Silent Hill 2

 

Silent Hill 2 Review 

Composers : Akira Yamaoka 

https://vgmdb.net/album/13384

https://vgmdb.net/album/142234

May Contain Spoilers!

        This review was also a long time coming. It’s been a while since I finished the game and unfortunately, as almost always, I won’t be able to judge the music just by itself and I will be carrying the emotional baggage that was inflicted on me having played the game to the end.

        Akira Yamaoka is an iconic composer in the genre of atmospheric music and rightly so. Silent Hill 2 OST is nothing short of a masterpiece. It is not for everyone, however. It is for the student of deep, sad moments and the whole enterprise built here is comprised of the most sinister malice. So dive deep at your own risk.

        Silent Hill 2 tells the story of James Sunderland who visits his and her wife’s favorite vacation spot, Silent Hill, after he receives a letter from his wife who he tells us has died. James soon encounters the horrors of Silent Hill that are specifically tailored to his own fears and regrets.

        The soundtrack starts off with Theme of Laura. An immediately recognized iconic masterpiece. I will be inevitably making comparisons with the original soundtrack from 2001. Akira Yamaoka went full on guitar on this one, everything else, the synth strings, the bespoke mandolin, all have been tuned down to make place for the guitar. It’s as if Yamaoka wanted to appeal to the younger generation that is always charmed by the guitar and left the quirky sound of the mandolin. I am ok with it, but I do prefer the original (OG). 

        White Noise (Actual Noise)’s first section is the flittering sound of chimes and whistles and perhaps the alluring call of Silent Hill. It’s evil and charming. The second half is sweet electronica, guitar/mandolin with innocent flute that most likely represents James’s utter naivety before he enters Silent Hill. I am with James on this one and I can’t put blame or cast shame on anyone, at this point at least – I think Yamaoka probably felt the same here.

        James goes through the one and only foggy path ahead of him, and he spots a graveyard. Not knowing if he will ever spot a human being, surprisingly he finds Angela and we get to see another iconic scene in game history. What Lurks in The Forest is Angela’s theme. If it’s not officially called that, it’s fine, to me it is Angela all over. It is perhaps the most calming piece of the entire soundtrack and Yamaoka gave it to Angela. Not to Laura, mind, an eight year old girl who we come to learn was very ill, maybe because Laura’s future is deemed better than Angela’s... The sombre rising strings and angelic choir are there to take Angela to a much nicer place than where we find her. There is no element of ‘sad’ here, it is truly soothing and I feel genuine pity for Angela. This track is an atmospheric masterpiece, and trumps the OG in every way.

        As James sweeps the lonely streets of Silent Hill, he finds himself in an apartment complex. Among gurgling sounds near a toilet, he finds Eddie, with a face covered in puke, disgusted and disgusting, cold and uninviting. Ordinary Vanity’s Solitude is an apt name for Eddie’s entrance, the air of vanity is in the pulsating piano and unfortunately for Eddie, one source of his problems was his vanity.

        James leaves Eddie with the half knowledge that he will be ok on his own even though Eddie seems completely oblivious to the monsters out there. James continues on, from one scary flat to the next until he sees Angela lying on the floor. Another iconic scene breaks: Angela is toying with her long shiny knife. Promise of the Forgotten is also a piece that sends chills down the spine. Angela contemplates death and breaks in and out of reality with sudden outbursts of her mistrust and fear toward James.

        After Angela leaves hurriedly, afraid of what James might do to her or what she might do to him, enter Laura again, after mischievously taking a key away from James. Laura Plays the Piano is a lovely piece, really not that much less impactful than one of Chopin’s nocturnes. Well, perhaps more impactful. The second half is complete hopelessness, perhaps reflecting Laura’s awareness of her condition and contrasts her previous joyous life with one stricken with disease. Laura exits the scene with a huge bomb and scutters away.

        Beneath the Full Moon and Lament of Heavens Night are our next romantic mystery piece encounters. These are what I would like to call the “mature” Maria’s themes, the Maria who knows what she is doing and whose schemes are fully fledged and in smooth motion. They are very much an improvement over their OGs but the OGs have their charm as well. These two have quite a bit of jazz and funk in them which is very welcome and not so common in this OST.

        Maria with the full knowledge of her own existence and Silent Hill (who tipped her off I wonder…) leads James to the Lover’s Tree. “She’s just around the corner” : what a badass psychological abuse on James. Good one Maria! Shadows of the Lover’s Tree is another lovely piano piece that tells the story of a legend involving a couple, a woman who is sentenced to die on an island and a man who loved her would disappear one day in a storm as he tried to reach her lover. I share James’s frustration of finding that place having nothing to do with Mary. Eye rolls on Maria.

