With In the Name of the Tsar it came as no surprise that the Red Army, aka Russia, entered the battlefields of Battlefield 1, in February 2017. Once again, EA serves us the OST by composers Johan Söderqvist and Patrik Andrén, but this time with a whopping 16 tracks! However, since quantity does not necessarily mean quality, and the music was once again written exclusively for multiplayer, skepticism is naturally warranted at first.
However, this concern should quickly dissipate, as the quality seamlessly matches that of the main game. Of course, the two Swedes cannot help but draw on common tropes associated with the Tsarist Empire and Russia in general. Where fan mods such as Eastern Front for the first Company of Heroes or a Workers & Resources: Soviet Republic stumble in this attempt, In the Name of the Tsar proves its style. It knows how to accurately showcase its (male) choirs in Grace and Glory or Sword in Hand thus placing itself squarely alongside Company of Heroes 2.
The other pieces join the ranks of action tracks that theatrically shorten the wait to join the game: Remain Standing, Hunting Down or The Fear of Everything – they all strike the same chord. Notable exceptions to the classical lineup are the clarinet-centered Volga River as well as Snow and Mist, which imitates the feeling of vibrating wire ropes with shimmering synths – exciting!
