: I poke my head back in here every once in a while to see what, if anything,
: people are discussing, especially with Halo Infinite's upcoming release.
: Apologies if I missed any posts already discussing the music.

: The soundtracks to CE, 2, and 3 evoke very specific feelings in me, even to
: this day. Nostalgia, awe, excitement, and a feeling of "being
: home" (as sappy as that sounds.) ODST and Reach are wonderful in
: their own right, but are different to me than the classic sounds of the
: original trilogy. 4 and 5 were alright, and I enjoyed them for what they
: were, but they just weren't on the same level as those original
: soundtracks.

: But, wow, what I have heard so far for Infinite sounds wonderful. The 3
: videos below are all that's available so far, apart from the ambient
: sounds from the gameplay demo. This music is hitting me deep and evoking
: those same feelings, something that no other music has done for me. That
: alone is enough to make me excited for the game, not to mention I have
: really dug what has been shown so far of the game, concerns about visuals
: notwithstanding. Color me overly optimistic, but I am pretty darn excited
: for Infinite.

: What about y'all?

: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gESYyh_tsGA

: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBvWZjoW06k

: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQtYNjxdZRU

We published a deep dive into the music thus far and their composers last year that might be in your wheelhouse: http://www.forwarduntodawn.com/a-score-of-questions-halo-infinite-music/

I definitely get the sentiment you feel, and it's a pretty important part of Halo. I actually think Halo 4 did a good job at bringing back the alien feel to Halo that had dissipated over the years of getting used to the Forerunners, although I also felt it was weaker than O'Donnell-Salvatori's work in terms of the more cinematic music, and also suffered from jettisoning too much of the franchise's historical legacy.

I'm concerned Infinite might take the opposite tack and hew too closely to classic melodies, but at the very least the samples given demonstrate some nice orchestration and the old sounds leavened with some new touches that are promising.

Congrats on the marriage and kids, btw.