Famed composer (and frequent Darren Aronofsky collaborator) Clint Mansell has been announced as the lead composer for Bioware’s upcoming Mass Effect 3. Perhaps most famous for “Lux Æterna”, the bombastic leitmotif of 2000’s “Requiem for a Dream”, Mansell is taking over for long-time industry composer and co-creator of Video Games Live Jack Wall.
“…with something like Mass Effect you’re more like a DJ, with all these elements.” Mansell said in a larger interview, “You’ve got the holding pattern, then the big explosion where you need the score to kick in. Then you need to take it off on a tangent. You’ve got all these different elements that change depending on what the player does. You have to figure out an overall symphony, but be able to break it down into component parts. You can bring the pain when required”
I really am curious to know the real story behind this sudden switch. It sounds like many of the Wall of Sound team wanted to do this. Heck, Sam Hulick (one of the composers at Wall of Sound) just made a Facebook posting with a 1 min song of “what could have been in Mass Effect 3” if he was working on it. The last two soundtracks from them have been awesome too.
I’ve never heard anything from Clint that hits the Blade Runner/Tangerine Dream type of sound that has fit this series so well. That said, Clint is stellar at emotional scores and with the invasion of Earth this will have a very bittersweet plot with some loved characters dieing (Joker?). It will be very interesting to see what he comes up with.