Pyramid Pick
Epicycles CD (related to the Fading Suns RPG)
Created by The Changelings
Available from Middle Pillar
44 min; $8.00 (+$5.00 shipping)
Fading Suns fans are lucky. While other RPGs have had to make do with Conan and Matrix soundtracks (not necessarily a bad thing), players of the Fading Suns RPG have two soundtracks (albeit both are tangential).
The first, the red book audio tracks from the Emperor of the Fading Suns computer game, is certainly enjoyable, and a good addition for any gamers musical library, but relies too heavily on synthesizers and computer-generated effects for my tastes: high on technical merit, low on soul. But this review isn't about that game, so I'll stop.
Epicycles features music originally created by The Changelings for the Fading Suns-based Noble Armada computer game (in addition to music created for the Netherworld haunted house in Atlanta), and, unlike the Emperor of the Fading Suns game, ranks high both technically and artistically.
The Changelings, based in Atlanta (the same city as the creators of the Fading Suns RPG and Noble Armada . . . what're the odds?!?), tout themselves as creators of "a unique blend of classical, Middle Eastern, ambient pop-fusion"; in Epicycles, they have lived up to these claims. From the opening drone of an insistent computerized ping that segues into haunting lyricless voices accented by violin and percussion, Epicycles immediately creates an enfolding techno-gothic atmosphere, melding churchly choirs, noble marches . . .
This article originally appeared in the second volume of Pyramid. See the current Pyramid website for more information.
Article publication date: September 15, 2000
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