Abatron Original Soundtrack (Review) + Giveaway

For those who fawn over the soundtrack crafted for the newest iteration of DOOM, composed by Mick Gordon, you might want to take a look at a new indie game with a soundtrack composed to sound quite a bit like the industrial vibe of the DOOM and Prey soundtracks.

Abatron, an action strategy shooter game in early access on Steam that styles itself as “galactic dominance with controlled combat” is very much akin to that of DOOM. The graphics and aesthetics certainly give a hard nod to the sci-fi horror-like imagery and feel of DOOM, though with a bit more of a technological spin to it. Abatron’s music is also a nod to the former, with both an oldschool and new feel to it. The game’s composer, Nils “NeonInsect” Sinatsch, had some very clearcut ideas in mind when he composed the game’s music.

The soundtrack is meant to sound a bit dirty and gritty, as it reflects the game best. To achieve that, I’ve been working with glitches and stutters, as well as some little overuse of tube exciters during mastering and on the guitars.

The music has elements from 90s industrial rock in it, often combined with small orchestral cues and synthesizer, as well as some ambient-ish tracks. – NeonInsect

This sound is very much reflected well in the individual tracks of the game. “Nekros Core”, for example, has a combination of both 80s synth and 90s orchestral rock blended together seamlessly, sounding like it could have been inspired by John Carpenter’s scores. It’s low and menacing yet somewhat surreal, making it the perfect example of Sinatsch’s description of his vision.

The soundtrack switches back and forth between that 80/90s synth vibe into trust metal and industrial sounds. While tracks like “The Awakening” keeps to the lower ambient tones, other tracks go straight into the action and prep you for getting your hands a bit dirty. If you’ve ever heard of the artist Celldweller (Dead Rising 2), there’s a pretty distinct kind of sound that I’ve heard within their recent albums of the past few years, and what Sinatsch has done with tracks like “Bullets”. There’s a buildup to an intensity within the track that gets your head nodding in rhythm and your blood pumping a bit.

The soundtrack does a good job of balancing itself between high-energy and creepy, moodier tones. “March to the Core”, for example, takes pretty much everything you’ve heard up until that point and throws it together. You start with creepy, horror-movie atmosphere that leads into a thundering beat that evolves into synthetic ambience and orchestra that bring up the rear in a headbanging way.

Here’s an exclusive peak at the entire album, courtesy of NeonInsect.

The Abatron soundtrack features 15 tracks of this varying mishmash of 80s synths, 90s power metal and 00’s techniques that I encourage people to give a listen to, especially if you enjoyed the aforementioned references with a good amount of personal flair. The game itself is slated to be fully released and out of Early Access by the end of the year, though you can still pick it up on Steam. The soundtrack is currently available for pre-order on the NeonInsect Bandcamp page, and will be fully available on September 15th for 7 Euros.

We have been given a few download codes from the composer himself for giveaway to a few lucky OSV readers. We’ll give these away on a first-come, first serve basis to the first five readers who leave a comment (be sure to have an email address we can use, or a Twitter handle to DM). A big thanks to NeonInsect for this opportunity, and be sure to let us know what you think of the soundtrack!