Halo's Space Rock Opera

 As I have said in my last post about Halo's composers Martin O'Donnell and Micheal Salvatori, Halo was a FPS released in 2001 for the Original Xbox and is set in 500 year in the future during humanities space age being devastated by an alien religious cult that plans to activate an ancient device that would wipe out all life in the universe. You play a space marine John-117, also known as the Master Chief, a man in a super powered suit that can take a ridiculous amount of damage and can deal out the same, but what makes Halo stand out from other FPS games would be the scoop and setting of the game, the multiplayer aspect and the bombastic soundtrack. Obviously I will be discussing the soundtrack today because that what I do.

In my last post I also talk about the title theme to Halo with the Gregorian chant and how that became a staple in the series, but now I will talk about some of the songs that made the level perfect and songs that inspired songs in the later games in the series. Some of the songs I will be talking about is "What Once Was Lost", "Lament For Pvt. Jenkins", "Devils..Monsters", "Truth and Reconciliation", and lastly "Halo".

The one level that the music perfectly combined with atmosphere and new introduced enemies was 343 Guilty Spark. In this level you are sent out to find a marine company that went lost in the dark jungle wetlands. After being dropped off you hear the eerie song "What Once Was Lost" as you push through the jungle. As you proceed through the jungle you come across a building in which you see the zealot aliens fleeing from in terror . After you get through them you proceed into the building and find that there is no one in the building to run from. You go down some elevators and proceed through the building only to find body after body of shredded corpses of both human and alien. When you get to the bottom most of the building you find the helmet of Pvt. Jenkins and take his recording out of his helmet to see what became of his company. As you begin to watch the tape the song "Lament For Pvt. Jenkins" which is solemn until creepy, high note and erratic string instruments cut in and make your skin crawl. The tape reveals that the company was attacked by an enemy called the Flood a infections organism that can take over a hosts body and use it to spread the infection. After the tape ends, you are immediately being surrounded and attacked by the Flood and the song "Devils...Monster" starts to play. This songs distorted sound adds to the scare and fear that are rising because of the oncoming attack. This song will play as you run your way out the building to regroup with another group of marines as you reach the exist to the building. Throughout this whole level the song will change three times going from creepy to down right chaotic and evil and is a perfect example on the music evolution in this game.

The next song I will talk about is titled "Truth and Reconciliation." This is one of my favorite song on the entire soundtrack because how much the song changes in the course of its eight and a half minute play time. This song play in various levels throughout the entire game and also plays the whole song if you sit at the main menu and listen. It plays in the levels Halo, The Silent Cartographer, Two Betrayals, Truth and Reconciliation, Keyes and The Maw. The various sections of the song are used in cut scenes and action segments of the game. The main moment the song is used in driving segments and the final drive to the end. This song is my favorite because the change in the song and also how much it sprinkled around the game.

The last song I will be talking about is simply titled "Halo." This song has appeared in every Halo game since in some form. This song also has the Gregorian chant in it as well in the beginning. This song is the legacy of the Halo games and will forever exist in the series,

This album was re-worked when they re-mastered the game on its 10th anniversary with a larger orchestra and new people, but this album to me will always be a classic. If you want to sit back and watch to the album you can listen to it on YouTube or you can purchase it on Amazon or iTunes. Thanks fir reading once again and have a great one.