One of my favorite tracks on the album, both for the finished product and to work on. Another piece that is a direct-to-scene score for Elysian Road—depicting the mental conflict (hence the title) that Fergus undergoes with the immensely powerful psychic that runs/is the dome of Evangelia. When we were playing during episode twelve, I had the soundtrack to Amazon’s The Man in the High Castle playing through my head, and so the entire time this was happening, I was imagining it as if that music was scoring the intense moments. Now, sitting down to actually put my own original spin on the music for this scene was a little difficult, since I didn’t just want to copy verbatim the piece I had originally heard in my head, but I knew that I certainly wanted the piece I came up with to feel similar. That’s primarily why col legno strings and woodwinds feature prominently in the track, as those fit the feel of the score of The Man in the High Castle well. The primal, acoustic percussion is meant to evoke the ancient nature of Evangelia and her powers.
We start with col legno strings, which, as earlier defined, signifies Evangelia as a character (and the dome as a place/antagonist). Building up with tremolo and legato strings, woodwinds, and then an electronic arpeggiator (the same one used in “Void’s Angels”, albeit at a lower tempo), this section underscores Fergus beginning to realize what he has to do to stop Evangelia from killing them—connect to her brain with his psychic powers and risk her taking him over or just destroying his mind completely. Then we get a tense interlude leading up to the moment Fergus connects his mind.
Next we have the solo operatist and col legno strings signifying Tyl’s theme, as he realizes he has exactly six seconds to reprogram the computer terminal (connected to Evangelia) to give Fergus a fighting chance. Those tense seconds slip by in slow-motion with the music. The tension builds again as Fergus feels his mind breaking under the weight of Evangelia’s psychic power.
Fergus falls. Through a plane of darkness and mist, struggling to grab something, anything, to stop his descent. He finally manages to slow his fall by digging his nails into the dark wall next to him, now hanging in nothingness, nearly defeated. Evelyn appears above him as if he hanging at the edge of a cliff-face, psychically connecting with his mind, and Evelyn’s theme plays on a synthetic piano. Evelyn says “I trust you,” and grabs Fergus’ hand as the music lifts.
Fergus and Evangelia fight as if they are two medieval wizards in some sort of duel of magic as Fergus’ theme plays on strings. We then get the Void’s Grace theme, followed by snippets of Tyl’s and Evelyn’s themes playing as we know that all three of these characters are working together to stop Evangelia. A return to Fergus’ theme as he continues to face off with her.
Suddenly the solo operatist breaks back in, signifies that Tyl’s program has done its work—split Evangelia’s personality into two distinct personas (Protection and Destruction) and then deleted Destruction, leaving two Evangelias with the desire to save, not kill. One remains with Fergus, since their minds have irrevocably been melded. The other remains in the dome.
Piano brings us out of the track with a repetition of the themes—first Tyl’s theme, then Evelyn’s, then Fergus’, and finally back to the crew’s theme as we get various shots of each character and then a panoramic of all three having defeated their enemy. Suffice it to say...I had a lot of fun with this track.
Your outie will thrill to the spine-tingling soundtrack from the breakout TV show. Please try to enjoy each track equally. Bandcamp New & Notable May 2, 2022
Glowing melodic synth sequences meet jagged noise and other industrial textures on this new LP by soundtrack composer René G. Boscio. Bandcamp New & Notable Oct 13, 2020
