About a half-decade ago, I’d bought the first volume to Tim Fatchen’s The Shadow over Innsmouth soundtrack, which I liked quite a bit and felt really set the kind of dark, spooky, and almost brooding atmosphere one would expect for a story or game based upon the investigation of the otherworldly horrors that humanity isn’t supposed to know about. However, the one issue I’d had with that half of the album was the fact that the five tracks—despite their overall quality—seemed to blend into one another rather than stand out to set a given scene. Granted, I’d written said review before I really gave myself the chance to familiarize myself with Lovecraftian horror, specifically H.P.’s time-honored The Shadow over Innsmouth. Since then, though, Tim’s first volume of songs has only grown on me even more than it already had, and more importantly, this second volume of his has proven to be better yet than its predecessor. Indeed, as I’m listening to it at this very moment, I can easily tell the difference between The Deep Ones March and its long, procedural pace as it depicts the TSoI’s infamous fish-headed antagonists heading towards Innsmouth’s coast and swimming out to Devil’s Reef and the much more intense Attack on the Reef, which no doubt musically illustrates the bombing that had occurred in the story’s prologue, yet failed to destroy the Deep Ones’ underwater city. Likewise, The Esoteric Order of Dagon’s specifically dark and foreboding melodies do an excellent job in giving the listener a sense that the story’s protagonist has somehow stumbled upon a place or clue that illuminates the sinister nature of Innsmouth’s inhabitants.
As a whole, then, this half of the album compliments its predecessor excellently and brings it further to life as the kind of soundtrack one would use for a Call of Cthulhu adventure or for any RPG session that implements similar themes. Great job, Tim! I'm very much looking forward to whatever project you put on the market next.
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