I haven't listened to a soundtrack this ambient since Robyn Miller's "Myst" and "Riven" soundtracks were first printed.

The soundtrack to the MMORPG "EVE Online" comes from composer Jón Hallur Haraldsson (note that the MMORPG was also developed in Iceland). When it comes to ambient music, it's easy to write it off as "simple." True, sometimes it's slow, and there is a lot of chordal "droning" going on; but on this particular album, ambient electronica is anything but simple.

The music is layered. The music tends to build, in terms of dynamics, additional instrumentation, and (occasionally) tempo. These layers are then reordered and shed in a variety of ways, like a musical Jenga tower. Haraldsson is strong in his craft. Whether or not you will enjoy the album depends largely on whether or not you can enjoy electronica. The exercise of intently listening to the music takes patience; alternately, allowing it to exist as "background music" instead of actively listening is another way to enjoy the music.

One thing I really liked about this OST was the use of transitions. None of the tracks have definitive musical beginnings or endings. They actually cross-fade from one melodic theme to the next within the first ten seconds of each "track." It's a simple way to promote continuity. The choice to use almost all artificial sounds also helps to keep a feel of consistency throughout the soundtrack.

Most fans of the music are also players of EVE Online. But I don't really play this game, and I still found some beautiful soundscapes on here. If you're not opposed to the genre of music, you may want to look into adding this soundtrack to your personal collection.

Reviewed by: Patrick Gann