Laced 黑胶唱片和CD

Review: The Fallout videogames depict an alternate reality in which nuclear fallout has ravaged much of the US - its real-world settings like Nevada lends the series an urgent mystery. While the latest instalment, Fallout 76, was near-universally panned by critics, that hardly detracts from its soundtrack by Inon Zur, the franchise's in-house composer from the beginning. Zur crafts a sensitive, heartfelt and scenic LP through which it becomes possible to imagine the chance of a renewed world after the apocalypse, using our ears alone.

Review: Alongside Visage, SOMA or Phasmophobia, perhaps one of the most original and storm-whipping horror video games to have been released in recent years is Scorn. The game takes after H.R. Giger's monstrous biotech vision to produce a horrifying take on the sci-fi-horror intersection, with hybrid organisms, bone guns and bloody viscera both in tow. It makes pretty damn good sense, then, to have Lustmord and Aethek, two titans of dark ambient, to produce this daring post-industrial hellscape of a half-foley, half-musical soundtrack LP.

Review: Final Symphony II delves deeper into the cherished melodies of the Final Fantasy series. Renowned composers Roger Wanamo and Jonne Valtonen skillfully craft rich and intricate arrangements of Nobuo Uematsu's iconic compositions from FF5, 8 & 9. Additionally, Masashi Hamauzu offers a captivating suite inspired by his monumental original score for Final Fantasy XIII, while Valtonen sets the tone with his atmospheric opening piece 'In a Roundabout Way - Fanfare'. Pianist Mischa Cheung shines brightly in the spotlight, captivating audiences with his masterful performances in 'For the People of Gaia' and the emotive solo arrangement 'You Are Not Alone'.

Review: Laced Records, who specialise in reissuing the soundtracks of classic videogames, set their sights on the Sega Sound Team behind the OST for 2020 video game Yakuza: Like A Dragon: Hidenori Shoji, Yuri Fukuda, Chihiro Aoki and Saori Yoshida. Just as the game's main protagonist Ichiban Kasuga and his allies run amok in the city of Yokohama, trying to find uncover the conspiracy of their betrayal and imprisonment by a former employer (think Oldboy, but in game form), the soundtrack matches this with a diverse range of styles, from jazz to rock to hip-hop to orchestra, all reflecting the game's disparate, but equally dramatic, playable settings.