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The Battlezone II Music Pack was released by Nathan Mates and Carey Chico on 8th July 2011, after the latter was reached out to by a fan and subsequently recovered an assortment of tracks created, but never used, for Battlezone II. The 176MB pack contains a total of 34 .MP3 files; twelve of these were used by the original game (eight in the Battlezone II Soundtrack, four used during cutscenes), while the remaining twenty-two tracks were removed due to style changes or disc space concerns.[1][2]

Track listing[]

Track Description Audio
Early_Ambient_CORE A very sparse track with occasional and heavily delayed percussive samples.
Early_Ambient_MIRE Lots of samples of jungle fauna, with low ambient synths and sparse tribal percussion.
Early_Ambient_MIRE1 Similar to the above track at first, though with no fauna samples and a much greater amount of percussion that lend it a faster tempo.
Early_Ambient_REND Mysterious ambient synth sounds and pulsing percussion and a three-note woodwind hook that is later used in the Scion tracks.
Early_bzcore1 A fast percussion- and bass-heavy track with a smooth synth lead. A significant departure from the ambient and orchetral styles.
Early_bzmire1 Driven by both tuned and rhythmic percussion that changes dramatically several times. Recognisable as the source of the shell music for the mod Forgotten Enemies, though parts of the track were included and unused in Battlezone II's assets.[3]
Early_bzpluto1a Carried and driven entirely by pitched percussion, with sparse ambient sounds in the background. Builds up with a bass and chord pad, then drops back down to the feel of the earlier ambient tracks.
INTRO The soundtrack to Battlezone II's intro. Features a full orchestra, swelling from woodwind and strings to include brass and percussion sections, and a piano. Introduces several hooks used by later tracks.
isdf_2 "Barrack Waltz". Not a waltz. Spare percussion, with piano, strings and soft brass over the top.
isdf_3 "Scion Encounter". Faster, with repetitive percussion and a synth loop in the background and strings, piano and choir in the foreground.
isdf_4 A soft, slow and mournful march with greater emphasis on strings than the other ISDF tracks. A choir and soft brass section pick up the melody a third of the way in and an ornate piano part is introduced in the second half before the track drops back down to strings and brass.
isdf_5 A percussion part similar to the shell music and a soft brass melody with one of the themes used throughout the soundtrack. Builds triumphantly about half-way through before dropping back to breathy woodwind, plucked strings and triangle.
isdf_6 "Drive the Rush". An action track with synths, fast percussion and a background choir. String stabs start apparing half-way through.
isdf_7 "Weather the Storm". A march with a repetitive piano, ethereal choir and plucked strings.
isfd_outro The music from the ISDF ending cutscene. Heavy and ominous bass brass builds before giving way to a triumphant string part which becomes less certain and changes to a minor key. Finishes on a fanfare with the opening brass section and a piano line.
scion_1 "Through Marsh and Mire". Much more tribal than the ISDF tracks. Starts out with percussion and choir and builds to include a choir and string/brass sections.
scion_2 "Body Hammer". Features a steel-drum-like synth and repetitive string hooks throughout.
scion_3 "Strike at Core". An action track with ambient background, bright percussive synths and woodwind parts.
scion_4 Gentle tribal percussion and a quiet choir part. Much softer than other Scion themes. A brass line re-uses the theme from the intro but changes its resolution.
scion_5 "Stalking a Sentry". A more tribal track with lots of percussion and string pads.
scion_6 Features much more use of synthesised instruments than other tracks. Makes use of themes from both the ISDF and other Scion tracks but resolves both differently. Also makes use of plucked string sounds Chico would later use in Call to Power 2, but that do not appear anywhere else in Battlezone 2's soundtrack.
scion_outro The soundtrack to the Scion ending cutscene. Builds up slowly to a triumphant crescendo, with full string, brass and choir sections and a harp and resolves the main theme in a major key.
Unused_isdf_old4 Has a very different feel to the other tracks due to its stop-start nature. The chordal and rhythmic patterns are largely similar to isdf_2; the track as a whole feels like a stripped down version, which likely explains why it was not used.
Unused_isdf_old5 A slow, atmospheric track that, like many of the other unused tracks, recapitulates the themes from tracks that did make the cut in a more stripped-down form. Parts of this track sound particularly similar to the intro score.
Unused_isdfold_4 Despite its name, a different track to Unused_isdf_old4. Contains several clear sections from both the intro and earlier tracks, and also contains a piano section.
Unused_pluto_old For the most part sounds very similar to the intro track, though with slightly lighter instrumentation and a great deal of variation in the second half.
Unused_scion_old1 Features a much more prominent piano part with accompanying choir and strings that drop out half way through.
Unused_scion_old3 Contains themes from both the ISDF and Scion tracks, using a key change to add dissonance. A deep brass bass line appears towards the end of the track.
Unused_scion_old4 Starts off with a synthesiser line which continues throughout, with the introduction of a choir and tense strings. Introduces some variation on the ISDF main theme, which eventually develops into a theme of its own.
Unused_scion_old5 Returns to the feel of the early ambient tracks, with woodblock percussion and occasional piano line. Also introduces a slow string theme, building to a triumphant brass line before subverting it again.
Unused_scionnew_1 Synthesised percussion and jungle fauna samples start, with tribal percussion and bass brass pattern coming in shortly after. An ethereal string line carries over the top and resolves with a series of brass-augmented chords.
Unused_scionnew_2 Starts off with tense strings and percussion, particularly similar to scion_3. Brass and string parts are introduced playing complementing themes parts, and brass stabs reminiscent of earlier pieces appear towards the end.
Unused_scionnew_4 Very similar to scion_6, though this track builds much earlier and does not carry the same alien feel.
wormhole2 A very simple track consisting of string stabs and a rising brass theme used for the Wormhole sequence.

Other Tracks[]

Despite the release notes' claims that the pack contains every piece of music Chico wrote for Battlezone II, several files have since been released on his website.[4] Also present on the site are a clipped version of INTRO (with no metronome at the beginning) and the isolated second part of Unused_scion_old1.

Name Description Audio
13_hardcore_dnb
Orchestral (20)
beat6
drumnbass (2)
techno (2) Used in the trailer.

Trivia[]

  • The track "isdf_1" is missing from this collection, but is present in the soundtrack.
  • The release notes erroneously note several unreleased tracks as having been included with the game.
  • The tracks "scion_4" and "scion_6" were reintroduced to Battlezone: Combat Commander shortly before release when it was discovered several Scion maps referred to music tracks that had not previously existed in the game files.

References[]

  1. Battlezone II Music Pack Released on Matesfamily.org
  2. Battlezone II Music Pack, Battlezone II Music.pdf
  3. Battlezone II, data.pak
  4. News on careyjamesmusic.com, archived 2013-09-03
Battlezone Series
Games Battlezone (Battle Grounds · The Red Odyssey · Rise of the Black Dogs · Gold Pack) · Battlezone II: Combat Commander
Remasters Battlezone 98 Redux (Battlezone 98 Redux: The Red Odyssey · Battlezone 98 Redux: Odyssey Edition)
Soundtracks Battlezone (The Red Odyssey · Rise of the Black Dogs · Early Test Soundtrack) · Battlezone II (Battlezone II Music Pack)
Demos Battlezone (Instant Action · The Red Odyssey) · Battlezone II
Strategy Guides Battlezone · Battlezone II
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