Just before the massive release of Splinter Cell:Chaos Theory, they release the soundtrack to it, done by Amon Tobin

Amon Tobin – Chaos Theory (Soundtrack to upcoming Splinter Cell:Chaos Theory game)

Amon Tobin’s career path has been unorthodox, he was born in Brazil and he has always been involved in music. He moved to the United Kingdom in the mid 90’s and one day, he was inspired, so he picked up a sampler and picked an alias (from a Steven King Novel of all places) called Cujo. His first CD was titled Cujo’s Adventures in Foam, released on Ninebar records. The people at Ninja Tune heard about this and he was signed up and this has led to a long partnership with the Coldcut founded label. Well since that fateful day of Tobin joining Ninja Tune, a few things have happened, Amon has grown in fan base and even thought he does not live in the UK anymore, because he actually moved to Montreal in 2002.

Amon has emerged as a cutting edge artist and Montreal is now where he makes his home, it is also where Ninja Tune’s North American Headquarters are based. In early 2004, Ubisoft, the video game company who made the popular Splinter Cell games, based on the work of Tom Clancy, approached Amon to make the soundtrack for the game, which will be released in late March 2005 and he jumped at the chance to make something for the ever-popular video game series. Here are the results of his labor.

Splinter Cell - Chaos Theory

1.The Lighthouse
2.Ruthless
3.Theme From Battery
4.Kokubo Sosho Stealth
5.El Cargo
6.Displaced
7.Ruthless (Reprise)
8.Kokubo Sosho Battle (Adapted From Cougar Merkin)
9.Hokkaido
10.The Clean Up

1.The Lighthouse

It starts with this almost Japanese samurai warrior sound, then the guitar kicks in, with the twinkle sound effects. The guitar just drives this track, then the eerie riffs come in and make this a lot of fun and heck I’m only listening to the soundtrack and I have not even played the game. The track slows down about two minutes into it, with a break then the main part with some mean sound effects that join in and the song takes off again, I like Tobin’s unique vision here. He knows damn well that this game will be huge and this is a chance to expand his music and to gain new fans. The drums come in about 3 minutes in and just give it that completed feeling, I like the first track.

2.Ruthless

Track number two uses a ton of drums and sound effects to achieve this eerie feeling, which I assume is the sound that Tobin is aiming for. The track actually starts off with silence and then it slowly builds with some filters and then some sound effects join in, which is done under a very slow tempo, then about a minute into it, a guitar starts going with what sounds like some bell sounds. I love bells in music for some reason, must be my classical upbringing, I do love Mozart and co.. The drums really take this song to another level and you can tell this is for a video game and I can’t wait to play the game with the soundtrack involved.

3.Theme From Battery

This is a moving piece of music, it uses some percussion to make a slow moving song, the best part is the flute that is used in the back, and with the cool instrumentation that just makes it really good. It is not terribly long but it uses some orchestral parts as well that just gives this a very nice and it slows things down with the very quick first two songs.

4.Kokubo Sosho Stealth

This continues where the “Theme from Battery” left off and this is more of what you expect from Amon Tobin’s work, it is nearly jazz fusion at times, with some cool instruments and then the percussion hits really give this some life, then the guitar gets added and boom! I love this and then in parts, the track slows down and then eerie sound effects get added . It is very short but it also works incredibly well.

5.El Cargo

This makes use of a guitar to drive it, with some more eerie sound effects and the drums then join in about twenty five seconds in, with full force. The guitar strumming pushes this song so well and you can tell that Ubisoft certainly got a unique artist in Tobin. The song is short but has a heck of some drive involved and I love it.

6.Displaced

“Displaced” starts with some guitar strumming and another sound effect, which is difficult to describe. Some percussion that is echoed comes in, then the drums creep in, it also done using a very slow tempo but then track slows down even more about one minute in, then the riffs come in with some more Japanese style sound effects with a flute in the background. You have the feeling that the track will just completely take off, then a quicker guitar line comes in and things start to speed up; then they slow down again to almost silence, then the quick rolling drum line comes in, which gives you the drum n bass feel but the bpm is not quite up to what you expect dnb to be. The track never really goes as fast as you expect it to, Tobin uses caution here and he also likes to tease the listener.

7.Ruthless (Reprise)

We then approach Ruthless part deux as I call it. “Ruthless” part deux makes great use of what sounds like church bells in the background, with some filtered sound effects. It uses just sound effects at times, then the bass line and the orchestral riffs come in. I believe it is the sounds of a real orchestra here, which reminds one of Hybrid’s works with the Russian Orchestra. The track has that espionage feel that most games should have, as I’m listening to this CD, I can’t wait to see how this interacts with the game. Near the end, a guitar plays this funky underlying melody that takes it to the end.

8.Kokubo Sosho Battle (Adapted From Cougar Merkin)

Track eight is not easy to describe but what I can say about it, you get the feeling that you are in a battle sequence and the music just heightens the atmosphere.

9.Hokkaido

The second last track is Hokkaido, which gives you the complete feeling, you are in a world being chased by bad guys, don’t ask me why but it just feels that way. The strings are from a Japanese orchestra and it is short but moving piece of music, it shows that Ubisoft certainly picked a good artist in Tobin. It seems to me that Tobin understands the videogame soundtrack well and this has been not really the greatest CD to play on your home stereo but it is certainly very well done, when you remember that this will be in a video game.

10.The Clean Up

The final track is one that starts all weird with sounds, some filtered sound effects and some weird instruments that build this, it is just different and so unique that I doubt I could do it justice by describing it.

Conclusion:
You must remember that this CD was originally designed for a video game, not as something that you should listen to, on your home stereo while doing your chores. Most people will find this CD weird but I find it refreshing that Tobin did what you did not expect from him. I can’t wait to see how this soundtrack adds to the game and speaking of the game, I cannot wait till I get a chance to play it and see how Tobin’s music pushes the game play. Check it out, if you want something different or unordinary.