Big organ chords tell of Archimedes’ cunning and base hunger despite his lofty position among the reining government. “Archimedes, Left Hand of the Civilized” is full of pathos and features a solo violin played by Eli Bishop, with a gypsy twang evocative of a romantic cadenza. Here, the swooping French horns, the close harmony in the trombones and the dramatic modulation at the 2 minute mark are all particularly enjoyable. “The Waltz of the KSR” features some brilliant brass playing from John Robert Matz (composer of Fossil Echo). It is reminiscent of Ives’ “Country Band”. It’s wonky sort of waltz, more like a drunken colliery band than the powerful force than it should be. The KSR appear to be depicted as a stereotyped German force, upholding the façade of success while struggling to maintain order as the revolution unfolds. “The Quartermaster of the KSR” features brass as the main instrument family, with a plodding tuba underpinning the whole arrangement. It’s a quirky and stompy march in 6/8, set off perfectly with rattly percussion to evoke the Southern Italian style. “Bellafide’s Tarantella” is in D Phrygian and features a huge array of woodwinds, courtesy of Kristin Naigus. This creates a very comical effect when combined with the bassoon. The piece has a strong marching beat but also has something of an oompah feeling about it. “Bellafide, Firebrand of the Longcoats” has the bassoon leading the melody with pizzicato strings, guitar and percussion supporting. Coupled with Korb’s signature mix of synths and electro-rock drums, this makes for a great trip-hop track. “Anthem of the Commonfolk” written by Darren Korb (composer for SuperGiant Games – Pyre, Transistor and Bastion) follows this same path, although here we get a strong flavour of Spain with the Albeniz-style guitar writing. The use of compound time creates a pastoral feel but the piece is also full of little dissonances and an exotic minor 9th Phrygian tonality that give the music a distinctly ‘Soviet’ edge. Beginning with a Russian-esque chant, as all of these anthems do, the track then features various plucked string instruments such as zither, guitar, and mandolin, plus a fair bit of percussion. “Hopper, Flagbearer for the Commonfolk” is full of the hope and energy of revolution. All of these pieces are imbued with heavy tones of nationalism that bear more than a little resemblance to a few real-life countries. In addition to this, there are character pieces reserved for each faction’s flag bearer: Hopper for the Commonfolk, Bellafide for the Longcoats, the Quartermaster of the KSR, and Archimedes of the Civilized. Wintory makes great use of this revolutionary theme, particularly in the anthems for each faction, all of which feature drunken male Russian chanting full of the energy of the mess hall. Tooth and Tail centres around the theme of revolution, with the Longcoats and the Commonfolk teaming up to bring down the KSR and the dictatorship of the Civilized. Of particular note is Wintory’s use of solo fiddle and nylon string guitars, with a large amount of space and energy presented in the recordings. This is a fairly healthy duration, given the length of the battles, and the multiplayer mode offers a huge array of options for online and offline, including 1v1, 2v2 or even 4-player free for all!Īs is always to be expected with a score from Austin Wintory (known for his work on previous Pocketwatch game Monaco, as well as Journey and ABZU), the music for Tooth and Tail features some beautiful idiomatic writing, both in terms of genre and in the various idiosyncrasies of the instruments. Then take your enemies home for dinner – not in a good way.Ī competent player can expect roughly 8 hours of play before completing the campaign mode. The aim is to build and control your armies to ensure victory. You play as one of four flag bearers representing the four warring factions: the Longcoats, the Commonfolk, the KSR, and the Civilized. It is a bit of a revelation for the genre, with only one simple aim: eat or be eaten. A bite-sized strategy game with skirmishes lasting around the 10 minute mark, this is a very different beast to the likes of Command and Conquer or Total War. Tooth and Tail from Pocketwatch Games is a super quick real-time strategy game, featuring a raucous and folksy soundtrack from Austin Wintory and superb sound effects from Power Up Audio.
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