Soundtrack Review: Death Stranding (2019)

From Sony Music, the soundtrack for the video game Death Stranding is available now. The soundtrack for Death Stranding was composed by Swedish composer Ludvig Forssell and Joel Corelitz. Forssell’s previous contributions to video game soundtracks include composing the music for Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes and Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain.

The summary of Death Stranding is as follows:

After the collapse of civilization, Sam Bridges must journey across a ravaged landscape crawling with otherworldly threats to save mankind from the brink of extinction. In the near future, mysterious explosions have rocked the planet, setting off a series of supernatural events known as the Death Stranding. With spectral creatures plaguing the landscape, and the planet on the verge of a mass extinction, it’s up to Bridges to journey across the ravaged wasteland and save mankind from impending annihilation.

Corelitz, according to this interview with Paste Magazine, had several contributions of his own to make to the soundtrack:

My contribution was broken up into chunks that were similar to sprints. Initially I created 10 one-minute tracks using all original sounds (both synth patches and sampled material mostly created from found objects) that were edited down into their components and turned into sample libraries. So the tracks themselves weren’t designed to be used or heard as music, just to house the raw materials that Ludvig could then use in his own compositions.

This took maybe three to four months. It went well, particularly the found object samples so we decided to dedicate three days just to sampling, with all of us (including Sony’s audio department) in the same room. That’s when we did the piano. Then, I was asked to create 40 more minutes of additional music to accompany the rest of the score, so I actually got to use the instruments we created on my own cues. That was a huge surprise and a lot of fun. This part took maybe five months total.

Having sampled the soundtrack, I can say that it is hauntingly beautiful, not at all what I expected for a game like Death Stranding. The music puts me in mind of a number of science-fiction epics, but it particularly reminded me of the scores for both Blade Runner and Blade Runner 2049 (and that’s a good thing). In some places, I was even reminded of the music for God of War (the most recent game) in a few places. If you get a chance to listen to the soundtrack, I would especially recommend listening to “The Face of Our New Hope,” that track is especially beautiful. I know music doesn’t really indicate the quality of a video game overall, but if Death Stranding does have any problems, the soundtrack is definitely not one of them.

Track Listing

1 Once, There Was an Explosion

2. Alone We Have No Future

3. BRIDGES

4. Soulless Meat Puppet

5. Beached Things

6. Chiral Carcass Culling

7. The Face of Our New Hope

8. John

9. An Endless Beach

10. Heartman

11. The Severed Bond