Desseaux avoids producing noise so heavy and harsh that it would be intolerable for players. What's more, the rhythms of these tracks definitely exhibit a rock influence and are potentially compelling in small doses. It's something of a novelty to come across a game soundtrack that channels industrial influences as explicitly as Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare; while pioneering in its own right, the only well-known game soundtrack comparable to this one is Akira Yamaoka's work for the original Silent Hill.

What Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare's tracks lack compared to their Japanese cousin is variety. Desseaux might slow things down in "Suspense C1", kick things up on "Act A1", or incorporate an arch to "Brume B1", but these tracks still little more than assemblies of looped, warped sounds that sound almost factory-produced. What's more, the individual tracks tend to repeat the same ideas for most of their duration. For instance, "Labo A" is one long drone of a single electronic note while "Suspense C1" repeats the same loops for a whole six minutes up to its understated climax. While a little repetition can be highly atmospheric, when tracks are this repetitive — both in and of themselves — then the experience greatly suffers. On a contextual level, the music loses the capacity to affect listeners and only on-screen shocks can break the predictability. On a stand-alone level, multiple repetition of the same idea — whether attractive or not — are a certain turn-off.

The New Nightmare certainly blurs the boundaries between music and sound design more than almost any other horror game. The numerous tracks subtitled "Dark" tend to feature atmospheric noise rather than tangible music; while largely uninteresting, these subdued yet brooding pieces tend to be a fitting complement to the in-game scenery. "Mansion C" meanwhile is so faint that it is barely audible — emphasising that silence is a great tool for creating suspense — while other tracks with this subtitle are little more than murmurings. The only track from the original game that was explicitly intended for stand-alone listening was the rock vocal theme produced by The Police's Stewart Copeland. With mean vocals from Jimmie Wood and stylish guitar solos from Michael Thompson, the track fits the game well and entertains listeners throughout its playtime. But due to rights reasons, this track was not available with the downloadable soundtrack from GOG.com

Summary

The concept of creating an industrial ambient soundtrack for Alone in the Dark: The Nightmare, while contrary to the series' symphonic origins, was a highly creative one. But unfortunately, Desseaux did not expand upon this idea enough to produce a soundtrack that keep players immersed in the game. Most pieces are faint, repetitive, and sound like they were mass-produced by a formula — any novelty in the initial idea quickly runs dry. Don't treat this soundtrack as a reason to purchase Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare from GOG.com The game itself is good enough to warrant the attention of most survival horror fans.