Mick Gordon (composer)

Michael John Gordon (born 9 July 1985) is an Australian composer and sound designer, composing music primarily for video games.

Mick Gordon
Gordon in 2017
Background information
Birth nameMichael John Gordon
Born (1985-07-09) 9 July 1985
Mackay, Queensland
Australia
GenresFilm score, video game score, djent, classical, rock, jazz, metal, industrial
Occupation(s)Composer, sound designer
Years active2002–present
Websitemick-gordon.com

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 1 & 2 of the 2013 fighting game Killer Instinct.

Career

Gordon 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 scored the science fiction first-person shooter, Doom, a reboot 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,[1] SXSW Gaming Award for Excellence in Musical Score,[2] The Game Awards Best Music/Sound Design and was nominated for a BAFTA Games Award for Best Music.[3][4]

In 2017, Gordon composed 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, he composed 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 the parting of ways.[5][6]

On June 23, 2020, British rock group Bring Me the Horizon announced they'd be working with Gordon on their upcoming release.[7] 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.[8]

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."[9]

Gordon's work "considers the role of music as a translation of the world in which it exists rather than a simple accompaniment."[9]

Credits
Year Title Notes Ref.
2006 Hot Dog King Music and sound design [10]
2006 Destroy All Humans! 2 Additional sound design [10]
2007 Nicktoons: Attack of the Toybots N/A [10]
2008 El Tigre: The Adventures of Manny Rivera N/A [10]
2009 Real Racing N/A N/A
Need for Speed: Shift Co-composed with Stephen Baysted and Mark Morgan [10]
Marvel Super Hero Squad N/A [10]
2010 Real Racing 2 Game sound effects N/A
The Last Airbender N/A [10]
Need for Speed: World N/A [10]
Marvel Super Hero Squad: The Infinity Gauntlet N/A [10]
2011 Shift 2: Unleashed Composed with:
[10]
Marvel Super Hero Squad: Comic Combat N/A [10]
Need for Speed: The Run Additional music [11]
2012 A Day in Pompeii Audio Director; Museums Victoria exhibit [10]
Battle Group Also sound designer N/A
2013 Real Racing 3 Game sound effects N/A
ShootMania Storm N/A [10]
Killer Instinct Season One (2013) and Season Two (2014) [11]
2014 Wolfenstein: The New Order Additional music by Frederik Thordendal [11]
2015 Wolfenstein: The Old Blood Additional music by Michael Tornabene and Casey Edwards [12]
Project CARS Guitars with John J. Harvey N/A
2016 Doom Additional music by Chris Hite, Ben F. Carney and Chad Mossholder [13]
2017 Prey Additional music composed by Ben Crossbones, Matt Piersall, and Raphaël Colantonio [14]
LawBreakers Composed with Jaroslav Beck, Dieselboy, Mark The Beast, Malcolm Kirby Jr.
"Faust" and “Toska-9” tracks in the official album		 [15]
Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus Composed with Martin Stig Andersen; additional music by Frederik Thordendal [16]
2019 Borderlands 3 Additional Music Support
Original game score by:
[17]
2020 Beautiful Desolation N/A [18]
Doom Eternal Additional music by Chad Mossholder [19]
TBA Atomic Heart [20]
TBA Routine Audio Director [10]

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

References
  1. Makuch, Eddie; Imms, Jason (23 February 2017). "Overwatch Wins DICE Game of the Year, Full Nominees List". GameSpot. Retrieved 23 February 2017.
  2. Makuch, Eddie (19 March 2017). "Uncharted 4 Wins Game Of The Year At SXSW Awards". GameSpot. Retrieved 19 March 2017.
  3. Erica Webber, Jordan (9 March 2017). "Bafta games awards 2017: Inside and Uncharted 4 lead the way". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 March 2017.
  4. "About". MICK GORDON. Retrieved 24 May 2017.
  5. "Doom Eternal Composer Distances Himself From The Newly Released Soundtrack".
  6. Stratton, Marty (4 May 2020). "DOOM Eternal OST Open Letter". Reddit.
  7. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDYiw1v0P98
  8. 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.
  9. "About – Mick Gordon". MICK GORDON. Retrieved 4 November 2016.
  10. "Mick Gordon: Credits". mick-gordon.com. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 1 January 2016.
  11. Makuch, Eddie (12 May 2014). "Guitarist from Swedish metal band Meshuggah working on Wolfenstein: The New Order". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 23 July 2015.
  12. "What's New in Wolfenstein: The Old Blood". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. 16 April 2015. Retrieved 23 July 2015.
  13. "Mick Gordon working on soundtrack for new DOOM". VGM Online. 17 June 2015. Retrieved 1 January 2016.
  14. "Prey - Mick Gordon". Retrieved 8 June 2018.
  15. "Various Artists: LawBreakers (Original Game Soundtrack)". Retrieved 8 June 2018.
  16. "Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus". Mick Gordon. Retrieved 21 June 2017.
  17. "Borderlands 3 (2019) PlayStation 4 credits - MobyGames". MobyGames. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
  18. "Announcing Mick Gordon as composer". thebrotherhoodgames.com.
  19. Leavey, Jason. "DOOM Eternal – Official E3 Teaser". Bethesda.net.
  20. 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.
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