Year: 2020
Type: Original Soundtrack (OST)
Composer(s): Christopher Tin
Number of tracks: 12

★★★★★

Agreeably antique

Old World smells like Civ, looks like Civ and - according to online reviews - tastes like Civ. But does it also sound like Civ? As a fan of Geoff Knorr's work on Sid Meier's epochal strategy game series Civilization, I wanted to answer this question. So will Christopher Tin, the American composer responsible for Old World, manage to match the brilliance of his compatriot and present us with an acoustic gem? The stars are certainly aligned, as Tin has already composed the fantastic pieces Baba Yetu (Civ IV) and Sogno di Volare (The Dream of Flight) for Civ VI.

First of all, the scope of the original soundtrack is noticeable. A manageable number of twelve tracks have made it onto the album. This is probably due to the fact that Old World, unlike its great role model, deals with a comparatively short period of human history. Whereas in Civ we set off with club wielding warriors, invent the wheel and gunpowder and at some point command futuristic giant mechs on the world map, in Old World we are limited to the period of antiquity. Due to this compression and the associated dynasty management, the game is probably more comparable to the Crusader Kings-series.

Because of this limitation, however, a large part of what made the score of Sid Meier’s Civilization VI so special is missing: the evolution. While there we can also witness the musical development of our respective nation, in Old World there is only one track per nation.

Fortunately, however, I can give the all-clear straight away, because despite the limited range on offer, Tin gets the best out of the music to transport us to the time before the birth of Christ.

To do this, he draws on the familiar tropes that we use to imagine the sounds of that era. In other words: bright plucked instruments, low winds and driving percussion. And since we are geographically located in the Mediterranean region, the entire score also exudes an Arabic-oriental flair. To quote briefly from Christopher Tin's homepage at this point:

The result is a colorful tapestry of sounds and harmonies from the Middle East, married to the forms and techniques of classical composition.

Christopher Tin on his homepage on the Old World-OST

A nice touch: a typical Civ-intro song has also made it into the game. I Lift My Eyes is a ballad of the biblical Psalm 121, sung in Arabic by the Lebanese singer Abeer Nehme. Initially a deliberate solo, the piece builds up, becoming increasingly 'oriental' and finally resembling compositions such as Prince of Persia or Anno 1404. The piano piece II: Mawwal, which is more reminiscent of classical compositions, is also a departure.

My personal highlight of the score remains Festival of Dionysus (Greece), which wonderfully captures various aspects of ancient spectacle. More formal at the beginning, the hustle and bustle changes and becomes more ecstatic and exuberant - just like a good party. Here, too, I quote briefly from Tin's homepage, where the composer explains how this impression is created:

For music theory nerds out there, Festival of Dionysus (Greece) is a gleeful romp through the seven different modes named by the Ancient Greeks: dorian, lydian dominant, mixolydian, aeolian, locrian, phyrigian, and finally ending on ionian (otherwise known as major).

Christopher Tin on his homepage on Festival of Dionsysus (Greece)

Is the music of Old World now a spiritual successor to the Civ-series? Hardly, but that is not its claim and it doesn't have to be. Christopher Tin delivers an entertaining dive into gray prehistoric times, which fans of Mediterranean and Arabic sounds will find particularly appealing. So if you're looking for suitable background music for a reel of your last vacation to Turkey or a hedonistic courtship on a sandstone balcony with a view of the Mediterranean, go for it.

No.	Title	Artist(s)	Ratings
1	I Lift My Eyes	Christopher Tin	4
2	The Augur Speaks (Rome)	Christopher Tin	3
3	War Elephant (Carthage)	Christopher Tin	4
4	Festival of Dionysus (Greece)	Christopher Tin	5
5	The Gardens (Babylon)	Christopher Tin	4
6	Zealot King (Assyria)	Christopher Tin	4
7	Persepolis (Persia)	Christopher Tin	4
8	Trade Routes (Egypt)	Christopher Tin	4
9	I: Tahmilah	Christopher Tin	4
10	II: Mawwal	Christopher Tin	4
11	III: Tarab (Part 1)	Christopher Tin	4
12	IV: Tarab (Part 2)	Christopher Tin	4