Review Summary: An immersive dark ambient/industrial listen.
Long time Nine Inch Nails collaborator, Robin Finck together with Cory Davis (Spec Ops: The Line) founded the indie game studio Eyes Out, developing their first game,
Sleep Awake. The surrealistic, psychological horror was released on December 2nd, alongside its soundtrack. The premise is a phenomenon named HUSH, causing anyone who falls asleep to disappear forever. Therefore, the music echoes the haunting aspects of the story, where the player needs to discover the surreal events and staying awake as long as possible. Besides the dark ambient elements, there are various industrial passages and eerie guitars roaming throughout this hour-long album. Right from the first listen, it establishes quite a thrilling atmosphere, blending short cuts designed for specific moments in the game, with fleshed out numbers which augment the listening experience.
While designed to be experienced as a whole, a number of songs inevitably stand out amidst others. The good thing is that even the 1-2 minute long tracks are often just as engaging as the longer ones. For example, the dramatic opener “Sadists of the HUSH” together with the intense, pulsing “Tormentor” instantly set the tone of the LP. Followed by the uncanny “Psychobotany” and the hazy “Dead Zone”, we get to hear the more subdued, uneasy side of this soundtrack too. Meanwhile, “Void Shadow” boasts tribal drumming patterns alongside dark, immersive ambient pads. As they continue to drone halfway through, they turn a bit more mournful. Also, “Come to Simulation” brings to mind the instrumentals from Skinny Puppy’s
Last Rights era. The mix of poignant and ethereal synths, complete with Nine Inch Nails’
Ghosts I-IV type guitars and simple yet effective drums is mesmerizing. “I Have Gone to Look For You” follows, showcasing a nostalgic piano melody descending slowly into moody drones until it cinematically collapses towards the end. Seguing into the somber sound scapes of “Blackout” and “Inversion Sky Fire”, their tones seem to turn at times towards Ulver’s
Shadows of the Sun aesthetics. It is impressive how Finck constantly shifts between horror, thrilling and melancholic themes. Moreover, “Excruciating Devotion” & “Lord of Sleep” share further rounds of desolate layers of synthesizers, while “The Fathom” ultimately closes the soundtrack on a slightly upbeat note. Amid these tunes, there are multiple interesting ones which are easily enhanced within the context of the record.
Overall,
Sleep Awake is an impressive listen, stretching from Cryo Chamber type dark ambient to industrial moments. The comparisons to Nine Inch Nails are inevitable, however, Robin made sure to diversify the sound and add his own touch to the compositions. This is not his first venture into game soundtracks, as he worked with Wordclock on the
NOCT OST back in 2015. That one is a must listen too. It’s great to see him branching out this time and hopefully he follows with more.
