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Mick Gordon (composer)

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Mick Gordon
Born (1985-07-07) July 7, 1985 (age 39)
Mackay, Queensland, Australia
Genres
Occupations
Years active2002–present
Websitemick-gordon.com

Michael John Gordon is an Australian composer, record producer, musician, and sound designer, composing music primarily for video games.

Gordon has composed for several first-person shooters, including LawBreakers, Wolfenstein: The New Order, Wolfenstein: The Old Blood, Prey, the 2016 reboot of Doom and its sequel Doom Eternal, Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus, and seasons one and two of the 2013 fighting game Killer Instinct.

Career

Gordon began his musical career as a jazz / blues guitarist in his teens.[1] He first began to work as a sound designer with Pandemic Studios, where he contributed additional sound design for Destroy All Humans! 2. In 2013, he scored the first season of the fighting video game, Killer Instinct, a reboot of the original 1994 title. The following year, Gordon scored the second season of Killer Instinct and the action-adventure first-person shooter Wolfenstein: The New Order (developed by MachineGames). He returned to the Wolfenstein series in 2015 to compose the score for Wolfenstein: The Old Blood, a prequel to Wolfenstein: The New Order.

In 2016, Gordon completed the score for the science fiction first-person shooter, Doom, a sequel of the 1993 game that was developed by id Software. His score for Doom won a number of awards including a D.I.C.E. Award for Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition,[2] SXSW Gaming Award for Excellence in Musical Score,[3] The Game Awards Best Music/Sound Design and was nominated for a BAFTA Games Award for Best Music.[4][5]

In 2017, Gordon completed the score for the horror first-person shooter, Prey, developed by Arkane Studios. He also worked alongside Martin Stig Andersen to again return to the Wolfenstein series, scoring Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus, developed by MachineGames.

In 2020, Gordon completed the score of Doom Eternal; while the music for the game was once again well-received, circumstances around the soundtrack release led to a public falling out between Gordon and id Software and a parting of ways.[6][7] In November 2022, Gordon addressed this dispute in a lengthy statement on Medium.[8][9]

On 23 June 2020 British rock band Bring Me the Horizon announced they'd be working with Gordon on their upcoming release.[10] Vocalist Oliver Sykes discusses how he fell in love with the Doom Eternal soundtrack during quarantine. Being heavily inspired by Gordon's work, the band decided to reach out to him and offer a collaboration. The resulting work, titled "Parasite Eve", was released on 25 June alongside an accompanying music video.[11] The collaboration then expanded into the commercial release, Post Human: Survival Horror, released on 30 October 2020.

ID software controversy

Following the release of Doom Eternals OST in May of 2020, several online music bloggers and fans noted the disparity in quality between the Doom (2016) OST and the one released with Eternal.

On April 19, Gordon confirmed on Twitter that it was not his work. Subsequently Marty Stratton an executive producer at Id Software, posted an open letter, on reddit blaming Gordon for everything that went wrong with the process of creating music for the soundtrack.

Following this, public outcry against Gordon reached a level where he received explicit death threats and graphic messages of intent to harm him and his family. Gordon's message accounts, servers and phones were allegedly inundated with abuse to extreme levels, seriously impacting his mental health.

On November 9, 2022, Gordon published an article on Medium (website) explaining his side of the story in the form of a defensive rebuttal of the accusations in Stratton's post. It included accusations that the reddit post contained lies and that in response to Gordon's request to remove those mistruths, he was offered a six-figure payout in exchange for a lifetime gag order, but never the possibility of removing the post.

Gordon also alleged that he was not compensated for a significant portion of the music that ended up being used in the final release of the game.

