Scary

Software

Sound Spooky Like Justin Lassen: White Rabbit Asylum Released

June 25, 2010 | Jayson Napolitano | Comments Off on Sound Spooky Like Justin Lassen: White Rabbit Asylum Released Share this

We’re huge fans of Justin Lassen’s work in games and film. From his work on Midnight Meat Train with Jason Hayes and Gerard Marino to his disturbing Out of Hell soundtrack and Synaesthesia solo album, his dark cinematic compositions have kept us at the edge of our seats on more than one occasion. Well, for musicians and composers out there who are looking to explore this dark orchestral style for themselves, it just got a lot easier to venture into these haunted soundscapes with White Rabbit Asylum, a new loop and sample library overseen by Lassen himself.

The library contains everything from field recordings taken in abandoned and dilapidated spaces to performances recorded on decaying instruments. As a bit of a hobbyist composer myself, I think this collection looks like a great place to start if you’re wanting to get into that survival horror kind of sound, and there really aren’t a whole lot of options in terms of sample libraries that explore this niche.

White Rabbit Asylum was released as a part of the Sony Sound Series catalog just this week, and retails for $59.95. A pretty reasonable price if you’re interested in delving into this style of music and have no idea where to start. Samples can be heard on the collection’s official website.
Game Music

Creepy As Hell: Interview With Out Of Hell Creator Long Nguyen And Composer Justin Lassen

December 8, 2009 | Patrick Gann | 1 Comment Share this

We recently got a chance to listen to the Out Of Hell Original Soundtrack in its entirety, thanks to a digital release from composer Justin Lassen. Now, it’s time to learn more about the game that helped inspire such creepy, haunting bits of audio.

Out Of Hell is a total conversion mod based on Unreal Tournament 2004. It’s been “in the making” for many years now, but it’s finally out. And as far as game mods go, this one looks to be of extremely high quality.

In the following interview, we learn how Lassen and Nguyen met up, and how the work all came together. Check it out after the jump. (more…)
Game Music, Reviews

Good Mods Have Their Own Soundtracks: Out Of Hell OST (Review)

December 4, 2009 | Patrick Gann | 4 Comments Share this

It’s been awhile since we’ve heard from Justin Lassen. This pioneer in the world of commercial audio last spoke with us when he, alongside famed game composers Jason Hayes (World of Warcraft) and Gerard Marino (God of War) worked on the soundtrack for Midnight Meat Train together.

Now he’s doing some game music work of his own. Specifically, for a game called Out Of Hell. OOH (as I will affectionately refer to it as for the rest of this article) is a total conversion mod of Unreal Tournament 2004. As the name suggests, the game has a horror tone to it. Essentially, you’re a cop taking out zombies.

Sounds like Resident Evil, yes? Well the game looks like something infinitely darker, and the soundtrack sounds nothing like what we’ve heard from Capcom. Creator Long Nguyen had something entirely different in mind, and the screenshots I’ve seen of the game suggest something outright… well… “hellish.”

OOH, which was finally released on October 31, 2009, was six years in the making; the soundtrack, from Justin Lassen, has been done since 2007, but only now are we getting a chance to listen. After the jump, check out our review of the Out Of Hell Original Soundtrack (OOHOST!!). (more…)
Game Music

Dead Space Extraction Interview: Audio Director Don Veca Talks Scare Tactics

September 24, 2009 | Jayson Napolitano | 4 Comments Share this

I’m still shocked that Dead Space is coming to the Wii. Last year we had a lengthy and interesting chat with Don Veca, Audio Director for the original Dead Space, which turned up all sorts of information about the proprietary sound system they created for the game and some of the technical details of what Dead Space was capable of. With that, I thought it’d be fun to ask about what they were able to accomplish on the Wii.

Overall, it looks like this game is going to sound amazing. While I’ve played it a few times at various events and conventions, background noise has often interfered with my ability to get fully immersed, and even though there isn’t any new music, per se, I’m looking forward to hearing it in a more static format as opposed to the free-range style that we heard in the original game.

Check out our interview with Dead Space Extraction Audio Director Don Veca after the jump. (more…)
Game Music

Butcher Pete and His Insatiable Appetite For “Meat”

June 29, 2008 | Patrick Gann | 4 Comments Share this

Last month, Bethesda released a preorder bonus for Fallout 3: a five-song “featured” soundtrack. Three songs were licensed tracks from the 1940s and 1950s, and the other two were original compositions by Inon Zur. For the first time ever, I was taken in more by the licensed tracks than the original work.

Hit the jump for more details about the music and a video featuring the tracks. (more…)