Desseaux might slow things down in “Suspense C1”, kick things up on “Act A1”, or incorporate an arch to “Brume B1”, but these tracks still little more than assemblies of looped, warped sounds that sound almost factory-produced.
What Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare‘s tracks lack compared to their Japanese cousin is variety. It’s something of a novelty to come across a game soundtrack that channels industrial influences as explicitly as Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare while pioneering in its own right, the only well-known game soundtrack comparable to this one is Akira Yamaoka’s work for the original Silent Hill. What’s more, the rhythms of these tracks definitely exhibit a rock influence and are potentially compelling in small doses. Even in the most urgent tracks, notably “Action B1” and “Gothic A1”, Desseaux avoids producing noise so heavy and harsh that it would be intolerable for players. But the artist does show some concern was given to mainstream listeners. Such tracks are too abrasive and repetitive to have a stand-alone appeal, but they are quite effective in context: the rhythms focus, the distortions penetrate, and the loops ultimately disorientate the minds of players.
He focuses almost entirely on warped industrial sounds and heavy percussion parts - rejecting any traditional instrumentation or conventional melodies. Right from “Intro B1”, Desseaux takes a very psychological approach to horror scoring.
Regardless, this release stays faithful to the music featured in the game. While the soundtrack never made it on to shelves, it can be downloaded as a bonus with the game through GOG.com This compilation of tracks is not the best presented: the tracks are encoded in 192 kb/s, aren’t properly tagged or titled (instead assigned abbreviations such as “Act a1”, “Dark B”, “Susp C1”, etc.), and there is a notable omission. To match the gritty image of the game, Thierry Desseaux - founder of low distortion unit - was hired to create an industrial ambient soundtrack for the title. The multi-platform release was well-received and even inspired a critically panned film sequel by Uwe Boll. Alone in the Dark -The New Nightmare- Original SoundtrackĪlone in the Dark: The New Nightmare was a reboot of the game series, featuring a modern day setting and a darker emphasis.