The villains of Far Cry 5 arent quite like any that have come before. Theyre cultists, not pirates or soldiers, and they believe theyre fighting for higher ideals laid down by the Father, Joseph Seed. Like a lot of cults, the Project at Edens Gate has its own internal culture and unique beliefs, which also means they have their own hymns to express them.
Those hymns, along with the games score, are created by Far Cry 5s award-winning composer, Dan Romer (known for Beasts of the Southern Wild and Beasts of No Nation). And they inspire not only the cult, but the rest of the games music as well.
At the very beginning, we knew that the cult needed its own sound, its own music, says Tony Gronick, Far Cry 5s audio director, whos been working closely with Romer on the soundtrack. Beginning with traditional hymns as an inspiration, Romer composed 10 new songs, performed by the Bobby Shin Nashville Choir and written around the cults core beliefs and leaders, as well as its attitudes toward anyone who opposes them.
If you knew nothing about the cult and you heard this music, you would think it was beautiful and inspiring, says Gronick. But once you know the cult, those songs have a different meaning to them. And once you play the game and you start hearing these songs, and you listen to the lyrics, you go, Ahh, thats what theyre talking about! Theyre not talking about this, theyre talking about THIS.
The hymns are everywhere the cult is. When the cult takes over an area, they bring in buses or put up poles with loudspeakers to blare their music and announce their presence. The Project at Edens Gate even has its own radio station, which can be heard blaring out of radios and car stereos all throughout Hope County.
I have to admit, when we first set out to do these hymns, my initial thought was that these would annoy players enough to want to kill the cult members so they could shut that music up, Gronick says. But as we delved deeper into it and started getting nicer recordings, and we started getting these beautiful songs done, all of a sudden I see people playing the game that switch to the cult radio station on purpose because they like the music now.
The hymns are so ubiquitous throughout the game world that the rest of the games ambient music which changes during combat, stealth, or exploration has been written to complement them.
Think of the music as a tree, and the hymns are the trunk, says Gronick. And from there the branches are action, when youre going into battle; stealth, when youre sneaking or hiding; open-world music, when theres no bad guys around and you might be talking to someone; and stingers, dun-dun-dun-dun.
The ambient music doesnt necessarily share the same melody with the hymns, Gronick says, because they might not sync up precisely, but theyre in the same key and fit the mood of whatever youre doing. Additionally, each of Hope Countys regions has its own interpretations of the music, with clear influences from different musical genres. For example, if youre exploring the Whitetail Mountains, the music has a dark, industrial edge, while the Holland Valley has a traditional Americana feel, with acoustic instruments and harmonies based on pop, dance, glam rock, and folk. The Henbane River, meanwhile, carries psychedelic, post-rock overtones, as well as hymns interpreted by the band Hammock. And if youre exploring in areas where theres no cult presence, youll hear bucolic, calm music with a lot of acoustic guitar, fiddle, and banjo.
Each region is also on the outer edge of a distant broadcast signal from a non-cult radio station, Gronick says, and these also accentuate each areas feel. I wanted it based on your favourite driving mixtape, just music that makes you feel good while youre driving, Gronick says. As an example, he plays a few brief snippets of songs youd hear in Holland Valley, a mix of familiar contemporary and classic rock radio hits. Youll also hear a lot of punk and metal in the Whitetail Mountains, and the Henbane Rivers ethereal mood is offset by 50s and 60s rock and doo-wop tunes.
And then theres the music of Clutch Nixon, a (fictional) 1970s daredevil whose accomplishments are carved into the Hope County landscape, and whose records youll be trying to beat in time trials and races.
This guy needed his own music, says Gronick, who hired a San Francisco band, the Road Vikings, to record a song to extol Clutchs many achievements, which youll be able to hear while youre trying to surpass them.
Far Cry 5s soundtrack will be available closer to the games launch on the 27th of February, 2018. In the meantime, find out more by checking out our previous Far Cry 5 coverage.
