Horror

Game Music

Taiwanese Horror Game Star Diffusion to be Composed by Weifan Chang

October 25, 2017 | Brenna Wilkes | Comments Off on Taiwanese Horror Game Star Diffusion to be Composed by Weifan Chang Share this

Now for some international horror game news for your Halloween season, Taiwanese game development company CELAD, Inc. has announced that the music of their new mobile sci-fi horror work Star Diffusion will be composed by the famous record producer Weifan Chang.

Star Diffusion is a top-down mobile game in development for release next year, putting you in the shoes of a man named Leonard who is investigating some strange goings-on on “Planet XENO” while also looking for his daughter’s whereabouts. The company’s producer, Fate Yaiba said he specifically chose Taiwanese composer Weifan Chang to compose Star Diffusion‘s music because of his particular style and knowing how crucial music was to the atmosphere of a good horror game.

“I love horror games, and always wear earphones while playing them. I eventually met Weifan Chang through serendipity, and his music impressed me very much. Therefore, when the development of “Star Diffusion” came to stage of music production, the first person I thought of was Weifan Chang.” – Fate Yaiba

Weifan has composed for Taiwanese games, television and film, including the film Lucretius and another horror game, Detention.

Star Diffusion will be featured in this year’s “G-STAR” show, which is the biggest game show in South Korea. The game will be released in 2018 for Android and iOS mobile platforms.
Game Music

The Evil Within 2 Original Soundtrack Available for Pre-Order

October 9, 2017 | Brenna Wilkes | Comments Off on The Evil Within 2 Original Soundtrack Available for Pre-Order Share this

Right in time for Halloween, the sequel to the 2014 survival horror-thriller The Evil Within will be having it’s soundtrack dropping on the doubly-spooky date of Friday the 13th!

The Evil Within 2‘s music was composed by Masatoshi Yanagi and Shuichi Kobori (Metal Gear Solid 3), both of whom worked on the original Evil Within game alongside composer Masafumi Takada. Although Takada seems to be absent from composing the sequel, there’s plenty of experience between Yanagi and Kobori to instill a good amount of hope for a return to the creepiness that was delivered in the first game’s music.

The 55-track soundtrack also features classic pieces from Pyotr Tchaikovsky and Claude Achille Debussy, which mimics the original game’s decisions to invoke unease through classic compositions; a common theme in more modern horror gaming.

The Evil Within 2 Original Soundtrack is published by Bethesda Softworks and available for pre-order on Amazon Music for $8.99, with the release date of the album being October 13th; the same as the game itself. It will likely also be available in iTunes and Google Play after it’s official release, and we will be sure to update you if and when it does.
Game Music

Check out the Creepy Cadence of I Can’t Escape: Darkness

February 8, 2016 | Brenna Wilkes | Comments Off on Check out the Creepy Cadence of I Can’t Escape: Darkness Share this

If you’re like I am and are really into mindscrew gaming with equally chilling music accompanying it, then I suggest you check out the indie title by Fancy Fish Games I Can’t Escape: Darkness and its soundtrack. Recently released on Youtube by the game’s composer Chase Bethea is his detailing of the game and how he went about creating the sound and music to compliment the psychological horror aspects surrounding the gameplay, which focuses on exploring and ultimately trying to escape a creepy mysterious dungeon with untold abominations potentially around every turn.

Watching the video and listening to Chase talk about how he crafted the music around how the gameplay works and trying to keep it just distracting enough for the player is fascinating and gives some interesting perspective towards how good psychological thriller gaming is constructed. Taking inspiration from games akin to I Can’t Escape: Darkness, such as Tomb Raider and Silent Hill and layering on top of those, Bethea goes into detail about how he added retro elements to the game’s score to create a unique experience.

<a href="http://chasebethea.bandcamp.com/album/i-cant-escape-darkness">I Can’t Escape : Darkness by Chase Bethea</a>

I Can’t Escape: Darkness is currently out on Steam (Even on sale right now thanks to the Lunar New Year sale!) and something worth checking out, especially after watching this mini documentary regarding its music. It’s always fascinating going into the background of game’s music composition and the creativity the composers draw from and how it affects what they create. You can also grab the game’s music on Bethea’s Bandcamp page.
Game Music

Halloween VGM Arrangement Album Wrap-up

November 1, 2015 | Brenna Wilkes | 1 Comment Share this Halloween VGM Arrangement Album Wrap-up

Every Halloween, you can always expect a a good assortment of spooky-themed game music arrangement projects released to ring in the holiday season. Some sneak out right on the celebratory day itself and capitalize on all your October 31st activities. Here’s a few you may have missed:

Vampire Variations III

The third installment of the Castlevania-tribute project, VV3 dedicates itself to covering the entirety of one of the longer Classicvania OSTs, Super Castlevania 4. Backed by Overclocked Remix and directed again by Alexandre “Chernabogue” Mourey, the album features two disks and 24-tracks spanning the Super Nintendo title. You can grab the album free on the OCRemix page – Vampire Variations III.

