Mordor - Original Music Soundtrack

Mordor - Original Music Soundtrack
Mordor soundtrack album art
Chance Thomas
Released	November 1, 2017
Length	36:42
Label	HUGEsound Records
Lotro Soundtrack Chronology
10th Anniversary Commemorative Soundtrack (2017) Mordor - Original Music Soundtrack (2017) Update 22: Legacy of the Necromancer - Soundtrack (2018)

Mordor - Original Music Soundtrack is the official soundtrack for the Mordor expansion, released on November 1, 2017. It was created by Chance Thomas and released in digital stores as well as the HUGEsound Records website.

With the release of Mordor, the track "Coronation of Aragorn" became the main theme for Lotro, replacing "Lotro Legacy" from the Riders of Rohan soundtrack. It can be heard on the character selection screen.

Production and Release

At the beginning Chance Thomas was given descriptions of the different areas he would be composing for. Mordor was much different form his other Lotro works as it's a much darker region than anything else he's written for in the game. Dor Amarth in particular stood out to Thomas, with how dark, desolate, creepy it seemed.

And yet, everything we do is still Tolkien. So no matter how dark, no matter how oppressive, no matter how ugly, there has to be this reaching for light. There has to be this thread of beauty that goes through it, and I thought, "Oh man, how can I do that?" How could I create something that sounds eery and creepy and ugly, and yet beautiful at the same time?
—Chance Thomas, Cordovan interview

Thomas brought in a flute player to play bass and alto flute. When they went to the recording booth there was no sheet music for them to play! Thomas had them play random low notes and different overblown harmonics. He mixed these different sounds on the different flutes together to create different sounds. Thomas then wrote the music for Dor Amarth with the flute sounds as a backdrop. The main melodic line is initially played by six French horns, a powerful line played at the bottom of the French horn's register, below the range they're designed for. The track ended up being named "After the Fall" on the album.

On the release of the Mordor expansion on August 2, 2017, "Coronation of Aragorn" replaced "Lotro Legacy" as the music on the character selection screen. It takes the same theme as "Lotro Legacy" and the original character selection screen music "Far Ahead the Road Has Gone" but rewritten to give it a slow, stately feel, befitting the coronation of a king. The Shire theme is slipped in near the end as well.

"The Black Gate" gathers together many different themes from throughout the game representing different races. In order during the piece you hear the Gondor theme, the main line from "After the Fall" representing Mordor, the Rohan theme, and the Dwarven theme from "Lament for Oakenshield" on the Shadows of Angmar soundtrack. It can be assumed these are meant to represent some of the groups involved in the two battles at the Black Gate.

The track "Ever On" is the first song ever made for Lotro with an orchestra backing a vocalist. Several years before work on the Mordor soundtrack, Thomas was driving home at night from a game developers conference in San Francisco and had the lyrics to the walking song "The Road Goes Ever On" by Tolkien going through his head. He wanted to find a melody to match it and eventually came up with the main line, one that sounds like a Shire tune that could be played on a penny whistle, possibly a fiddle or guitar. After years of thinking about this, for the Mordor soundtrack Thomas decided to use this song as music for the credits. Instead of an instrument playing the main line Thomas decided to use a vocalist. After auditioning many vocalists including an old Celtic style singer and a rock singer, Thomas decided on David Osmond. A music video was made for the song showing shots flying through locations all over the world of Lotro, up to the Black Gate at the very end.

The album was released for digital download directly from HUGEsound records and from other digital music stores on November 1, 2017.

Track Listing

All tracks composed by Chance Thomas.

1. "Barad-dûr" - 2:02
2. "After the Fall" - 3:06
3. "Bring It" - 1:45
4. "Lhaereth of Seregost" - 3:31
5. "Conquest of the Dark Lands" - 1:19
6. "Lurking in Lhingris" - 2:40
7. "Fate of Ayorzén" - 1:09
8. "The Burning at Talath Úrui" - 1:44
9. "Coronation of Aragorn" - 4:11
10. "The Black Gate" - 2:30
11. "Ugrukhor Captain of the Pit" - 1:53
12. "Chant for Sauron" - 2:59
13. "Undoing the Rings of Power" - 1:23
14. "Unleash Terror" - 0:55
15. "Something Evil Rises" - 2:59
16. "Ever On" - 2:45

Personnel

• Chance Thomas
• Utah Film Orchestra and Choir
• David Osmond - Voice
• Aaron Ashton - Fiddle
• Rich Dixon - Guitar, mandolin
• Daron Bradford - Bass clarinet, penny Whistle, English horn, clarinet
• Jeannine Goeckeritz - Flute, bass flute, alto flute
• Nicole Pinnell - Cello
• Anita Miller - French horn

External Links

• Ever On music video
• YouTube preview
• YouTube playlist
• HUGEsound Records page
• Cordovan interview
• Soundtrack Geek review
• MMORPG review
• Review Graveyard review
• MassivelyOP review
• RPGFan review