THE BEAST

Metal fans in the 90s will never forget Doom . The game’s release in 1993 radically changed the landscape for video games at the time. First and foremost, the game introduced the concept of a first-person shooter to many people, who were then responsible for heading to alien planets and cutting down hordes of the undead. 

The game’s soundtrack was clearly suited for this mission. Developers and creators at Id Software opted for a revolutionary soundtrack when building out the final details of the game: hard, aggressive metal. Sure, composer Bobby Prince threw in a few softer tracks to carry gamers along… but not much.

Instead, Prince took inspiration from the biggest acts of the day, including Slayer , Pantera, AC/DC, and Stormtroopers of Death, to name a few. Doom ’s unique gameplay features and its soundtrack quickly turned the title into a mega-hit. Accordingly, last year’s release of Doom Eternal was highly anticipated.

In fact, some wondered if Doom Eternal would be the franchise’s first step toward entering the eSports arena. As a first-person shooter, Doom would fit in well alongside other hits like Halo and Counter-Strike . Both regularly appear in international tournaments with huge payouts; Halo had a multi-million-dollar prize purse back in 2019 , as did CS:GO .

While the jury is out on whether Doom Eternal will be a good fit for an eSports format, there’s one clear verdict from the public: the 2020 release doesn’t meet the hype of the original 1993 soundtrack. And it turns out, it’s been a really, really big deal for gamers.

Meet Mick Gordon

Back in the early 90s while Doom was still being developed, creators asked Prince to base his mix off of the biggest acts in metal at the time. Prince agreed and, as aforementioned, altered the future of video game soundtracks. However, the Doom franchise quickly expanded. Since the original, it’s seen a handful of composers take over its projects throughout the decades, from 2004’s Doom 3 to 2016’s Doom reboot.

Not all composers have been able to replicate the earth-shaking sounds created by Prince, but one came close: Mick Gordon. While most gamers focus on the design, features, and mechanics of the latest Doom release, there are serious audiophiles who follow the franchise too. 

The Doom 2016 soundtrack was an ode to this subset of gamers, as it includes brutal riffs and plenty of experimental new sounds. It didn’t just closely replicate Prince’s early work from the original project but took the spirit of what Prince was doing and ran with it.

There were easter egg callbacks to the original soundtrack and it even included steganography to sneak in pentagrams and 666 symbols. In other words, Gordon had innovated another Doom soundtrack that helps characterize and differentiate the franchise from other first-person shooters, making it a decidedly metal game.

When Id Software announced a 2020 release of Doom Eternal , Gordon was contracted to create another soundtrack. Audiophiles sat at the edge of their seat, but the March 2020 release of the soundtrack left much to be desired. Since then, it’s been a slow downhill spiral for Gordon.

A Cut Contract

Shortly after the March 2020 release of the game’s soundtrack (which came one month after the game’s release), fans noticed the mixing wasn’t up-to-snuff. Though the music was satisfactory, fans took a fine tooth comb to the soundtrack . Without wasting a minute, Gordon took to Twitter to defend himself, saying he wasn’t responsible for the mixing. 

Over time, disparaging fans attacked Id’s audio designer, blaming him for minimizing Gordon’s role in creating and mixing the project. This led to lead producer, Mary Stratton, releasing a statement pinning the blame on Gordon, who failed to meet deadlines. The result was a clipped version of the dynamic range typical in metal—the super highs and the mega lows.

Stratton then announced Gordon wouldn’t be working on any new projects going forward. Clearly, he dropped the ball—but what happens going forward, and is there hope for another Doom OST? 

There is—and it may even be in Gordon’s hands. Following the public online back-and-forth, Gordon took to Twitter in August 2021 to state that he’s tried repeatedly to get Id Software to let him remix the OST. So far, he’s received no reply.