Oh, so you missed the Doom OST special? Fear not – we already know it’s a mortally deranged query. Or is it? We learned a lot last time, and a lot of people seemed to dig it, so rather, fear appropriately: the second spooky season entry is upon us, and honestly, it took five times the blood, sweat, and tears. But mostly blood.
While Konami’s Castlevania series is another obvious choice for spooky season, it’s also a unique challenge because there’s a ridiculous amount of material to comb through. For Doom, we looked at five games. If we look at what people consider the main games of the Castlevania series, including the alternate timelines, we’d be looking at twenty five. But it would be over thirty if we counted the side stories. True, that’s not many more, but that’s still a metric ton of math and likely represents a serious challenge to the most studious of math rockers. There’s also a pretty large roster of composers for the series, so… who has time for this kind of thing? Certainly not us, and yet… here we are again.
Even in our own journey, after the first three entries we thought we might end up with brain scramblies a la What We Do In The Shadows. But after getting through IV and V, siphoning math from the mainline entries became surprisingly fun and easy. Not all of the OST’s are huge, but most of them are interesting and offer their own spin, spanning several composers as well. We think we hit a pretty good average of summing them up below, using the Castlevania OST wiki and related Youtube content from TheMentok and I Finished A Video Game to help sort them into meaningful piles.
Believe it or not we’re already working on the last of the Spooky Season specials for next week’s dawn of Samhain aka Halloween, but today there’s much to drink in – let’s take a look at which Castlevania soundtracks have the most math rock… what a horrible night to have a calculus…
Castlevania – Castlevania III: Dracula’s Curse // 1986-1989
Kinuyo Yamashita, who was credited as James Banana at the time, allegedly threw the first game’s score together quickly while working for Konami as her first professional post-graduate endeavor. Whether she knew it or not, she actually peppered in some really cool stuff. Check out the tune for stage 3 aka “Wicked Child” below, where the hits just after the intro grow progressively more complex.
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It’s not a particularly challenging or math-y part, but considering there was a lot of pressure and that Yamashita was experimenting with the hardware while composing to for strict deadlines, you can almost hear the stress come out in the composition, but it still sounds great today. To contrast this, you have Kenichi Mastubara’s manic takeover for Simon’s Quest next, which stays true to established gothic, baroque themes but evolves them with creepy waltz sections, upped BPM’s, and weirder, wilder harmonic movements like the nighttime theme or the famous “Bloody Tears” These motifs reappear throughout Castlevania III: Dracula’s Curse frequently, and occasionally they get alterations here and there but generally it’s more of the same driving kickass classical 8-bit.
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Castlevania II: Belmont’s Revenge – Castlevania: Dracula X // 1991-1995
Belmont’s Revenge is definitely where things get a little more evocative and interesting. In some ways the music takes a less-is-more approach, which is almost odd considering Konami hired their in house sound team Konami Kikeiha Club for the music, but it ended up being perfect. It might not be as high-energy as Simon’s Quest or the original, but it’s pretty memorable when moments like “The Cave” kick in for the first time, utterly setting the stage for something deeper and more complex. The songs are also much more dynamic, allowing for a broader range of emotional connections that were really only implied up to this point in the series. Belmont’s Revenge even has tracks like “The Library” and the Clockwork Mansion suite where they actually throw in multiple time signatures, paying ground for some of the series most iconic work to come.
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With the subsequent Rondo of Blood, composers Akira Souji, Keizo Nakamura, Tomoko Sano, and Mikio Saito expanded past the usual limits of the time with live-tracked instruments and voice overs. Of course, mirroring emerging production styles of the time didn’t necessarily mean they would experiment with more time signatures, but when they did you could hear it more clearly, like the 3/4 to 8/12 shifts that make up “Cemetery” or the crazy “Picture of a Ghost Ship,” which is technically 4/4 but still wild.
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Castlevania: Symphony of the Night – Castlevania: Legacy of Darkness // 1997-2000
Symphony of the Night is known as the peak Castlevania experience in many respects, and its soundtrack is no small part of that thanks to the legendary Michiru Yamane. It’s a deliciously dark OST, and it even has some sweet rhythmic weirdness to it. For instance, “Strange Bloodlines” and “Black Feast” are in 5/4, “Marble Corridor” does one hell of a number on 6/8, and “Gate of Spirits” could easily be arranged as a mathcore cover. That would actually be so sick… someone let us know if they’ve done that already.
