Thursday, May 18, 2017

MIDI Week Singles: "Fort Morn" - Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor (PC)


"Fort Morn" from Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor on Linux, OSX, PC, PS3&4, XBox 360&One (2014)
Composer: Nathan Grigg


What I like about this song, is that it takes a portion Tolkien's Ring Verse, uses the Black Speech of Mordor and turns it into a song that sounds like it could have been butchered together by the Orcs.  Although the biggest difference between that hypothesis and the music that Nathan Grigg here composed is that this actually sounds good, while I would be somewhat afraid to hear what Mordor Orc classify as music; thankfully their Goblin kin in the Misty Mountains at least have skills.

Something that I find a little disconcerting with "Fort Morn," and it is probably just additional testament to the song itself, is that I really do not like being in Fort Morn, one of the Orc strongholds in Mordor, and ho-boy do I hate anything that takes me into a stronghold.  Too many Orcs, not enough space, and too many Orcs.  Coupled with the ugliness of the black speech sung/chanted by Orcs, definitely makes Fort Morn one of my least favorite places to have to go.

Lastly, what impresses me with this, is that the composers of this soundtrack, Gary Schyman and Nathan Grigg (although I only noticed the use of the Black Speech in songs composed by Nathan Grigg) is that they used existing translations that were used in their songs.  I am happy that they did not try to create something that would go up against what Tolkien had already written, which I guess is basically what Monolith Productions did by creating the story for Shadow of Mordor, but there it is.



~JWfW/JDub/Jaconian

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