Yeah, I still don't have a lot of amazing ideas for new Doom musings, but might as well finish off the IWAD soundtrack rankings with Evilution. I'm sure it was necessary anyways. With that said, do not expect me to repeat my opinion on the Bobby Prince tracks, since they have already appeared in Doom II and I will only cover stuff from Tom Mustaine, L.A. Sieben, Jonathan El-Bizri, and Josh Martel.
16. Untited text screen music
This is Josh Martel's only contribution to the Evilution soundtrack. Sadly, it's honestly pretty forgettable; I'm sure I've never really heard this text screen music outside of Evilution itself. It tries to be broody and creepy, but other songs in this IWAD work way better. Plus it's only five seconds long! Josh never really contributed much to the Doom community of old besides this track as well as one PWAD level, but he did manage to create the Heretic version of DEU. That was probably his best achievement.
15. TNT Title
I have no idea if that's the title of the title music or not. If so, well it could have been better. Then again, it could have been worse. In any case, unlike the Bobby Prince title music, this one is supposed to get the player's blood pumping. Why else would you boot up Final Doom after having finished Doom II? You're going in for carnage man! Gotta start with some music to get you going!
14. Into The Beast's Belly
I never did like this track. Very action-oriented, as if it beckons you to continuously deal with loads of enemies. I guess it works well for certain maps, like Kama Sutra MAP31, and maybe even Evilution's Mount Pain given how many monsters you face there. Maps like Last Call? Not so much, especially the middle of that map. And not counting the title tracks or text music, this has to be the shortest track ever, clocking in at just over one minute. Expect it to loop several times in the bigger maps.
13. Smells Like Burning Corpse
Another heavy action-paced track, but it fairs better than Into The Beast's Belly with a much better melody. So even at the lesser action-packed moments you could appreciate this track a bit more. That being said, this track's volume control changes are a bit problematic, so if your MUS reader cannot read the values, the song may be broken.
12. Let's Kill At Will
Not counting any of the title/intermission/text music, this has the least mileage out of every single IWAD track. I vaguely recall one wad that had this track, but I cannot remember the name. Nevertheless, this track only appeared once in Evilution, and it has some interesting melodies in it. The guitar parts are quite quirky, and a bit all over the place. Jonathan's tracks tend to do that, as you might expect with this as well as Soldier of Chaos or Blood Jungle.
11. Infinite
Tom Mustaine often went with low-toned guitar notes with his Evilution tracks. Infinite seems to live up to its name with how those tones seem to drone on. Quite atmospheric on the onset at least, but I always thought of this as his weakest track overall. Best to focus on the little itty bitty beats at times for this one.
10. Soldier of Chaos
Not the most popular of tracks, but I always found it one of the more interesting ones. Soldier of Chaos has neat drum beats, then the ambience kicks in well. Jonathan's instrumentation hits a key quirk with the synth solo that is quite all over the place. Actually scratch that. The whole song is quirky. But I can appreciate its quirkiness in certain Doom maps at times. Why else does it have that title anyways, am I right?
9. AimShootKill
The last of the original tracks that gets played in Evilution (because the rest are either Doom II tracks or revisit some of the other tracks from before this). A simple riff from Tom, on repeat, but it does its job well, adding variations to the overall melody and doesn't feel dissonant in any level it's in. Okay, Habitat probably isn't the best way to introduce AimShootKill, considering its infamy, but whatever.
8. Cold Subtleness
Jonathan really wants you to understand that he takes his track titles seriously. While the bass riff isn't cold or subtle, the synth certainly kicks in and tells you that yes, there's gonna be that feeling of cold subtleness, and by god he wants you to feel it. The strange little synth riff that follows adds quirkiness to the track but doesn't detract from the feeling at all.
7. Blood Jungle
Welcome to the jung...oh right. Jonathan's quirkiest track for sure. I know I use that word with his music tracks a lot but their quirkiness works out in the end anyways. Definitely has the atmosphere going well for Deepest Reaches and a bit for Ballistyx as well. One of the more atmospheric tracks and definitely works well even when the settings aren't necessarily "jungles".
6. More
This honestly sounds like one of the more standard-sounding Doom tracks, but the sound works. Tom goes with a few riffs and builds variations as he goes along, creating one of his better ones with this brooder of a track. It can fit just about anywhere without issue. The title is pretty funny given how much more instrumentation is in the other tracks not written by Tom.
5. Agony Rhapsody
Now THIS is an incredibly atmospheric and spooky track. I sort of wish Bobby Prince would do something like this, but L.A. Sieben nails it spectacularly. The spooky sounding riff just drones in the best way possible. It fits perfectly for more horror-themed levels and gets a lot more coverage than one might think.
4. Sadistic
The title is dumb, but this'll likely be the second music track for starting Evilution players in a level that gets the blood pumping right away. What better way to enhance a level that straight up gives you a berserk pack than a fast-paced rocking music track? Seriously, talk about hitting it out of the ballpark. And it works in the frantic Stronghold too.
3. Death's Bells
Probably the most famous Evilution track, this one wanted to let you know just how regal it sounded. And by god it definitly is memorable due to its melody and all the little variations in it. The drums kick in, the bells kick in, everything that kicks in lets you know that this is how Evilution's music is unique. This track gets a lot of mileage as a result.
2. Horizon
The best Tom Mustaine track. It's no secret Doomguy is supposed to be seen as a militaristic individual, so having this track with a nice military drum beat helps that point. It's also no secret that the Doom games emphasize horror and spookiness, so this track has to sound brooding and creepy. And Tom combined the best of both worlds here. It's a shame this track only got played once, it's absolutely worth it!
1. Legion of the Lost
The number one spot goes to Jonathan El-Bizri, who's best track is interestingly enough his least quirky. Legion of the Lost is quite ambient compared to the rest of the pack of Evilution tracks, but its serene sounds make this track feel different in a great way. It provides the atmosphere with great orchestration and harmony, and works well both as the intermission music and for the otherworldly locale that is Pharoah. It's no wonder this track seemed to have more remixes on it than the others. Just play THT: Threnody, there's quite a few Legion of the Lost remixes to find there!
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