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Overall, there are enough small changes here to make Mordor more eerie, more unsettling, and unexpectedly more melancholy than what has come before. The tracks in Mordor also make frequent use of dramatic contrast, suddenly shifting from brass and percussion to choir or an elegiac melody in strings. However, while Moria leaned heavily on men’s choir, Mordor generally sticks to mixed voices, using the higher register to eerie effect. This connection is appropriate, considering that Moria is also one of the darkest and most dangerous places in Middle Earth. It bears a lot in common with Moria’s soundtrack, with plenty of low brass, pounding drums, frantic strings, and choir. “Barad-dur,” the album’s first track, functions as a kind of opening statement, providing a sweeping overview of Mordor’s aural palette. This album may be consistently grim and perilous, with only a brief ray of hope at the midpoint, but Thomas has not abandoned the heroic and cinematic style he has developed throughout his work for The Lord of the Rings Online. Instead, I was surprised at how melodic his new compositions are.
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It would have worked for Mordor as well, but Thomas has opted not to take that approach. Dark Souls’ soundtrack is almost unrelentingly bleak, with only a few fleeting moments of beauty, and it works perfectly for that setting. Now, this wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing. In our collective imagination, it is a monotonously ugly place, and for such a place I expected a monotonously ugly soundtrack. Mordor is one of the most narratively undeveloped regions in Middle-Earth, but we all instinctively know what it looks like: red skies, dead trees, erupting volcanoes, jagged towers, and blasted landscapes. Having resigned myself to a long wait, I was completely blindsided when the soundtrack for The Lord of the Rings Online: Mordor was released at the end of October, a mere four months after the 10th anniversary soundtrack! I was thrilled to dive back into Middle-Earth so soon, but I was also very curious to hear how Chance Thomas would tackle the dark domain of Sauron, as the setting provides some unique challenges. However, with such a big release just out the door, I figured it would be a year or two before we received a Mordor release, if we’d receive one at all. When I reviewed the 10th anniversary commemorative soundtrack for The Lord of the Rings Online a few months ago, I was very keen to hear Chance Thomas’ work for the new Mordor expansion.