Some of the best tracks on The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth OST are of course the boss fight pieces. While still maintaining a foreboding tone, they’re a nice change of pace on the album and within the game itself. “Tome of Knowledge” in particular steers far away from the electronic and ambient noises that are featured in the other tracks. “Tomb of Knowledge” and “The Forgotten” feature some lighter music on piano with a handful of accompanying instruments. While many of the levels of the game focus on ambient and disturbing sounds, a handful of areas have some more melodically focussed tracks. There are some truly horrifying and powerful creatures in these lower levels, and the music makes it that much more unsettling. In contrast to the early levels of the game, the music here is much more oppressive. There’s no melody present and the electronic elements, coupled with the more dramatic and metallic percussion, evoke a much more aggressive and threatening atmosphere. Overall, a much more unnerving soundscape, for the deeper levels of your main character’s decent.Ī similar effect is produced with “Capiticus Calvaria (Catacombs).” This piece is much more percussive in nature than the music for The Depths. In fact the only tonal thing happening in this piece is the chime like melodies that play over the previously mentioned cacophonous elements. The track is filled with distant moans, unintelligible whispers from all directions, and heartbeat-like drum rhythms. “Abyss (The Depths),” is could easily be perceived as a work of sound design as it is of music. Tracks for the later sections, like The Depths and The Womb, are much more ambient and quiet, creating a very unsettling mood. This also contrasts nicely with the music for the later areas of the game that are far more disturbing. Having this as the music for the opening floors of the game helps quickly establishes the threatening and horrific environment of the game, while not being incredibly overbearing. A handful of strings, simple guitar riffs, and electronic elements are accompanied by drum kit for the track “Diptera Sonata.” Another electric guitar comes in later on the track to build on top of the existing material. The music for the opening levels has a nice rock feel to it. A combination of vocals, horns, celeste, and electric guitar build an unsettling atmosphere for the opening menu screen. The opening track of the album, “Genesis 22:10 (Title),” is eerie and foreboding. One of the things that struck me when first playing through the game was that, despite the use of new music material, the tone of the music remains quite similar to the first game.
I’m pleased to say that Ridiculon’s original music for The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth delivers. It’s an unnerving setting, all of which needs to be aided by an equally unnerving score. As you go deeper into the game, you meet increasingly challenging and horrifying creatures, many of which are inspired by the darker elements of Christian mythology. The game is a rouge-like dungeon crawler that has you play a small child fleeing from a homicidal parent, all while finding power-ups that corrupt and distort your body. The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth is a game that thematically requires an unsettling tone. With that said, let’s take a look at this fresh spin on the world of The Binding of Isaac. Some comparisons will be inevitable, but there’s plenty to examine on the The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth OST on its own. While it’s tempting to provide an “old vs new” comparison between the soundtracks, I want to focus primarily on this latest work and judge it on its own merits. This new game The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth features a new score by Matthias Bossi and Jon Evans, who make up the group Ridiculon. The score for the original Binding of Isaac was composed by Danny Baranowsky. Having a completely new take on the music for a game, especially one that remains mechanically similar to its predecessor, is a great way to observe how a new set of music and themes can change a game experience. This is something that can be quite intriguing. Such is the case with The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth OST, featuring all new music by Ridiculon. But sometimes, in an interesting twist, the music of a new entry abandons the original material completely, in favor of a different set of music themes and composers. I’m always curious to see and hear if themes get brought back, and how the new material contrasts with the previous entries.
Observing and listening to music evolve over the course of a game or movie franchise is always fascinating to me.