Milan Records release Shunsuke Kida's original score for the 2020 remake of the 2009 action role-playing game Demon's Souls. In his quest for power, the 12th King of Boletaria, King Allant channeled the ancient Soul Arts, awakening a demon from the dawn of time itself, The Old One. With the summoning of The Old One, a colourless fog swept across the land, unleashing nightmarish creatures that hungered for human souls. Those whose souls were stripped from them, lost their minds – left only with the desire to attack the sane that remained. Now, Boletaria is cut off from the outside world, and the knights who dare penetrate the deep fog to free the land from its plight are never seen again...

Shunsuke Kida returns to the Demon's Soul series to deliver an epic, memorable and, dare I say it, essential score. If you're a collector of game soundtracks then you'll need no encouragement to add this to your music library, but fans of general soundtracks and classical music will also find much to enjoy here.

The score contains 21 tracks (1 hr, 9 min, 36 sec) and delivers exactly what you'll be expecting given the pedigree of the series. A fully orchestrated album which leans heavily on the use of choir, Demon's Souls balances the fine line between soundtrack and classical music.

There are epic themes in tracks like the opening 'Demon's Souls', as well as more reflective pieces as in the beautiful choral based 'Return to Slumbler' - which rounds of the album wonderfully. Every now and then I felt the spirit of Danny Elfman work in the '80s and '90s. ('Tower Knight' and 'Old King Allant' reminded me in places of Batman Returns). 'Dirty Colossus' has hints of James Horner's music for the Star Trek movies. And 'Tower Knight' has hints of 'Carol of the Bells'.

A pretty flawless release of one the best game soundtracks this year.

10

Darren Rea