Zanobard Reviews

Jason Graves’ original Dead Space is a classic of the horror game music genre, with its eerie main theme, plucking strings & oppressively imposing brass keeping you on aptly constant edge throughout while also making you feel like there are Necromorphs lurking in every shadow.

The dark, cold emptiness of space is the tonal focus of Jason Graves’ score for 2008 third person horror game Dead Space, and no truer is that statement than with the soundtrack’s opening cue and main motif “Dead Space Theme”; high-pitched, eerie strings and moodier brass open this decidedly ominous track, with a repeating two-note phrase then twisting and turning on said strings as the brass echoes in the background. With the horror-like musical stage set, the two-note motif then builds with increasing drama and aggression alongside rumbles of intense drums and increasingly imposing swathes of brass until the orchestral ensemble then finally fades to a wary close. All-in, it’s a spellbindingly and indeed aptly creepy opener for Dead Space; the instrumentation sets such a thick, hair-raising atmosphere even just in the opening seconds, and you can hear the likes of not only classic horror film scores like The Shining, but also the influence this kind of strained, unsettling approach to horror in games particularly would go on to have – the eerie, ambience-focused cues of Christian Henson and The Flight’s Alien: Isolation music for example, particularly in their strings usage, sound at least somewhat influenced by Graves’ excellent mood-setting work here. You really do feel as if you’re in the cold dark depths of outer space, isolated and completely on your own – or at least, you think you are.

The subsequent and standout “Welcome Aboard The U.S.G. Ishimura” doesn’t let up the atmosphere as quiet percussive plinks echo warily against strings building in horror-like high pitch in its opening minute. The instrumentation however then seeds a slightly more hopeful mood as strings swell slightly, but something is still off – things don’t sound right, the danger isn’t over. And sure enough the music then starts to descend again, with the intensely unsettling nature of the strings and brass earlier returning until dramatic drums then thunder in a few moments of loudly in-your-face action – and the impeccably ominous five minute ambient setpiece then, much like the main theme, fades to a moody finish. A thunderous crash of deafening drums then lurches into frame for “The Necromorphs Attack”, with some rather James Horner-esque two-note percussive punches and frantically surging brass – à la Aliens – roaring tremendously for much of the track’s six minute runtime with some small atmospheric breaks inbetween. “Fly Me To The Aegis Seven Moon” – I’m loving the Michael Giacchino-style punny track titles, not going to lie – then simmers in quieter, more foreboding unnervingness at first as some rather The Shining-like strings pluck and echo away, before the intense brass and drum-focused action then returns to utterly terrify.

Flurrying strings set a particularly hair-raising tone in the first minute of “Severed Limbs Are Hazardous Waste” before the Horner-esque two-note percussive hits return for another loudly intense section of imposing action. A quieter, more serene mood then occupies “Nicole’s Farewell”, with gentle brass playing alongside some almost forlorn-sounding strings – though a touch of eeriness also still remains throughout the three minute track. This somewhat gentler nature then disappears completely however for the subsequent “I Left My Heart In Med Lab 3”, as the frenetic brass-stabbing action returns in typically imposing form. Aggressive strings then reach fever pitch in “The Leviathan”, with surging swathes of brass leading a particularly emphatic action charge all across it. The two-note rising and falling of the main theme then echoes ominously in “Cyanide Systems Offline” together with worrisome bursts of strings, before a cold breathy ambience then eerily descends for the two minute “Entering ZeroG”. Hair-raising tension crescendos with horrific intensity in “I’ve Got You Devolving Under My Skin” as some rather Elliot Goldenthal-esque brass thunders and The Shining-styled strings plink, with “Manual Survival Mode Seven” afterward continuing in a similarly in-your-face action orchestral manner with the addition of pounding drums and piano.

Eerily high-pitched strings are centre stage for the first half of the atmospheric “Plasma Cutters Are Your Friend” alongside infrequent bursts of creepy brass that fade in and out, before a sudden crash of drums then works the music up into an aggressive action frenzy for the second half. After a tense crescendo finish, the subsequent “The Cost Of Living Is On The Rise” picks up where the prior cue leaves off as deafeningly dramatic brass and drums once again surge action along. The music then slows and simmers at the start of “Do Not Vomit Do Not Shout” with moody strings, though this doesn’t last for long as a crashingly in-your-face burst of angry brass and drums kicks off action thunder once again at around the minute mark. As the album overall starts to near its end, “The Hive Mind” causes the horror-like strings to reach fever-pitch as an all time intensity is reached, with the utter ferocity of the resulting action then building to a particularly tense crescendo. Final track “Escape From The Planet Of The Red Marker” then concludes the action with further frenetic crashes of drums and surging brass in its first half, before the music then calms with some slower and welcomely serene strings and brass to bring the score to a gentle finish – almost, as an eerie crescendo then quickly interjects at the end, because of course it does.

Overall, Jason Graves’ unapologetically eerie score for the original Dead Space is a well-crafted and indeed very immersive horror experience. The main theme – introduced in album opener “Dead Space Main Theme” – features an aptly ominous two-note repeating phrase that swirls with unnerving intensity, reflecting the cold emptiness of space very well while also embedding itself firmly in your memory. The actual motif is sadly underutilised across the soundtrack, appearing in only a couple of other cues, but the sheer dread-inducing atmosphere that the theme establishes through the stylistic use of moodily ambient brass, hair-raising string plucks and an at times high-pitched, horror-like focus is thankfully central to the entire score, with tracks like “Entering ZeroG” and the standout “Welcome Aboard The U.S.G. Ishimura” being utter highlights of this impeccable orchestral coldness. Counterpointing the malevolent ambience is then a tremendous amount of frenetic orchestral action, which draws some inspiration from iconic horror film soundtracks of old – of particular note are the appearances of one-two percussive hits and blasting brass à la James Horner’s Aliens – and while its unrelenting aggression can get a little much after a while, that doesn’t stop it from certainly achieving its goal throughout its runtime; keeping you constantly looking over your shoulder for Necromorphs lurking in the shadows.

Score: 7.5/10

Standout Cues: Dead Space Main Theme, Welcome Aboard The U.S.G. Ishimura

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