A Momentum Like This: inMomentum Soundtrack (Review)

Some people wait a lifetime for a soundtrack like this. Others wait until it’s included in a sweet bundle.

The soundtrack for inMomentum has been weaved together by the illustrious Gareth Coker. This guy clearly had a sense of what the game was about and wrote the music in a way that really fits the game’s style. The digital booklet, featuring awesome concept art from the game, serves as a reminder as to the consistency of vision and style between the game and its score.

More after the jump. Apologies to Kelly Clarkson for the riff on her classic hit (except, not really; I never want to do piano accompaniment to that song for a wedding ever again).

If you know you loathe the place in the soundscape continuum where orchestra, pop, and electronica merge, turn back now. There will be no savior for you this way. Everyone else, continue forward. Gareth Coker shall guide us to a strange new paradise!

Right up front I’ll say this: every song on this album is a gem. I love this album the same way I love the soundtrack to Shatter: from head to toe. Now, Gareth Coker’s song-writing style may be similar to Jeramiah “Module” Ross, but the end product of inMomentum is nothing like either Shatter or Module’s new original album “Imagineering.” It’s something wholly other, and it is brilliant.

I used the word “soundscape” above. Some music reviewers have stricken that word from their vocabulary. Me? I use it often, and mostly when I’m caught in the waves of sound I hear in an album like the inMomentum soundtrack. I could list off, track for track, what makes every song special. But honestly, just listen to them, and they’ll tell you in a way that I cannot do with mere words.

But, okay, I’m here to write a review, so I’ll at least try. “The Art Of Movement,” a track near the end of the album, blends single, sustained tones from a cello with an airy, fluffy electronic pulse drum and hi-hat cymbals, plus a polyrhythmic piano loop (think Owl City’s “Fireflies”). Right after that is the final track on the original album (the rest is bonus tracks). This piece of music, “Passacaglia,” is cocaine-level addictive. I could leave it on loop all day. However, I’m not 100% sure it fits its musical namesake. I could be wrong.

The bonus tracks aren’t of the same calibur as the rest of the OST, but even they are worth listening to. If we were to rank this music, we’d start by saying the OST is up top, followed by the bonus tracks, then my stupid joke about Kelly Clarkson and this game’s title, and then the rest of this review. What? I’m in a self-effacing mood, wanna fight about it?

Other favorite tracks, for me? Oy, I could list them all. But, in an attempt to be selective, I’ll say that I really love “Destriction” and “Break inMomentum.” Every time I hear that bright piano, always mixed with the perfect amount of reverb (i.e. – not much! Just a little is all it takes!), I smile.

If you missed the album in the bundle, you should be all a-frowning right now. The only way to pick yourself back up, short of becoming Mr. Coker’s new bff and making him write new music just for you, is to buy the inMomentum soundtrack here.