Review by Shadowdoom9 (Andi) for Treyarch Sound - Call of Duty: Black Ops - Zombies Soundtrack (2011)
My brother is a pro-gamer (though never really joining any E-gaming tournaments) and has played dozens of different computer games. COD: Black Ops was one of those games from 10 years ago. Back then he and I also enjoyed the soundtrack (before I made my switch to "real" metal (power metal)), which as I recall, range from songs of groovy female-fronted metal-ish alt-rock of The Pretty Reckless and Halestorm to what's arguably my first encounter with (melodic) metalcore, "115". Fast forward to a month before today when, after a recent revisit to a few of those songs, I've decided it would be time to check out that soundtrack album again after all those years, and...
I can still taste a good amount of the bloodshed! Going further into the backstory, as an MMORPG gamer myself, I find that multiplayer activities are terrible time-wasters when the other players can't co-operate. That's why I prefer going solo in these games, and why it was also fun watching my brother play Call of Duty Zombies Mode (when he lets me watch) with his player kicking undead a** for as long as he can survive. The soundtrack for World at War and Black Ops is quite d*mn fun to listen to at times.
"Damned" fits well as the opening intro, with the haunting piano playing a melody well-know the main menu of Zombies Mode. It's short but perfectly sets up for the mood to come... The second track and first highlight "Lullaby of a Deadman" is where we already hear the best of vocalist Elena Siegman. Definitely some Pretty Reckless vibe there! Next track "Abra Macabre" is an industrial interlude that would prepare you for the apocalypse. And that Tron-like sound continues to accompany the apocalypse in "Slight Chance of Zombies". Elena Siegman and co. return again for the awesome "The One", a bit like if The Cranberries took an Evanescence-like turn in sound. "Death on the Dance Floor" continues the electronic sound, and it sounds like they borrow the synths from a band like Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas just to do their own thing.
"Beauty of Annihilation" appears in the Der Reise map, and it's a great hard rock/alt-metal track with good riff distortion and vocals. "Raining Teddy Bears" is a dark creepy interlude with a laughable title. Same with "Laughing Corpses", but things get slightly more sinister... "Slasher" almost fits well for a zombie slasher film, but it still deserves its place in the soundtrack. For the next interlude, again it seems like they experiment with Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas-like synths with their own, and at this point, this sounds like more like an electro-industrial soundtrack than the alt-metal one I thought it was.
"Voice in Your Head" is another dark instrumental to get you used to the zombified environment, yet it's quite fun once you're used to it. "Zombies Don't Surf" sounds more catchy, but at that point, I was starting to wonder why I even chose this album as the Gateway feature release to June... Until it hits me with the main reason I still remember it, "115", the best part of the entire soundtrack, and my aforementioned first (melodic) metalcore encounter. The first time I listened to this, the only "real" metal genres I knew were power/symphonic metal, so I probably said something cringe about this like "Epica without symphonic elements". Now here's my better real opinion about that track; blazing riffs and drumming, with vocal alternation between screams and cleans, make that song a memorable metalcore one. Then it's back to square one with "Clockwork Squares" with a synth intro that I thought would lead to a Within the Ruins-like track, but no, the synth sound just kept going. "Temple" is a catchy yet boring instrumental, this one sounding out of place in this otherwise dark soundtrack and again makes me wonder about my Gateway feature release decision. "Undone" would make sure one more time that this soundtrack with a slow dark guitar track. Once that's over, you already know how fun and entertaining the better highlights are for some zombie-fighting.
It's not over yet though; a deluxe version of the soundtrack contains 3 bonus tracks, and they're all metal, starting with a song from the Ascension map, "Abracadavre" (the title reminds me of that Powerpuff Girls episode with the evil zombie magician). Kevin Sherwood is a guitar hero who can pull off killer riffing in "Pareidolia" that once again makes things more interesting. The harsh vocals in "Coming Home" are the best in this bonus part with as much f***ing hype as Jarboe in her collaboration album with Neurosis. The music is also the best, being ultra-heavy punky death metal during those harsh parts. The perfect metal sound also fits well for her cleans, and we already know how great she is at balancing soft with heavy.
So throughout the 17 tracks of the original version, it's all mostly electro-industrial interludes with only a few actual songs scattered around. I probably would chosen a better Gateway feature release, but never mind. They all flow and spread well without ever sounding too forced in most of the interludes. Treyarch Sound made the right move of releasing the soundtrack for people to hear anywhere else besides the game. Call of Duty Zombies players should definitely check this out, and if you're there for the metal songs, you would get the most out of that side from the deluxe version with the 3 bonus tracks. Enjoy this soundtrack for battling the undead....
Favorites: "Lullaby of a Deadman", "Abra Macabre", "The One", "Beauty of Annihilation", "Voice in Your Head", "115", "Undone", "Abracadavre", "Pareidolia", "Coming Home"