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There’s also a lot of chromaticism and couple of great waltz moments which are obviously in 3/4 but come on, we’re trying to have some fun here. Speaking of, very fun fact: did you know Cynthia Harrell of “Snake Eater” / Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater sings on “I Am The Wind,” the OST’s iconic final ballad? What a way to round out one of the series’ most outstanding soundtracks, which is up to this point, certainly the most math rock as well. While we could spend some time covering Castlevania’s Nintendo 64 days, there’s not a huge amount of original material to go through, and ultimately the point’s already made. Castlevania 64 and its expanded edition Legacy of Darkness were essentially remakes, so in the end, for the most part we’ve already talked about it.
Castlevania: Circle of the Moon – Castlevania: Lament of Innocence // 2001-2003
Konami kept working with Nintendo, and eventually they triumphed when they did something new in the form of Circle of the Moon, released on the Gameboy Advance in 2001. The smaller hardware meant returning to a stripped format in some ways, but the series was almost notorious for making the most out of minimal space, and Circle of the Moon’s adventurous tunes reflect that. They’re not quite as dark as they were before, but tracks like the updated “The Sinking Old Sanctuary” and “Big Battle” show they can still breathe new life into established ideas and push them into new territory.
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The followup, Harmony of Dissonance, was truly intense in comparison, and somewhat legendary in the way it followed through with its titular theme. Dissonance is everywhere in this soundtrack, and the work of Soshiro Hokkai (plus returning legend Michiru Yamane) bores into one’s ears at times, but it’s supremely addictive. It also sounds lightyears better than Circle of the Moon in terms of production. It’s still kind of crush-y in a way you couldn’t avoid with GBA hardware, but after tuning their ears and gears to the experience with the previous game, they were able to execute far more effectively. Tracks like “Offense and Defense,” and “Approach of Deplore” take things back to the series’ glory daze with their complex drums and robust, multi-phrase melodies, and “Aqueduct of Dragons” even busts it’s way into 15/16. Despite its nightmarish tendencies, or maybe even because of them, Harmony of Dissonance parallels math rock pretty closely, at least the darker side of it. “Demon Cave of Skeletons” is almost a math class in itself – check it out below:
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Michiru Yamane returned again for 2003’s Aria of Sorrow, this time alongside Takashi Yoshida and Soshiro Hokkai. While Yamane did the stage themes for the last game, she was in the driver’s seat for this one like she was in Symphony of the Knight, and you can hear the familiar gothic undertones rise up throughout. That being said, given the limitations of the hardware considering they were still making the games for Nintendo’s Gameboy Advance, it was also a great chance to try new things. Amid the ashen ruins of counterpoint, you can also hear more jazz, city pop, and… math rock, maybe? It’s not as far-fetched as you’d think. For instance, check out “A Formidable Foe Appears” and it’s galloping, non-linear assault, or “Dance Hall” and it’s borderline hilarious creep.
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Whereas the first couple of Castlevania OST’s give 8-bit mixes of Judas Priest and Iron Maiden, the series’ Gameboy Advance era is where it started to resemble those bands’ most chaotic and/or progressive descendants, like Protest the Hero and Between the Buried and Me. That being said, it might be our favorite chapter of the series as far as the music goes, and it’s worth mentioning they did manage to sidestep hardware limitations for the release of Lament of Innocence, which came out in 2003 for the Playstation 2. The new influences mentioned above still keep up appearances, as does Michiru Yamane, but there was definitely a bigger emphasis on production and new textures over more complex melodic themes, or even revisiting any of the series’ existing themes. There’s also kind of a Y2K / electro aesthetic to it, which definitely tracks considering the year it came out.
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It still retains the Castlevania flair on tracks like “House of Sacred Remains” and “Garden of Forgotten Time,” which indeed feels like a forgotten Victorian motif in the face of it’s 21st century surroundings. Most of the OST’s covered thus far would seem a bit too intense to relax to, but we could sit and chill with Lament of Innocence pretty easily.
Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow – Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia // 2005-2008
Though Lament of Innocence came out on Playstation 2, the next big generational shift for the series was from the Gameboy Advance to the Nintendo DS for Dawn of Sorrow. While they retained the services of Michiru Yamane, they also brought in Masahiko Kimura, who helped with the music for Castlevania’s Nintendo 64 ports. This time the were able to revisit existing themes and use the DS’s similar but improved hardware when compared to the Gameboy Advance, and though Yamane is quoted as wanting to keep it simple for Dawn of Sorrow, it’s still pretty stellar.
