Stellar Blade

 

Stellar Blade Soundtrack Review 

Composers : Oliver Good (MONACA), Keita Inoue (MONACA), Youngjee Lee (SHIFT UP), Hyunmin Cho (SHIFT UP), seibin (SHIFT UP), Youngkyoung Choi, ko.yo, Aejin Kwon (MonoTree), SHIFT UP, Muwen, Pernelle, Minhee Kang, TAK, Lily, Mothervibes, DNAKM 

https://vgmdb.net/album/142926

May Contain Spoilers!

        I have not played Stellar Blade, so I judged the music purely for itself and according to my subjective tastes.

        The soundtrack is huge and has a variety of genres. I would say it’s very pop, disco with bits of orchestral music mixed in. It is very reminiscent of Nier music and it does have MONACA members among its ranks of composers. While overall Stellar Blade does not quite reach the level of Nier’s god-tier music, it manages to stand out with its own original stance on the pop, electronica and orchestra fusion.

        It starts off with The Song of Destiny by Mothervibes. It’s quite funny that the very first song is piano only and the most static and calming piece of the entire OST because the rest is nothing like this. I love how simple it is, it is chamber music that a piano player friend would play for you on a calm night. It isn’t quite Besaid Island but it is a welcome beginning.

        Stellar Blade has many killer bangers, and I may not do justice by just listing them. Most are electronica, disco, vocal and orchestra fusions. I want to say the real meat is the orchestra but that’s me. Star Descent and its instrumental track are grand and present as whole tracks as opposed to many others that are on loop. I did play the demo game so I recognize this track as the beginning of Eve’s descent operation.

        Boss battle themes (I assume) are this game’s crown jewels. If you like catchy melodic battle themes, you are in the right place. Tachy (Phase 1&2) and Tachy Mode have very bittersweet vocals and a powerful orchestra. It is as if you are fighting to the death but with a friend? Was Tachy the girl who died in the very beginning? Not going to check since I want to play the game eventually.

        Some battle themes are especially unique. Democrawler immediately glows with an operatic voice with forceful choir and orchestra in the first half and the second half (phases of the boss?) is pretty much the same but with extra beats. That transition between the two halves is perfect, the beats enter just at the right moment to complement the choir. Perfect. It is the only track to feature an operatic voice, Pernelle’s, a French singer. I honestly looked for more of this in the rest of the OST but alas it’s one and only.

        There are some moments when I gasped and my mouth just stayed open for the entire song. Raven is one such song. This many disco beats is not my cup of tea but the entire song has just… many interesting sounds. All the different beats and the occasional melodic sections somehow work. It’s one track that you wish would play at a night club/disco but it never does, instead you’d get meaningless beats and people would waver left and right. Take note DJs.

        There are other surprises and genre twists too. Most of the soundtrack is laced with disco beats, electronica and vocals but there are tracks completely devoid of such treatment. Nest, for example, is a beautiful orchestral piece, I assume it belongs to Eve’s homeland or some place she can call home. The track is full of mysterious strings and piano/brass, the harmony of the entire track is mesmerizing and one track that I bet many people overlooked. Elder Naytiba is also a full choir+orchestra track that has a catchy melody that features solo tenor and sopranos with feelings of grandiosity at first, which then turn sinister toward the end! Something to watch out for, I’m sure! The innocent counterpart of Elder Naytiba that features the same melody but has Aejin Kwon for vocals is Lost Memories. It’s another powerful but sweet vocal track. The leitmotif appears in Flooded Commercial Sector, another noteworthy track that is genre-defying with its vocals, beats, and lovely strings. More twists to be found in the slow burn choir version, that is Return to the Colony. It is excellent church choir with piano/electronica in the second half. Prologue is another orchestral feast that can easily satisfy your daily orchestral action music needs.

        Let’s face it, most of the OST relies heavily on beats and rush of electronica to keep the players on their toes. While in game, this may work really well but among the 189 tracks, there are many fillers. I’m sure I’ll come back to them once I play the game (what was that song that played in this or that dungeon again??). However, I do love melodic and hope-inducing tracks. Especially ones with ups and downs with a whole story packed in just minutes.

        Entrance to Passenger Lift 161, Awakening Eve (Type A & B), Mothersphere, Providence, Behemoth, Karakuri are such tracks. Especially the first three of these are quite special, they have the power to lift my spirits any time of the day.

        As with Nier’s dynamic and silent dichotomy, Stellar Blade has dungeon tracks that are at first calm but when enemies appear switch to their feistier versions. I could particularly bond with Silent Street (Battle), Eidos IX (Battle), Wasteland (Reboot Types), and Orca Space Complex (Battle).

        Other notable tracks that I really liked: Pathway to Atelier, Entropy, Ambush 3, Gigas and Stellar Dream (definitely needed some K-pop in here!). There is some winking at death metal (e.g. Belial) and fair use of jazz too (e.g. Roxanne).

        Stellar Blade has something for everyone. With whopping 189 tracks, maybe not every track is for everyone but the whole OST oozes with emotion and spirit. I am sure I will rate more tracks as I play the game but even without playing the game, I am sure I will listen to this album over and over.

        Lastly, I should also point out that the game rip has more music and different mixes, so this OST doesn’t end here! Different mixes and arrangements exist on YouTube, for example, Providence (Final Phase) (it’s Awakening Eve in the OST) which has a delicious electronica + strings only section in the middle I absolutely love. I believe Democrawler also has a slightly different transition before the midsection and that’s all I care to spot at this time. Also check out Pernelle’s video of Democrawler, it’s so cute and has a delightful additional vocal layer at the end, by Pernelle again. There might be other arranged gems out there!