        Eddie greets James again, but he is with Laura! Eddie’s Sweet Sorrow is also really good atmospheric piano piece. Maria joins James in a quest to find the elusive Laura. Ephemeral Despondence is short but sweet: plays when Maria feels down and rests on a blood or puke stained hospital bed. As James journeys on, he is parted with Maria yet again, this time rather bloodily, and the relived nightmare is accompanied by Anam Cara, Celtic for “soul friend”. It’s another noteworthy trippy track with electronica and dissonant choir, even bits of Laura’s theme thrown in.

        After Daddy is an awesome track that belongs to Angela’s confrontation with her father. The despondent piano in the beginning is followed by beats, xylophone and fast-paced piano. I love it. “I never…” says James after denying having ever thought to stop loving Mary.

        … and who to appear after all this mayhem and dark abyss? “James, honey… did something happen to you?” Ugh as creepy as they come. The scene where Maria is behind bars is perhaps one of the creepiest scenes in the game, without gore, blood or violence. It puts all my strands of hair on their end. “Don’t you wanna touch me?” If you go back to Maria after the scene, you will find her hum Promise melody. It’s five seconds but is it ever stuck in my head!

        James gets to fight someone*, a bully with an ice cream bucket wearing a blue striped shirt. The way James holds his hands after his encounter ends is so powerful and the scene had no music, just an echo. Such a good scene.

        Laura Plays the Piano claims its ultimate emotional power after the reveal with Mary’s letter to Laura. A hotel where Mary and James once stayed in Silent Hill welcomes James and Laura for the final revelation. Music Box is not released in the soundtrack but it’s another iconic piece that starts when James completes a music box puzzle in the lobby of the hotel. After having fixed all the fixtures in the hotel, James finally enters their room and finds a video tape. True (2024) is another masterpiece of a track, the OG is something special and the remake does not disappoint. I would give the edge to the OG though. The remake can feel too modern and cinematic, if that makes any sense, whereas the OG is punchy and in your face.

        Angela leaves the story, surrounded by flames. The dialogue between James and Angela has to be one of the most memorable in the game… “For me it’s always like this.” says Angela as flames intensify. Theme of Laura (repetition) plays here and it’s a perfect send off for Angela. It has more beats and layers compared to the OG in the midsection. If I am not mistaken, it has fragments of music box notes, perhaps a testament to Angela’s innocence. The remake is slower and has cello instead of strings. All of the changes fit Angela’s end more. While OG is great, the changes in the remake are done to perfection.

        After a deep sigh, The Monolithic Doors start to Awaken, and we see James and Maria once more. It’s an iconic battle theme, not that battle themes are a forte here but it’s easy to identify with all the metallic hammering and creeping crescendo synth. After the battle, James starts hearing Mary’s voice. I have to say that I cried buckets here. No music, just Mary’s voice echoing inside James’s head. The monologue, the conflicting feelings: Mary is inflicting pain on James but she is terminally ill, all the while you battle with the question of whom to give more of your empathy to.

        “Flowers? I don’t want any damn flowers. Just go home already.” It really is one of the most powerful scenes in video game history. It hits you like a truck and you are left staring at the screen. “But I guess the hospital is making a nice profit off of me” and I am on my knees crying my heart out. So relatable, so human. Despite the gothic, ethereal, magical, unreal nightmare we’ve seen James go through, the heart of the problem was very concrete and reachable after all.

        James has his final says with Maria and Shadows of My Past plays to a great effect, another atmospheric piano masterpiece.

        Some other comparisons with the old soundtrack (2001):

        There is a grittiness, a grainy sound layer to the old soundtrack, it gives an otherworldly, sometimes quaint sometimes annoying, old vibe to the atmosphere, as if it’s another time and space. I appreciated this in the OG more. However, The Reverse Will and Magdalene’s Elusive Lament, Overdose Delusion tracks are way superior in quality compared to their OG.

        I prefer the original Promise, it still has the murky sound layer to it as if it is still subdued by a fog whereas the remake version has a much cleaner electric guitar. In the OG, synth still holds an important place, for example, especially around 1:28-1:36. That section is present around 1:42 in the remake but it’s so silent and no pun intended!! The remake is so much more metal, fit for a symphonic metal concert, see time 2:33-2:55. The strings and brass intensity this feeling particularly starting 3:30. I wish a more orchestral leaning arranger arranged it but it’s still very nice.

        I can perhaps write another five pages but a little about the game. Silent Hill 2 is an action horror video game masterpiece. The gameplay has some janky controls but that’s the charm and it’s not that bad once you get used to it. The story is captivating and yet so simple, the whole journey was just ahead of its time. The sound direction is beyond excellent, from James’s footsteps to Mary’s random gasps; they all made sense and added layers to the game. I have not played the OG but I’ve seen it and the remake is superb. I hope people will come up with more original and emotional new IPs in the future! **looks at Silent Hill f**