Wilbert Roget, II releases additional Temple of Osiris music [U]

Update: Wilbert Roget, II has updated his Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris additional music collection with not only one but three previously unreleased tracks - "Set Awakens", "Scarab Attack" & "Osiris' Remains". The new tracks bring the total to six available for download via the composer's SoundCloud.

[Originally Posted 10th March 2015:]

Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris lead composer Wilbert Roget, II today releases three additional tracks from the award-nominated video game score. The 6 minutes of newly available music can be streamed or downloaded in uncompressed WAV format via Roget II's SoundCloud. Tracks include "Pyramid of Osiris" (the tutorial level music, by popular demand) and "Of Course It's A Trap", as well as "The Priests of Sobek" by assistant composer Paul Houseman. The release of a fourth track is planned.

The Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris original soundtrack was released for free by developer Crystal Dynamics across December 2014 and January 2015 as a thank you to fans. Details are in our Community-developed Discography. Today's release features a shiny new custom-type album artwork by specialist digital artist Javier Gasco. MoTR also had the pleasure of exclusively interviewing the talented Roget, II.

Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris soundtrack releasing for free - exclusive interview with lead composer Wilbert Roget, II

Redwood City studio Crystal Dynamics is set to officially release the Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris original soundtrack, composed by Wilbert Roget, II, in waves of eight tracks or so at a time throughout the months of December 2014 and January 2015. Eventually the entire album will be available for free via SoundCloud. The first few cues have been released today, to coincide with tomorrow's worldwide launch of the game on Xbox One, Playstation 4 & PC. Direct from the makers themselves, this is a gift of the first of its kind to the Tomb Raider community. The full track list for the album (also to be revealed in instalments) can be found in MoTR's Community Discography.

Wilbert Roget, II is the award-winning composer behind numerous projects such as indie titles Super Roman Conquest, Antiseptic and the MMORPG Star Wars: The Old Republic. He has assisted in-house production on many other titles for the now liquidated LucasArts. This year the composer freelanced simultaneously on both Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris and Dead Island 2. Crystal Dynamics has kindly offered MoTR an exclusive pre-release interview with the talent where Roget, II elaborates on his work for the digital Lara Croft title. Individual track notes are to feature on the Official Tomb Raider Blog, also following the interview below, the first of which is for the "Lara Croft Overture":

"The “Lara Croft Overture” presents Lara’s theme, performed on the English horn by Kristin Naigus. This was the first piece I wrote for the score, with the intention of creating a sonic guide for the rest of the soundtrack. I focused on showing the juxtaposition between Lara’s posh, educated British upbringing and her perilous archeological adventures. While most of this track intentionally steers clear of overtly Egyptian sounds, its ending introduces an Arabic flavor that characterizes the rest of the score." - Wilbert Roget, II

The complete dialogue and some exclusive production photos are available below, after the jump!

Rumour: Temple of Osiris soundtrack release in the works?

In regards to an official soundtrack release for the upcoming Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris, Redwood City studio Crystal Dynamics stated in an update today that there was "No news as of this moment". The Egyptian-themed score is being helmed by franchise newcomer and award-winning composer Wilbert Roget, II with additional assistance from Paul Houseman.

Crystal Dynamics Music Director of Tomb Raider and Audio Director on Temple of Osiris, Al Wilmer, recently teased such a release via Twitter (below). Be sure to let him know if you are interested!

Would you all like a Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris Soundtrack? :) @H4RR7H @WilbertRoget @phousemanmusic

— Alex Wilmer (@alwilmer) September 23, 2014

Roget, II and original legacy Tomb Raider composer Nathan McCree also conversed recently on Twitter; revealing the Temple of Osiris composer "had a wonderful time revisiting and studying" McCree's work, albeit required to present a "fresh" musical direction for the Lara Croft series.

Music for 2010's Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light consisted entirely of recycled tracks composed by Troels Folmann & Colin O'Malley (from Tomb Raider: Legend, Anniversary & Underworld). While Guardian of Light's soundtrack was not released, it would be a shame to see the more musically dedicated sequel debut unaccompanied as well. Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris is due on December 9th, 2014.

Wilbert Roget, II and assistant Paul Houseman composing Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris soundtrack [Updated]

While we've heard plenty of fresh Egyptian-style tunes from Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris in trailers and live demos thus far, the responsible composer is yet to be announced with an official press release from Redwood City studio Crystal Dynamics.

However, award-winning composer Wilbert Roget, II appears to have listed the sequel to 2010's Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light on his LinkedIn profile, with xblafans.com outing the talent in June. Cellist Sebastian Freij has also mentioned recording "arabic style cello playing" in-studio for the digital title.

Roget's works span numerous projects, having previously held the position of in-house composer for the recently liquidated LucasArts (Star Wars: The Old Republic). The composer's website indicates he is concurrently working freelance on Temple of Osiris and Dead Island 2. Guardian of Light's soundtrack consisted entirely of recycled music from Tomb Raider: Legend, Anniversary & Underworld, suggesting that the development approach to Temple of Osiris is more musically dedicated.

A soundtrack release for Temple of Osiris does not appear likely, as Guardian of Light received none (a community developed equivalent can be found in MoTR's discography). Yet 2013's Tomb Raider did mark the first commercially available soundtrack in the history of the video game franchise. There may be hope Crystal Dynamics & Square Enix do not dismiss the same treatment for the riveting new Egyptian themes Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris boasts, continuing the trend of music sales for the franchise's future.

Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris is due to be released worldwide on December 9th, 2014, for PC and next generation systems Xbox One and Playstation 4. Physical "Gold Editions" were announced today (unfortunately no mention of an enclosed soundtrack either). Jason Graves is expected to return for the upcoming 10th sequential pillar instalment Rise of the Tomb Raider (2015).

Update: Chris Greening from vgmonline.net has confirmed Wilbert Roget, II's attachment to Temple of Osiris. Additionally, the LucasArts alumnus has stated "I hired Paul Houseman as my assistant composer". A freelance team not dissimilar to Troels Folmann & Colin O'Malley; Houseman is a Finnish composer specialising in trailer music for film advertising campaigns. Feel free to visit his website too.