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Dawn of Sorrow’s DS development didn’t mean it was over for Playstation fans, or even out of reach for curious Xbox owners, as Curse of Darkness came out on for both consoles that same year . Michiru Yamane’s work on Curse of Darkness doubled down on what Lament of Innocence has started in terms of incorporating heavier rock and industrial elements, and for the most part it was a hit with fans. It was sleeker and more emotive too, reminding players of the legacy without feeling repetitive or self-referential.
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Just one year later, another DS game came out, which was expected to continue where Dawn of Sorrow left off, but Portrait of Ruin was actually a sequel to 1994’s Bloodlines. It also saw Michiru Yamane work with composer Yuzo Koshiro to bring the game’s soundtrack a more expansive pop feel, which ended up being a high-yield partnership as the game’s OST was considered by many to be yet another shining moment in the series’ arc. Our favorite moment in terms of math is probably the “Overture” that for the most part carries 11/8, but “Destroyer” is a close second even though it’s only a crazy waltz.
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In another sidestep, though the next Castlevania was again released for Nintendo DS, this one also wasn’t a sequel to the story they’d initially advanced through the console – it was a game that took place in the immediate aftermath of Symphony of the Night. Yamane returned yet again for Order of Ecclesia, and this time worked directly with the game’s sound designer to create the soundtrack. Many of the previously learned lessons are on display here – there’s not as much repetition or revisiting of old themes, and they play to the hardware’s strengths while also pushing for maximum ambition. There’s bigger dynamic in every range, and it’s not afraid to get into the usual waltz weirdness, but it actually shines the most on songs like “Jaws of a Scorched Earth,” “Dark Holy Road,” and “Stones Hold a Grudge” where the production is the focal point. There’s almost a little more of the electro influence that you could hear on the Playstation titles, but brought down a notch so as to blow out the internal DS speakers.
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Castlevania: Lords of Shadow // 2010 – ???
In 2010, a reboot of the series was released that was partly produced by the one and only Hideo Kojima, and this time the music was done by Óscar Araujo. His work rightfully won a lot of praise, and though it’s in a totally cinematic and orchestral style and therefore not quite as Victorian or goth as some would have hoped, it fits the games European theme. Sadly it also means that our usual analysis is kind of hard to perform given that it’s mostly extended brass, string, and percussion parts. And no, before you ask, not even in the faintest Midwest emo kind of way.
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Mirror of Fate, the next chapter of the Lords of Shadow series, came out in 2013. We actually found Mirror of Fate’s OST to be a little more substantial, with beefier percussion parts with some even some odd-times, like the combat or discovery tunes that would pop up in the background. Still, like Lords of Shadow of it’s mostly very massive and cavernous sounding, and that’s not a bad thing, just a difficult thing to wave our Texas Instruments at. The last mainline Castlevania game to see release to this day is 2014’s Lords of Shadows 2, and while composer Óscar Aruajo subtly revisits the series’ gothic roots, his cinematic sense of space is fully at play here once again. One could argue it’s a logical evolution from what he’d done with the other Lords of Shadow titles, but it feels like film score to the point that it’s just as easy to compare to the work of Hans Zimmer or James Newton Howard, if not easier. It’s a pretty and effective OST, and the production is incredible, but even if they went darker with its direction, there’s not a ton of melody or rhythm there to analyze.
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Lords of Shadow 2 does play around with some cool synth parts, like in “Back to the Present” and “Power of the Void,” but they’re pretty fleeting moments. Aruajo was perhaps at his most ambient for this OST in particular, as there are many moments that just drone, and not even for very long. We’re not saying it’s bad, there’s just not a ton of math. But if this were a post-rock blog, it would have been a smash hit.
THE VERDICT
This was much harder than the Doom verdict. On one hand, the early stuff from Belmont’s Revenge and the Konami sound team was iconic, and it did occasionally mess with cool time signatures. But on the other, once Michiru Yamane got involved, that’s when things got really math rock. Furthermore, though we want to be cool and say Symphony of the Night takes the cake because it’s just such a supreme experience overall… yet at the end of it all, we’re actually going to go with Harmony of Dissonance.
Despite being programmed for the long-lapsed hardware of Gameboy Advance, it’s an OST that emanates the attitude of math rock we love today. Harmony of Dissonance trades tradition for the chance to create something truly cantankerous, like Yowie or Melt-Banana, whether it’s though odd-times, uneven meters, or incredulous harmonies. It doesn’t get more math rock than that.
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