When you listen to the Chained Soldier soundtrack, you’d be forgiven for thinking this was composed by Hiroyuki Sawano. Heavy rhythms, epic-sounding strings, and that lingering grim atmosphere will do that to you. Those are the sorts of stylistic similarities you’ll get from Chained Soldier‘s composer Kohta Yamamoto. And maybe that’s not an accident because the two composers have collaborated quite a bit! They’ve worked together on anime like Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress and the final season of Attack on Titan.
The Chained Soldier anime itself is cut from a similar cloth. The story focuses on Yuuki Wakura, a young man who finds himself on the wrong side of a dimensional gate. On the other side of the portal, Yuuki encounters demonic monsters called Shuuki. He’s about to perish when he’s rescued by a woman named Kyouka Uzen. To defeat the Shuuki, Yuuki must form a contract with Kyouka which allows him to transform into a super soldier with a hardened exterior akin to a golem.
To facilitate this story, Kohta Yamamoto has put together a soundtrack that captures the anime’s setting and its action elements. For the setting, you have your fair share of tracks that paint a grim picture of the world through grindy, discordant electronica. And for the action, you’ve got quite a selection. There are plenty of pieces featuring heavy rhythms backed by a blend of strings and more electronica. Whether that’s used to sculpt heroic themes (like in “Paradigm Shift”) or more action-y fare is dependent on what the scene calls for. There are even metal tracks to whip the mood into a frenzy if that’s your kind of thing.
But above all, the similarities between Chained Soldier‘s soundtrack and something like Attack on Titan are pretty close. So in that regard, Kohta Yamamoto’s efforts have succeeded in echoing his collaborator’s style. If you’re already in the camp of folks who love Hiroyuki Sawano’s musical style and simply want more of it, Chained Soldier will be right up your alley.