On the other hand, Downside Ballad is classic fantasy soft rock. The acoustic guitar that leads the track is familiar and welcoming. Interestingly enough, Korb mentioned that this was the one track that helped him find the direction for the rest of the game’s musical tones. And it’s easy to see why. Downside Ballad embodies everything that Pyre is. It’s got hints of desolation, wanderlust, and camaraderie all wrapped up in a beautifully dense and complex four-minute track. It’s also one of the few tracks that make it blatantly obvious that Korb’s using live instruments here. The guitar and mandolin sound perfectly crisp, and while the reverb is obvious, it never gets in the way of the music and it supplements it well. The tones here are so rich, and it’s overall just a wonderful track that you could listen to for days.
And yet it’s easy to miss out on this melody when you’re playing the game. Pyre’s audio and sound direction was handled by Korb as well, and this time around, the volume priority was on the vocal narrations and sound effects. With the exception of a few key parts in the game, the music itself takes a backseat to everything else that’s going on. Downside Ballad is hidden underneath layers and layers of sound in Pyre, and you wouldn’t be faulted for dismissing it as background or incidental music.
Going back to the idea of incorporating bardic qualities in the music, one of the more prominent characters in Pyre is a bard who goes by the name of Tariq. He’s a lone minstrel that follows the Nightwings around as they move from Rite to Rite. Whenever your team engages in a Liberation Rite, Tariq and Celeste (the Scribes’ gatekeeper) play host to the proceedings and provide the soundtrack for the competition. The song that plays during a Liberation Rite is titled Never to Return, and it’s a vocal track led by both Korb himself and Ashley Barrett.
I wasn’t a huge fan of the vocal-based tracks in Bastion and Transistor (with the exception of one or two songs), but it’s astounding how Korb manages to make them work in Pyre. Vocals are particularly important here because of what Tariq and Celeste represent in the game. They’re human symbols for the moon and sun, two celestial opposites that only get to come together “when the stars align.” As you play through the game, you start to get hints that there’s some romantic involvement going on here as well, and there’s a palpable sense of longing present in the song on multiple levels.
The more obvious one comes from the opposing teams’ desire to be free of Downside. After all, only one chosen member of each team will get to go free, if their team emerges victorious. It’s a literal fight for freedom, and as the game continues and you realize that freedom may not be possible for everyone, the sense of desperation becomes increasingly obvious. Never to Return conveys that idea of futility rather well. Korb and Barrett also do a wonderful job of lending a layer of the ethereal to this song. There’s something enchanting about the way the melodies come together, and the production quality here is just so on point with how everything sounds so even. The vocals, no matter how soft or gentle, are never drowned out by the instruments.
What’s even more impressive is the fact that the melodies of Never to Return actually change a little depending on which teams you end up facing in a Liberation Rite. Unfortunately, those variations aren’t available on the game’s official soundtrack, but it’s a pretty neat piece of musical engagement that players can look out for in Pyre.
With Pyre being partially driven by the idea of a bard following you around during your journey and singing of your adventures, it’s only fitting that the game should end with a fantasy ballad, again featuring the dynamic duo of Korb and Barrett. The lyrics here are written in such a poetic manner, detailing all of the deeds and achievements of all your characters. Just as a true bard would do, Bound Together is a song that sings praises of heroes long past – their honor, their glory, and all of that good stuff.
Similar to the shifting melodies in Never to Return, the lyrics here are actually tailored to your own in-game experience as well. There are slight changes, depending on who you chose to free in the game, and who ended up remaining in Downside. It’s a truly majestic song that ties all of these individual character stories together, and even ties it back to the game’s central imagery of stars and lights. Once again, Korb and Barrett harmonize beautifully here, and this is certainly a song you could imagine being played in a tavern or an alehouse that you’d find in any fantasy game.
The very fact that Pyre’s soundtrack has managed to remain thematically consistent while also sounding ridiculously good on its own is a commendable feat. Obviously, the soundtrack does have a few misses here and there, and there are tracks that just aren’t quite as memorable as others. But even the ones that are easily forgettable still tie back into the game’s fantasy and mystical musical direction. The collection only consists of 39 tracks, but Korb has succeeded in composing a full soundtrack that stands up well to repeated listens. One could probably even go as far as calling it a fantasy rock album. It’s a soundtrack that you can very much enjoy without ever playing the game, and that’s something I can personally attest to, considering that the music was what convinced me to give the game a second chance after my initial misgivings with it.
With Pyre, Korb has continued to solidify his position as one of the most outstanding VGM composers in recent history, and I can’t wait to see which genre he tackles next.
