What does Datasette sound like?

Dystopian electronic ambient synths, this time rearranging classical themes.

The review of ‘Utopia Must Fall OST’ by Datasette

One of my favourite game discoveries of 2024 has been vector-based arcade game Utopia Must Fall. It is a take on Missile Command where you try to survive against alien attack for as many in-game days as possible. The retro 80’s vector graphic vibe reminds me of a neon-clad Cold War with old symbols and CRT screen effects making things feel of the nuclear age that the early 80s especially embued. A key part to selling Datasette’s game is his soundtrack.

Utopia Must Fall’s soundtrack is a dense, tense and purposely unsettling mixture of harsh ambient noises, florescent light twangs and unusual synth arrangements. It sometimes feels alien but is also incredibly melodic if you tune into it. ‘Re-Evaluate Your Priorities’ uses a twanging synth that plays an unusual melody that’s atonal and detunes itself as the echoes of each twang rings out. Underneath the melodic edges is a harsh winter of white noise and nuclear winter wind that oppresses the overall sound. Oppressive is the mood of this soundtrack through and through. ‘Never Give Up’ is a bustling cloud of rubbery synths that have been damaged. It sounds like the track is playing through a rubber tube and every tone of the main instrument has been hollowed out to its core. Occasionally keyboard synth pads gurgle up but the track is the definition of audio numbness. Cold, hollow, harsh and desolate. It is incredibly evocative.

‘The Illusion of Choice’ starts off a middle section of long 5 – 9 minute tracks. It is a filtered and disrupted ambient piece where the audio fix is twisting like a radio frequency running out of batteries. The song at times feels warm and inviting but the filter effects and dense production turns that warmness into vast emptiness. ‘Loss (Gayane Adagio)’ starts a theme of reinterpreting classical themes. Here the classical melody from Khachaturian is played using space organs. The organ is hiding in the mix as other sci-fi metallic synth pads drench and drown it. The whole song evokes an eerie clown and circus setting and as it sinks down the octaves like a broken record, it is quite creepy. This brings us to the title track ‘Utopia Must Fall (The Old Castle)’. This Mussorgsky track is probably the most melodic of the soundtrack. Its raspy Moogy sounds lead a kaleidoscope of glittering keyboards and washes of atmospherics. I feel like I’m trapped inside a planetarium watching the planet fall apart as part of a psychedelic sci-fi presentation. Philip Glass drank Kraftwerk here.

The nine-minute opus is saved for ‘End Times (Adagio in G Minor)’. This track opens with fire crackling, gunshots, harsh room sounds and distant war. Slowly glassy synths drip in like a tape-chewed Tetris theme sounding very out of place in the dark ambient sounds surrounding it. It acts like a stumbling lullaby as the world burns and Datasette explores how to crush, damage, twist and break down different sounds throughout the track. It is like a tannoy announcement after everyone has died.

The soundtrack then ends with its three shorter tracks. ‘Acceptance (Invention II in C Minor)’ is a plinky rubbery synth arrangement using thick Moog sounds. The playful pitch bend, the speedy precision of all the notes – it is like a curtain call for Planet Earth. The song is playful and beautiful though, even as the track slows down to its end. ‘Living Underground (Bydio)’ is far more oppressive and lethargic. The hues of Moog bass plod onwards like weary soldiers through CRT-damaged wirey synths and organs. There are moments of brightness and hope but they always fade away to regal decline. Datasette doesn’t give out bright moments often in this torched synthetic sky. He doesn’t let it poke through in the bouncy Moog-filled closer ‘Invaders (Invention IX in F Minor)’ either. A sister track to ‘Acceptance’, both could be found in a Tetris game or any Soviet setting. Militant and foreboding, it’s an appropriate conclusion to a dark soundtrack.

Datasette not only made the soundtrack, he made the game itself and when paired together, the total vision of this frantic apocalypse provides a magnificent experience for any arcade gamer. As a standalone soundtrack, Utopia Must Fall is evocative, uneasy, claustrophobic and unrelenting. Every song has a heavy burden – a weight to it. The Moog shines throughout and Datasette’s electronic skills are varied and mesmerising as each song paints a new version of hell. I’ve been meaning to bring back game soundtrack reviews to Higher Plain Music for some time. This soundtrack stands tall on its own merit and is the perfect springboard release to bring me back to writing about VGM again. Enjoyably oppressive.

Recommended track: Re-Evaluate Your Priorities

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