The official Rise of the Tomb Raider soundtrack releases for free - exclusive MoTR interview with composer Bobby Tahouri

With 4 days until the game's launch, Redwood City studio Crystal Dynamics has officially released the Rise of the Tomb Raider Original Game Soundtrack for streaming and download via SoundCloud. The music is the work of composer Bobby Tahouri and the full track list for the album can be found in MoTR's Community Discography. This audio gift signals a trend in fan treatment from Crystal Dynamics, following the full free release of the soundtracks to their most recent titles, Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris (2014, Wilbert Roget, II) and Lara Croft GO (2015, Square Enix Montreal/Pixel Audio). The next franchise pillar instalment is no exception it seems, despite the first commercial video game soundtrack release of the franchise accompanying 2013's Tomb Raider. Tahouri took an entire two years to complete the nuanced and sweeping score to Rise of the Tomb Raider:

"...the main goal is to try and figure out how best to musically support the narrative... There are so many cinematic moments in this game that just call for sweeping melodic treatment, but on the other end of the spectrum, you’ll hear plenty of ambient music to support whenever Lara needs to move with extreme care and caution... Composing the music for this game has been a dream job, and I’m looking forward to the fans playing it and experiencing the score."
- Bobby Tahouri

MoTR also had the pleasure of conducting a pre-release interview with Tahouri at the end of October, including community input, which we are able to publish today. The composer boasts numerous production credits on television and film work such as Game of Thrones and Iron Man. Tahouri takes over from established Tomb Raider (2013) composer Jason Graves - the Rise of the Tomb Raider soundtrack utilises "Lara's Theme" by Graves to maintain musical continuity for the rebooted franchise. While the soundtrack is a fixed representation, the game itself will feature procedurally generated music (effectively providing a dynamic soundtrack to each play-through), which Tahouri has elaborated on in our interview.

Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeah's was tasked with writing and performing an original song for Rise of the Tomb Raider, "I Shall Rise", which is too available from all good digital music retailers. Rise of the Tomb Raider releases November 10th on Xbox One and Xbox 360. Full PR via the official Tomb Raider blog. The complete interview and production credits are available after the jump below!

Bobby Tahouri composing Rise of the Tomb Raider soundtrack

Redwood City studio Crystal Dynamics, helming the development of Rise of the Tomb Raider, today announce Bobby Tahouri as the composer for the next instalment of the Tomb Raider series (full press via Xbox Wire). Tahouri's credentials include Game of Thrones, Iron Man and Despicable Me 2.

“It’s been an honor working on such a storied franchise. Lara is someone who embodies an indomitable spirit, and crafting music to accompany her on her journey has been a fantastic experience.” - Bobby Tahouri, Rise of the Tomb Raider composer

Tahouri takes the reigns from established Tomb Raider (2013) reboot composer Jason Graves. Tahouri will utilise Graves' new thematic motif for the franchise - "Lara's Theme" will carry over to Rise of the Tomb Raider in order to maintain musical continuity. Rise will feature procedurally generated music during combat and stealth segments, "using a middleware system licensed by Intelligent Music Systems, LLC". Unlike prior Tomb Raiders, said construct is to "analyse" Tahouri's compositions on the fly, effectively composing new music and providing a dynamic soundtrack to each play-through.

“Music is incredibly important in video games to help create the right atmosphere, mood and tone, and this is especially true for Rise of the Tomb Raider, which is set to be Lara’s biggest and boldest adventure yet. We love the sound Bobby brings to the game, and we’re excited for fans to join Lara in this adventure when the game launches.” - Rich Briggs, Crystal Dynamics brand director

Crystal Dynamics have also released a preview of the "Official Soundtrack" to Rise - possibly indicating the release of a commercial soundtrack for only the second time in the history of the Tomb Raider franchise. Download the track via Crystal Dynamics' official SoundCloud or take a listen below!

Rise of the Tomb Raider launches November 10th or 13th (territory-dependent), 2015 on Xbox One. PC and Playstation 4 versions are to follow in 2016. Crystal Dynamics promises additional pre-release media from their in-house audio team, "expanding on the unique soundtrack implementation" in Rise.

Rise of the Tomb Raider's dynamically adaptive soundtrack from unannounced composer showcased at Gamescom 2015

New gameplay footage of Rise of the Tomb Raider debuted at Gamescom, Cologne today as part of developer Crystal Dynamics' promotion for the upcoming franchise pillar installment. Amongst gorgeous string swells making set-piece reveals, like its predecessor, the soundtrack dynamically adapts to the player's situation. Throughout the demo the score can be heard to escalate when Croft's new focus on stealth is compromised, and again during fully-fledged combat. Percussion-based stingers occur at kills, blending seamlessly into the underlying track. Following the Siberian demonstration, a montage of Croft's journey in Syria is accompanied by a crescendo variation of Jason Graves' rebooted Lara's Theme.

The music is the work of a yet-to-be-announced composer, as Jason Graves departs the franchise following his critically acclaimed score for Tomb Raider (2013). At E3 earlier this year, Graves' theme made not only a notable return but a Western Asian variant of the motif (E #F B G F# E #D E) was heard in the "Bringing Lara to Life" feature. Crystal Dynamics have confirmed that the new thematic motif for Lara Croft as composed by Graves for Tomb Raider will feature to maintain musical continuity in Rise.

Rise of the Tomb Raider releases on Xbox One & Xbox 360 November 10th, 2015, with recently announced versions for PC due early next year as well as PlayStation 4 at the end of 2016.