Musical style and inspiration

According to Mick Gordon's official website, Gordon "utilises a broad range of modern musical sound design and traditional composition techniques in order to be unconstrained by any singular genre," and that it is "inspired by the connection between the audience and the experience."[12]

Gordon's work "considers the role of music as a translation of the world in which it exists rather than a simple accompaniment."[12]

Discography

Soundtrack albums

Title Release date Label Format
A Day in Pompeii August 21, 2012 Self-released Digital download
Killer Instinct: Season One Soundtrack + Original Arcade Soundtrack October 14, 2014 Microsoft Corporation CD, digital download
Wolfenstein: The New Order (Original Game Soundtrack) May 19, 2014 Bethesda Softworks CD, digital download
Doom September 28, 2016 Bethesda Softworks CD, digital download
Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus March 16, 2018 Bethesda Softworks CD, digital download
Doom July 27, 2018 Bethesda Softworks Vinyl

Production credits

Year Artist Album Title(s) Notes
2020 Bring Me the Horizon Post Human: Survival Horror "Dear Diary," Additional production
"Parasite Eve"
"Obey" (with Yungblud) Percussion, synthesizer, additional production
"Itch for the Cure (When Will We Be Free?)" Additional production
"Kingslayer" (featuring Babymetal)
"One Day the Only Butterflies Left Will Be in Your Chest as You March Towards Your Death" (featuring Amy Lee)
2021 3Teeth — "Paralyze" (featuring Ho99o9) Production[13]
2022 Monuments In Stasis — Co-production
Motionless in White Scoring the End of the World "Scoring the End of the World" Guest appearance[14]

Works

Year Title Notes Ref.
2006 Hot Dog King Music and sound design [15]
2006 Destroy All Humans! 2 Additional sound design [15]
2007 Nicktoons: Attack of the Toybots — [15]
2008 El Tigre: The Adventures of Manny Rivera — [15]
2009 Real Racing — —
Need for Speed: Shift Co-composed with Stephen Baysted and Mark Morgan [15]
Marvel Super Hero Squad — [15]
2010 Real Racing 2 Game sound effects —
The Last Airbender — [15]
Need for Speed: World — [15]
Marvel Super Hero Squad: The Infinity Gauntlet — [15]
2011 Shift 2: Unleashed Composed with:
[15]
Marvel Super Hero Squad: Comic Combat — [15]
Need for Speed: The Run Additional music [16]
2012 A Day in Pompeii Audio Director; Museums Victoria exhibit [15]
Battle Group Also sound designer —
2013 Real Racing 3 Game sound effects —
ShootMania Storm — [15]
Killer Instinct Season One (2013) and Season Two (2014) [16]
2014 Wolfenstein: The New Order Additional music by Frederik Thordendal [16]
2015 Wolfenstein: The Old Blood Additional music by Michael Tornabene and Casey Edwards [17]
Project CARS Guitars with John J. Harvey —
2016 Doom Additional music by Chris Hite, Ben F. Carney and Chad Mossholder [18]
2017 Prey Additional music composed by Ben Crossbones, Matt Piersall, and Raphaël Colantonio [19]
LawBreakers Composed with Jaroslav Beck, Dieselboy, Mark The Beast, Malcolm Kirby Jr.
"Faust" and “Toska-9” tracks in the official album 		[20]
Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus Composed with Martin Stig Andersen; additional music by Frederik Thordendal [21]
2019 Borderlands 3 Additional Music Support
Original game score by:
[22]
2020 Beautiful Desolation — [23]
Doom Eternal [24]
2023 Atomic Heart [25]
TBA Routine Audio Director [15]

Awards and nominations

Year Ceremony Category Work Result
2006 Game Developers' Association of Australia Best Audio Destroy All Humans! 2 Won
2012 Game Audio Network Guild Best Audio, Other A Day in Pompeii Won
2013 Game Audio Network Guild Best Interactive Score Killer Instinct Nominated
Game Audio Network Guild Best Original Song, Vocal (Pop) Killer Instinct ("Touch Me and I'll Break Your Face") Won
Game Audio Network Guild Best Original Song, Vocal (Pop) Killer Instinct ("I'm Back to Rise") Nominated
2016 The Game Awards Best Music/Sound Design Doom Won
2017 Game Developers Choice Awards Best Audio Doom Nominated
SXSW Gaming Awards Excellence in Musical Score Doom Won
D.I.C.E. Awards Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition Doom Won
British Academy Games Awards Best Music Doom Nominated
2018 New York Game Awards Best Music in a Game Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus
(Shared with Martin Stig Andersen) 		Nominated
D.I.C.E. Awards Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus
(Shared with Martin Stig Andersen) 		Nominated
2020 The Game Awards Best Score and Music Doom Eternal Nominated
Steam Awards Best Soundtrack[26] Doom Eternal Won

