Overview

The Eschatos & Silversword Sound Chronicle is an album that was released as a bonus for the Xbox 360 release of Eschatos. The album features four compositions from the final version of the soundtrack, composed by Yousuke Yasui. It also includes four tracks from the prototype version, composed by Yuuki Yonezawa, and the scores for two retro games by M-KAI. Given the Supersweep release of the Eschatos Original Soundtrack is now available, is it worth picking up this soundtrack?

Body

The four themes by Yousuke Yasui give a hint into the music style of Eschatos. "Silver Lining" covers the first stage's four areas and is also considered the game's main theme, as the motif is present in a few of the other stage themes. It's an extremely catchy theme with a strong melody, some excellent guitar support, and it manages to capture the retro essence of the game quite nicely. "Survive," which covers the areas of the second stage, also features a motif originally heard in Judgment Silversword, by M-KAI. As with "Silver Lining," this theme features some wonderful harmonies that complement the fantastic melody extremely well. It's an energetic theme that really manages to impress, particularly in the B section, where there is definitely an air of heroism detected.

While the first two tracks on the theme focused on providing strong melodies from the onset, "Point of No Return," which covers the areas of the third stage, takes it down a notch to provide a more mysterious and enticing melody. The majestic harmonies and powerful rock accompaniment help create an aura of isolation, but when combined with the mystical melody line, particularly in the B section, it manages to convey a sense of determination. This is truly a work of art. "Stellar Light," the last of the preview themes, covers the areas of the fourth stage and is quite a departure from the other three stage themes. It's an extremely beautiful and exquisitely crafted theme, reminiscent, at times, of some of the more mysterious and supernatural soundscapes that can be found in the Etrian Odyssey series by Yuzo Koshiro. Of particular interest is the fluctuation in tempo. When the track begins, it carries a wonderful atmosphere; however, as the track progresses, some of this atmosphere is replaced with a more exhilarating touch. In the end, I think this is a stunning example of Yousuke Yasui's control over creating wonderful retro soundscapes.

The next four themes on the release are the prototype versions of the soundtrack by Yuuki Yonezawa. "Melodious Invasion" and "Leave the Earth" feature a strong melody that definitely reminds me of some of the early Genesis RPG battle themes. They aren't as powerful or refined as Yasui's tracks, but do a nice concept into the early stages of the game's musical direction. "Legendary Attack" is presumably one of the prototype boss battle themes. It's an intense techno based theme, though it leaves much to be desired in terms of overall complexity, as it becomes very repetitious quite quickly, despite the ever increasing intensity of the theme. Lastly, "Snowstorm" is a trance theme that manages to impress overall. The electronic portions of the theme are quite nice, as are the ethereal choral accents, as they help add a nice texture; however, at times, I think the piano melody sounds a bit off when in conjunction with the accompaniment. It, at times, feels as if it's in a different time signature, and it comes off as sounding clunky from time to time.

The remaining tracks by M-KAI are for the two retro games that are also included on the game disc. These are Judgment Silversword and Cardinal Sins. They help match the retro sounds of Eschatos, particularly the final stage theme. However, they aren't extremely substantial due to the extremely short length of most tracks — around 30 seconds — meaning the section is barely five minutes long. Despite their often catchy soundscapes, these tracks leave a bit to be desired. I do like how Yasui did base some of his music off of these soundtracks, as it helps develop them into something more desirable.

Summary

In the end, I think this is a fairly decent bonus album. The Eschatos tracks give a small insight into the overall style of the game and are a nice preview of the upcoming soundtrack. At the same time, the early musical direction provided by Yonezawa is nice, but ultimately lose a bit of luster when compared to Yasui's superior final versions. Lastly, the retro soundtracks to Judgment Silversword and Cardinal Sins are nice, but leave much to be desired given their short length.