Danse Macabre IV: Survival of the Fittest

Another sequel to a previously-created series of arrangement albums, the first three Danse Macabre albums were directed by Erik “Viking Guitar” Peabody and featured arrangements of horror-themes from across multiple media platforms such as movies and TV along with games. This time directed by Big Mat Attacks, Danse Macabre IV keeps itself contained to video game music only, touching upon themes from Clock Tower, FNaF and multiple Silent Hills. The album is Name Your Price and has a good lineup featured. (Disclaimer: I did volunteer the album artwork and won’t be receiving any compensation other than maybe a ‘Hey, that looks neat!”)

Notte Breve

A mini-album by tibone, Notte Breve features four tracks from Silent Hill, Ghosts ‘n Goblins, Ghost House and Alien Storm done up in a rock and progressive metal genre and only $1 for all. “The season have changed, there’s a chill in your spine, an uneasyness that grows bigger as the time passes. And one short night can change it all. ”

Did we miss some albums? What were your favorites? Let us know in the comments!
Game Music, Indie Music

The Vanishing of Ethan Carter OST Available and Awesome

February 5, 2015 | Brenna Wilkes | Comments Off on The Vanishing of Ethan Carter OST Available and Awesome Share this

If you didn’t notice already, Sumthing Else Music has finally released the full original soundtrack for the haunting indie game The Vanishing of Ethan Carter.

This was a soundtrack that I put on my list of Top OSV’s of 2014 and with good reason. Composed by Polish musician Mikolai Stroinski (The Witcher 3, Dark SoulsTrailer), the music of the game fits the atmosphere and pacing well and creates an eerie and ethereal feel to the subtle horror of the game, earning it Best Audio at the 15th Annual Game Developers Choice Awards as well as several other nominations. Fans of Silent Hill and Gone Home will no doubt easily find something they like about The Vanishing of Ethan Carter‘s soundtrack.

The complete album spans a bit under 50 minutes at $9.99 or $0.99 per each of the 17 tracks. Do yourself a favor and go pick it up if you haven’t already.

Sumthing Else Music

Amazon Music

iTunes
Featured, Game Music, Reviews

Graveyard Grooves with The One Ups New Album (review)

October 25, 2014 | Brenna Wilkes | Comments Off on Graveyard Grooves with The One Ups New Album (review) Share this

It’s that time of the year when creepy music is what’s blaring on everyone’s stereos, be it from games, movies, television or what have you. Halloween is perfect for that niche portion of those who love all manner of spooky and scary to really indulge in the excessive amounts of what the season has to offer. What equally great about this time of year is that you usually get at least one new album from a band or group that focuses squarely on horror and scary-themed music, and The One Ups have decided to be the forerunner this season with Songs for the Recently Deceased.

This album features an assortment of tunes from a variety of games that are either fully immersed into the spooky and the horrific, or select stages that sport a creepy feel and fall into the category. It’s not just your Resident Evils and your Silent Hills, either; though they do make appearances. And of course, everything sports that smooth and chill tone that The One Ups are known for dishing out in high quality. So sit back, relax and let your brain switch to the mellow macabre.

(more…)
Game Music, Reviews

All Up In My Head: Lone Survivor OST (Review)

April 11, 2012 | Patrick Gann | Comments Off on All Up In My Head: Lone Survivor OST (Review) Share this

I cannot get over the level of genius and creativity that comes from these one-man indie production teams. Among them, I’ve really come to love the work of Superflat Games (essentially, Jasper Byrne). Last year we reviewed the soundtrack for his stellar, free Flash game Soul Brother. That was a funky drum-n-bass kind of album, like a mix of Daft Punk and other forms of avant garde Euro-pop. In sharp contrast, we have the soundtrack for Byrne’s latest project.

Lone Survivor is a psychological horror / survival sim, and the game itself is excellent, I assure you. As for the music? Well, that’s why we’re here.

Find out about the soundtrack for Lone Survivor, including how to get it, after the jump! (more…)