References

  1. ^ "Mick Gordon Interview - DOOM Eternal Composer" – via www.youtube.com.
  2. ^ Makuch, Eddie; Imms, Jason (23 February 2017). "Overwatch Wins DICE Game of the Year, Full Nominees List". GameSpot. Retrieved 23 February 2017.
  3. ^ Makuch, Eddie (19 March 2017). "Uncharted 4 Wins Game Of The Year At SXSW Awards". GameSpot. Retrieved 19 March 2017.
  4. ^ Erica Webber, Jordan (9 March 2017). "Bafta games awards 2017: Inside and Uncharted 4 lead the way". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 March 2017.
  5. ^ "About". MICK GORDON. Retrieved 24 May 2017.
  6. ^ "Doom Eternal Composer Distances Himself From The Newly Released Soundtrack".
  7. ^ Stratton, Marty (4 May 2020). "DOOM Eternal OST Open Letter". Reddit.
  8. ^ Valentine, Rebekah (9 November 2022). "Doom Eternal Composer Alleges Unpaid Wages and Abuse in Lengthy Soundtrack Controversy Response". IGN. Retrieved 9 November 2022.
  9. ^ Gordon, Mick (9 November 2022). "My full statement regarding DOOM Eternal". Medium. Retrieved 9 November 2022.
  10. ^ "10BMTHS2-mick gordon-.mp4" – via www.youtube.com.
  11. ^ Trendell, Andrew. "Bring Me The Horizon tell us about their new 'survival horror song' 'Parasite Eve' and ambitious 'Post Human' project". NME. Retrieved 29 June 2020.
  12. ^ a b "About – Mick Gordon". MICK GORDON. Retrieved 4 November 2016.
  13. ^ Enis, Eli (6 August 2021). "Hear 3teeth Team Up With Ho99o9 On New Industrial Metal Banger "Paralyze"". Revolver Magazine. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
  14. ^ "Motionless In White unleash Cyberhex from new album Scoring The End Of The World". Kerrang!. 11 March 2022. Retrieved 13 May 2022.
  15. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n "Mick Gordon: Credits". mick-gordon.com. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 1 January 2016.
  16. ^ a b c Makuch, Eddie (12 May 2014). "Guitarist from Swedish metal band Meshuggah working on Wolfenstein: The New Order". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 23 July 2015.
  17. ^ "What's New in Wolfenstein: The Old Blood". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. 16 April 2015. Retrieved 23 July 2015.
  18. ^ "Mick Gordon working on soundtrack for new DOOM". VGM Online. 17 June 2015. Retrieved 1 January 2016.
  19. ^ "Prey - Mick Gordon". Retrieved 8 June 2018.
  20. ^ "Various Artists: LawBreakers (Original Game Soundtrack)". Retrieved 8 June 2018.
  21. ^ "Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus". Mick Gordon. Retrieved 21 June 2017.
  22. ^ "Borderlands 3 (2019) PlayStation 4 credits - MobyGames". MobyGames. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
  23. ^ "Announcing Mick Gordon as composer". thebrotherhoodgames.com.
  24. ^ Leavey, Jason. "DOOM Eternal – Official E3 Teaser". Bethesda.net.
  25. ^ Wilson, Mike. "Dystopian Shooter 'Atomic Heart' Will Have Next-Gen Versions; New Gameplay Video Released Featuring Mick Gordon [Video]". Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
  26. ^ "The Steam Awards: Winners". Welcome to Steam. Retrieved 10 November 2022.
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