Brothers in Arms: Earned in Blood
by David McGarry
Brothers in Arms: Earned in Blood
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Brothers in Arms: Earned in Blood Composed by David McGarry
Sumthing Else Records (2008)
Rating:
6/10
13
Full Tracks. Used by Permission
“While DAVID MCGARRY's score for BROTHERS IN ARMS: EARNED IN BLOOD is much
more subtle than its predecessor, it does offer an interesting listening
experience; however brief. ”
Bloody Brief
Review by Christopher Coleman
BROTHERS IN ARMS: EARNED IN BLOOD was
Gearbox's second entry into its budding franchise. Following in the very
same year as ROAD TO HILL 30, Gearbox decided, rather than directly
continue the story started in the first game, to center EARNED IN BLOOD around
events which happened in parallel.
This time out we follow Sergeant Joe Hartsock, who was under Matt Baker's
command in ROAD TO HILL 30. In the game, we follow Sergeant Hartsock from the invasion
of Normandy on D-Day, to Carentan, to the link up of the 101st and 82nd
Airborne Divisions at Baupte. Even though EARNED IN BLOOD covers much of
the same time-frame from ROAD TO HILL 30, it reveals different skirmishes and plot
points.
Naturally, we'd expect with such tight connections to the previous
installment that composer DAVID MCGARRY's score would have much in common with
ROAD TO HILL 30, but surprisingly it does not. While the title theme fits
roughly within the same world as STEPHEN HARWOOD JR.'s thematic music,
beyond that the music here has a distinctly different feel. The fact that MCGARRY was audio director for ROAD TO HILL 30 makes this departure all
the more surprising. Foregoing the easily identifiable,
contemporary compositions for World War II epics, DAVID MCGARRY chooses to
travel a different route. The game
itself was criticized by some for not being much more than an expansion
pack to ROAD TO HILL 30; not offering up enough advances or differences in gameplay to be so considered. The same
complaint can't be made for the amount of
change in this game's original score however. The overall personality of MCGARRY's
work here has more in common with music from brilliant composers of
yesteryear like Ralph Vaughn Williams, Jerome Moross, ...and even a J.S.
Bach.
On the expected side of things, the soundtrack launches with the title theme and is not
distinctly heard
again until the closing moments of the "End Credits" (13). These are two
of the rare moments where the music feels a part of the world that HARWOOD
originally established. "Main Menu" (2) also features a similar
texture and, like many of STEPHEN HARWOOD Jr.'s secondary themes in ROAD TO
HILL 30, this could have easily served as a title theme. The only other
moments that lightly touch this vein are "Scuro" (10) and "Vittoria (12)
which feature somewhat subdued string and brass melodies, but are
sadly under-developed in comparison to these others.
In "Funzionare" (3) we have a theme introduced in which MCGARRY uses
as the
foundation for several of the tracks following. He has
written pieces that are variations of several key components of theme as a
whole. In "Sonno" (6), the tempo is slowed and one of the
contrapuntal
melodies originally performed on strings is taken over by woodwinds. "Serbatoio"
(7) is an slightly slower, but more determined performance of the
core Funzionare-theme. This track is followed by "Pesante" (8) which takes the
woodwind motif in "Sonno" and performs it on brass. Lastly, "Meccanico"
(11), is an almost-fun, string staccato performance of, again, the core Funzionare theme.
The release by Sumthin' Else Digital delivers short glimpses into what
would most likely be a very enjoyable listening experience, if only it
could be extended a bit. The tracks offered here are below average in
duration (there is only one track that reaches the three minute mark).
Understanding that game scores are seldom (if ever) written with a
soundtrack release in mind, given the production value of the ROAD TO HILL
30 soundtrack release, I expected a little more for EARNED IN BLOOD. An
extened suite or two of
music would have been an interesting route to take, but a track listing of
13 likely sells better. Another minor problem are those track titles which
are in Italian, as they only give a modicum of context for its music.
Ironically, it's the absence of more conventional track titles here that
shines the spotlight on how descriptive (yet non-spoiler) track titling can help
shape the listener's experience.
While DAVID MCGARRY's score for BROTHERS IN ARMS: EARNED IN BLOOD is much
more subtle than its predecessor, it does offer an interesting listening
experience; however brief. MCGARRY focuses on strings, woodwinds and
low-register brass over the more militaristic trumpet fanfares, timpani
rolls, or cymbal crashes; thereby giving the score a slightly more somber feel than
ROAD TO HILL 30. If you are not looking for extended thematic development,
but brief sketches or intermezzi that feature a distinct personality from
other World War II FPS scores, then this release is worthy of
consideration.
