A Mod’s Music Comes Into Its Own
When a mod team spends half a decade porting a game to a new engine, audio often gets overlooked. That wasn’t the case for Neotokyo, the futuristic shooter originally built for UT2004. As the team prepares what looks like an imminent first release on the Source engine, composer Ed Harrison has delivered a two-disc soundtrack that stands on its own.
The album is dense but focused. None of its 26 tracks feel like filler. The core aesthetic is consistent: ominous drones and atonal textures sit on electronic basses, with sampled vocals woven into the mix.
Structure and Standouts
While the overall sound is cohesive, the album moves through distinct moods. For example, the orchestral sections of “Scrap I/O” and “Tachi” are sizable and dynamic, while “Pravhaba” carries the centerpiece, using spacious drums and a harsh cello line that builds to an insistent finish. On the quieter side, “Footprint” leans on light percussion and a cautious synth piano, slowly expanding a landscape before breaking into a disjunct crescendo.
Listeners may notice the low end is occasionally thin, and the layered arrangements can get dense enough that individual elements blur together. Neither issue derails the release.
At $11, the album is a reasonable buy, especially given the quality spread across both discs.
