Music Monday: BFG Edition

March 23rd, 2009

When you begin to examine the history of video game music on the PC, one piece of music is synonymous with both identifying a generation of games as well as the gamers that played them. I am of course speaking of the theme music from the 1993 genre defining release: Doom. When thinking of musical themes from games there are few that can even come close to the memorable nature that the song from E1M1, or as it is titles “At Doom’s Gate,” seems to capture. With the driving drums and guitars, the track just screams for the player to run as fast as possible, leaving a wake of destruction through the level. Sure the theme from world 1-1 of Super Mario Brothers is one of the most recognized songs in video game music, but it pales in comparison to the pure blood lusting motivation that E1M1 supplies.

‘At Doom’s Gate’ from Doom

Bobby Prince, Composer of the soundtrack, not only composed the most in your face genre defining piece of music with E1M1, he also managed to create an atmospheric soundtrack that seemed advanced for it’s time. While the rest of the soundtrack is a bit more understated then E1M1, Prince constructed a solid foundation for the musical style that would be implemented in many other early first person shooters (Many of which he himself worked on). By mixing metal with more ambient pieces, the music seemed to have the ability to shape a players range of emotions. Pieces such as Waltz of the Demons and They’re Going to Get You seemed to have an almost calming aesthetic when placed amidst so many fast and driving tracks.

‘Waltz of the Demons’ from Doom

While the Soundtrack does seem to borrow themes from very recognizable metal music, most notable I Sawed the Demons deliberate taking of a rift from Metallica’s Master of Puppets, Doom remains one of the shining achievement of early PC games. Even without the fully orchestrated music that many of today’s games employ, the music in Doom managed to capture every moment with a such intensity that until recently it remained my favorite FPS soundtrack of all time (which has since been taken by Bioshock).

‘I Sawed the Demons’ from Doom

Excerpt from ‘Master of Puppets’ - Metallica

So no matter how you feel about the act of chainsawing wave after wave of enemies, mowing hordes down with a chaingun, or simply unloading a round from the Big Fucking Gun…9000, Prince’s effort in the creation of a soundtrack to accompany the mayhem certainly was successful on every level.

-Eric Wall