The Pathless, by Austin Wintory

The Pathless

by Austin Wintory

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scarlett_jomanson I distinctly remember the feeling of booting up the game for the first time. I'd seen all the vlogs on Austin's channel, and listened to the music up to Cernos on the album, but I had no real context until starting to play the game. The second I saw the ivy covered title frame, I felt my blood run cold with ice, skin and hair raised, breath taken in anticipation of the journey that was about to come. Talk about setting the tone, man. Austin, you're without a doubt my favorite composer! Favorite track: None have Returned.

zoedoesmusic stumbled upon the "as noted" video for Cernos and oh my god the rest of the soundtrack is equally amazing Favorite track: Cernos.

Keith Prescott not only is the music masterfully written, wintory's concept of culture in music is so poignant here. this instrumental makeup feels at once familiar and unrecognizable, ancient and yet alive.

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Signed THE PATHLESS vinyl
Record/Vinyl + Digital Album
Courtesy of iam8bit (www.iam8bit.com), the full soundtrack to THE PATHLESS, signed by Giant Squid's founder and Creative Director Matt Nava, and me (Austin Wintory). Unsigned copies are also available via iam8bit's site (along with other physical retail!).

Shipping is a bit pricey on this to ensure high quality, insured shipping, with tracking numbers, since I don't have any replacement inventory. Shipment will begin when inventory arrives (hoping for Q1 2021)

Includes unlimited streaming of The Pathless via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

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1.	None have Returned 02:33 video		buy track
2.	A Shroud over the World 03:46		buy track
3.	Gateway 02:33		buy track
4.	From the Antlers 06:16		buy track
5.	Cernos 06:49		buy track
6.	An Empty Monastery 03:30		buy track
7.	The Redwood Steppe 03:22		buy track
8.	Echoes of the Pathfinder 03:51		buy track
9.	Sauro 07:53		buy track
10.	The Rain infects all Waters 05:53		buy track
11.	The Plains 04:06		buy track
12.	Nimue 07:50		buy track
13.	Do you not see that this world is broken? 03:09		buy track
14.	Into the Mountains 05:40		buy track
15.	The Cold has Cured all Generosity 05:52		buy track
16.	A Chill that Infests the Bones 03:16		buy track
17.	Kumo 06:16		buy track
18.	The Floating Isle 01:51		buy track
19.	Impetuous Beast 02:29		buy track
20.	The Path to Salvation 08:34		buy track
21.	A land, which was not my Own 04:36	lyrics	buy track
"I came to a land, which was not my own, which led me to a misted road. "Hамайг манан татсан зам руу хөтөлсөн, Би оорийнх биш газар луу ирэв." - - Down this road he calls to me, and yet Truth calls from beyond the fog" Энэ зам дагуу тэр над руу залгасан боловч, Унэн манангийн цаана дуудав. - - “Far from the path, I found my home below the earth. To gaze at you above, as you journey beyond the fog” "Замаас хол, гэрээ би газар доороос олов. Mанангаас цааш чи явахад, дээр байгаа чамруу харлаа." - - “We Fell for you” "Бид нар чиний төлөө амиа өгсөн."

about

Immediately on completion of ABZU, Director Matt Nava showed me some of his concept art for what was to be called THE PATHLESS. In every way, this was a more ambitious game than its predecessor, and the score ended up following suit. Musically, creatively, technically ... in every area, we tried to push past where we'd been and find something fresh. The result is a game and, I hope(!), a score which feels simultaneously ancient and familiar, yet utterly alien and new.

I've taken to calling it a "playable myth" as if Giant Squid has made a game out of the story we tell when describing an archetypal hero or character from a constellation. Yet there is no singular mythology it draws from. The seeds of the game and music both can be found all over the world.

It speaks to Matt's vision and especially the fact that, for all of the game’s grandeur and epic set pieces, the music is surprisingly intimate much of the time. As always with my writing, the performers are the heart and soul, but that's especially true in this case. Collaborating with the fabulous Tuvan trio of the Alash Ensemble yielded the backbone over which all the rest of the score is mounted. Between their effortless musicianship and the talents of the small army that followed them (104 musicians in total!), it might be fair to say that this is the most personally expressive score I've ever written.

I can't overstate my ongoing gratitude for the collaboration with Matt and Giant Squid. Their games are my dream projects and I only hope the music does justice to their outstanding work.

credits

released November 12, 2020

thepathless.com
Available now on PS4, PS5, the Epic Store and Apple Arcade.

Original Music Composed and Produced by Austin Wintory

Featured musicians:

The Alash Ensemble:
Bady-Dorzhu Ondar (vocals and igil)
Ayan-ool Sam (vocals and doshpuluur)
Ayan Shirizhik (vocals and murgu, shoor and kengirge)

Additional soloists:
Nyckelharpa: Morgan O’Shaughnessey
Dizi, xiao, bansuri, tin whistles, bamboo flutes and oboe: Kristin Naigus
Oud, lute, sitar: Tom Strahle
Double bass: Eric Snoza
Baritone violin: Paul Cartwright
Flute and alto flute: Amy Tatum
Bass clarinet: Andrew Leonard
Contrabassoon: Anthony Parnther
Viol de gamba: Malachai Bandy
Percussion: MB Gordy
Vocals: Uyanga Bold

Additional vocals: Psamathes
FX Vocals: Bastiaan Van Bentum
Additional guitar: Enoc Benitez
Additional guitar: Joel Finney
Additional percussion: Joshua Roberts
Bass Kazoo: Austin Wintory

Hunter Choir: Troy Baker, Scott Edgar, Adriana Figueroa, Steven Gates, Simon Hall, Caleb Hyles, Darren Korb, Malukah, Psamathes

Horn and percussion ensemble recorded at Abbey Road, Studio 2 (London, UK).
Conducted by Austin Wintory
Engineered by Jake Jackson
Contracted by Amy Stewart (Isobel Griffiths Ltd.)

Strings performed by the Macedonian Symphony Orchestra at FAMES recording stage (Skopje, Macedonia)
Conducted by Oleg Kondratenko

Textural chamber ensemble recordings performed by The Fifth House Ensemble (Chicago, USA)

Alash Ensemble recorded at John Kilgore Sound & Recording (New York City) and Bias Studios (Washington DC)

Orchestrations by Susie Seiter and Austin Wintory
MIDI prep: M.R. Miller
Music copyist: Steven Juliani Music

Score mixer and album mastering: Steve Kempster
ProTools recordist and music editor: Kevin Globerman
Assistant engineer: Matt Friedman

Digital album art direction: Cindy Liu
Vinyl album art direction: Elaine Lee

Special Thanks: Matt Nava and Giant Squid, Matt Fielding, Erica Ishijima, Annapurna Interactive, Sean Quirk, iam8bit, Peter Hollens, Joris Hoogsteder, Sarah Kovacs and Kraft-Engel Management, Dallas Crane, my amazing partner in SoundCrime Steve Green, my family and my muse, Angela Bermudez.

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Austin Wintory Los Angeles, California

25% (or more) of the income here is used to support the non-profit Education Through Music - Los Angeles (www.etmla.org).

Thank you for helping me support this extremely important organization!

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