Start a War (2018) by Entropy Zero - Album Review

Start a War is the 10 track debut album for composer Maks SF under his Entropy Zero name. Previously he was written music for video games and commercials, he describes the music of Entropy Zero as 'sounds of war blended with heavy industrial and electronic music'. If I had to sum up the sound of this album it would be that it sounds like a collection of boss battle video game music. I always have to preface by saying I don't consider myself well versed in music, so everything I put here is from my own personal viewpoint and not based on knowledge of the subject.

First track Eliminate is a statement of intent for the album and does sound remarkably like boss battle music you would find in a game. This is the style that permeates the whole of Start a War with the majority of the tracks all sounding kind of similar but with different flourishes to them to set them apart. Second track War Machine features trailer composer Cliff Lin (Nuclear Winter), while third track Dancing Body of the Dead has elements of dub-step to it that sounded like it would be right at home in DmC: Devil May Cry. This track was an early favourite. Constant Domination, Reloading, Fire in the Hole, and Decimation all are high energy, and good in their own right, but variations on a theme, Party With The Devil stood out with its Mortiis type heavy industrial drumming. Penultimate track Unstoppable injected some drum and bass into the sound which went perfectly with the fast pace. Finally it is up to Crimson Sunrise to close things out. This is a much slower track than the rest with a nice Nine Inch Nails feel to it. It is also the very best track on the album, it was a strong epic finish to Start a War.

There isn't a single track on this album that doesn't sound like it would be an odd fit for any type of battle music, personally I felt that there were a few in the middle that all sort of melded into one in my head. There were some stand out tracks though with Crimson Sunrise being the most interesting one. It is the problem I always have with instrumental soundtrack albums in that the tracks are too short for my liking, just as it gets going the track usually ends, with an average length of around two minutes per track and an overall play time of 22 minutes I was always left wanting more, in general though I do like to get lost in tracks, especially when there is a music beat that I really enjoy. Entropy Zero's Start a War was released 9th February, it can be brought or streamed from a variety of locations, check here for details, is worth a listen.

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