Out of the North was a seven-track preview release that dropped ahead of Assassin's Creed Valhalla's launch, giving fans an early taste of the score's sonic identity. It works almost like an overture, carefully selecting pieces that represent the game's dual settings: the Norwegian homeland and the English frontier.
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The title track "Out of the North" opens with the sweeping grandeur you would expect from a game about a Viking migration, building from a solitary vocal line into a full orchestral statement of purpose. "Holmgang" stands out as one of the collection's most visceral pieces, named after the Old Norse tradition of formalized dueling.
The track captures that ritual intensity with driving percussion and aggressive string ostinatos that mirror the one-on-one combat encounters scattered throughout the game. "Kingdom of Wessex" shifts the atmosphere entirely, painting Alfred the Great's territory with a more classically English orchestral palette, all regal brass and ecclesiastical undertones.
"The Tree of Life" and "The Guardian" provide the album's contemplative center, likely scoring some of the game's mythological or spiritual sequences, while "Hrafnsmál - The Words of the Raven" closes things with Einar Selvik's distinctive Old Norse vocal stylings.
As a pre-release sampler, Out of the North did exactly what it needed to do: it proved that Valhalla's score would take its setting seriously and that the collaboration between Jesper Kyd, Sarah Schachner, and Selvik was going to produce something special.