Hans Zimmer dropped what could be considered the hottest single of the fall (in certain very small circles) by unveiling the main theme of Dragon Age: The Veilguard on his official YouTube channel yesterday. And today, the track is accessible for streaming on “all major music services,” as per a BioWare news release that confirms Zimmer collaborated with frequent collaborator Lorne Balfe in composing the entirety of Veilguard’s soundtrack.
Zimmer (known for works like Batman Begins and Dune), along with Balfe (from Assassin’s Creed: Revelations and Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves), has had credits on numerous video game soundtracks, starting with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. This will mark the first time Zimmer has joined a video game project since FIFA 19 in 2018.
The main theme itself is powerful, ominous, and repetitive (one can envision it as the menu music). However, as the featured track reveals, its melody is flexible enough to remain distinct through changes in instrumentation and between major and minor keys, which is crucial for tugging at the player’s heartstrings during crucial moments. It’s not the first piece of Zimmer and Balfe’s Veilguard work to reach the public, though.
That distinction goes to a spooky track hidden within Dragon Age Selections From the Video Game Soundtrack, a box set of four vinyl records featuring music from the Dragon Age games that BioWare released in May of last year. Hidden at the end of a disc of music composed for DLC for Dragon Age: Origins and Dragon Age: Inquisition is “D’read Koda,” a quick, atmospheric soundscape credited to Zimmer and Balfe. D’read Koda might have a meaning in one of Dragon Age’s various fantasy languages, but it could just as well be a play on “Dreadwolf” (the name Veilguard was using at the time) and “coda” (the musical term for, essentially, the part at the end).
According to the BioWare news release, fans will be able to pre-order the official Veilguard soundtrack starting on October 18 on iTunes and Amazon Music. The album will be released on November 1, one day after the October 31 release of Dragon Age: The Veilguard itself.