Featuring Original Music Composed By Neal Acree

Varèse Sarabande will release the REVELATION – Original Game Soundtrack digitally on April 29 and on CD May 27, 2016.  The game features original music by Neal Acree (WORLD OF WARCRAFT, OVERWATCH).  The score earned the Global Music Award (Game Music and Original Score), the Scorecast Genius Choice Vote Award, and earned nominations for a Game  Audio Network Guild Award as “Best Instrumental” by the International Film Music Critics Awards for “Best Score: Video Game.”

“Having worked in both film and games I really enjoy projects like these where the line between the mediums is blurred,” said Acree.  “The score for REVELATION could easily have been a score for a film. Ultimately we are all telling stories and painting pictures with sound.  The viewer or the player might be experiencing these stories and places in different ways but the emotions we paint with are universal.”

REVELATION ONLINE, known in China as “TianYu,” is a Chinese themed fantasy MMO (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game) by NetEase, one of China’s top game companies.  The game features a mythology written by bestselling Chinese author Jiangnan.  REVELATION, already a popular game in China will be released in Europe and North America soon with a release date to be announced in the next month.

“The score for REVELATION called for a rich, cinematic sound but the game’s story and artwork called for a traditional Chinese palette,” Acree described.  “Orchestra blended with traditional Chinese and Japanese instruments was the natural approach and can make for some beautiful and evocative colors.  Each Chinese instrument has its counterpart in the Western orchestra but brings a unique character to the overall sound.  Combining the cinematic scope of the orchestra with the unique colors of the traditional Asian instruments helped create an otherworldly sound that existed somewhere between the two worlds that created it.”

Neal Acree is an award winning film, television and video game composer and conductor whose work includes the massively popular game franchises WORLD OF WARCRAFT, STARCRAFT 11, DIABLO III, OVERWATCH, shows like STARGATE SG-1, STARGATE ATLANTIS, WITCHBLADE and over 30 feature films. A versatile and prolific composer with roots in classical, rock and electronic music, Acree’s music has been recorded and performed by orchestras and choirs around the world, including the hit concert tour Video Games Live.

In addition to winning two Hollywood Music In Media Awards, a Golden Reel Award, six Game Audio Network Guild Awards and four Global Music Awards, Neal was also nominated for a BAFTA, four Academy Of Interactive Arts and Sciences Awards as well as numerous critic awards.  In 2014 Neal’s critically acclaimed, Asian themed music for WORLD OF WARCRAFT: MISTS OF PANDARIA would open a new door, this time to the East when Chinese game giant NetEase gave him the unique opportunity to write a traditional Chinese score for their fantasy MMO REVELATION ONLINE (one of the first times a Chinese game company had hired a Westerner to do so). Neal will be collaborating with NetEase on projects including IMPERIAL REIGN, WILDFIRE, and LEGENDS OF TIBET.

Writing the music for REVELATION was very personal for Acree, it was the last of his scores he was able to play for his father before he passed away.  Acree remembered, “His love of Chinese movies and culture was a way of life.  We studied martial arts together when I was a kid and he would go on to teach Tai Chi for over 20 years.  He was never a religious man but became a Buddhist later in life.  One of his lifelong dreams was to visit China so when I got to go for the first time and conduct, I felt like I was living his dream.”

Though he is not formally trained in Asian music, Acree often writes with an Asian palette. “The key to making the music sound genuine (aside from a lot of research) is to put it in the hands of musicians who truly understand their instrument and who grew up playing Chinese music,” Acree explained.  “Inviting the players to interpret the melodies through their own voices and experience opens up a new world of possibilities and gives the music a sense of authenticity that would be impossible to achieve otherwise.  The music of REVELATION wouldn’t be what it is without the talents of Tina Guo (cello solos), Karen Han (erhu), Bei Bei (guzheng), Jie Ma (pipa) and Uyanga Bold (vocals).  The best part about working with musicians like these is that it’s the best way to learn how to write for the instrument.”

Varèse Sarabande will release the REVELATION – Original Soundtrack digitally on April 29 and on CD May 27, 2016.