Silicon Knights’ cyber-opus Too Human reached for Valhalla but ended up getting dragged to Niflheim and back by the press, receiving a mediocre metacritic rating of 65 for its levelling and looting-centric gameplay.

But while Too Human the game has been damned to bowels of Norsian-hell, Too Human the score has been praised to high heaven, even receiving a nomination for “Best Original Video Game Score” from the Hollywood Music Awards alongside such media darlings as Uncharted, BioShock and Gears of War 2.

And if the endorsement of one verbally masturbatory press release is all it takes to convince you that this music is truly a gift from the gods, have I got good news for you! Too Human’s hour-long soundtrack, composed by Silicon Knights’ Steve Henifin and performed by the FILMharmonic Orchestra and Choir Prague, was released today, featuring a plethora of period instruments I have never heard of such as the Hardanger, Alpenhorn and Langeleik. It’s also chock full of Old Norse vocals “loosely based” on the Norse Eddur, ancient medieval poems about the epic exploits of dragonslayers, shieldmaidens and other heavy metal fantasy archetypes.

Silicon Knights says the music in the game “helps to evolve the player through tales of discovery, bloodlust, vengeance, and glory.” Here’s hoping it also helps make enough cash to keep Silicon Knights from having to plan another round of impromptu Viking funerals.