Doom The Dark Ages' rip-tearing OST samples a gamer's biggest weakness

Doom The Dark Ages may have been more 'stand and fight' than the conventional run-and-gun Doomguy outing, but that's not to say it was any less aggressive in its execution. The earth-shaking shockwaves emitted by the Slayer's steps as his feet beat the ground into submission give him all the poise and panache of a nuclear missile, each thud of the boot accompanied by Finishing Move Inc.'s raucous OST. While you were foregoing touching grass to explore Argent D'Nur, the Slayer and his metal-chugging chorus were more than embracing it, the latter in a more unconventional sense.

I recently fired over some questions to the crew at music production firm Finishing Move, which comprises members Brian Lee White, Brian Trifon, Jay Wiltzen, and Alex Klingle. As Mick Gordon famously turned to chainsaws and lawnmowers for his more unorthodox sounds on some of the best FPS games out there, I wanted to know if the new kids on the block had thought as far outside the box as their predecessor. As it turns out, their garden-based inspo for Doom The Dark Ages was even more granular, digging deeper into the sonic soil.

"One of our favorite [atypical instruments] was actually just blowing through blades of grass," Finishing Move reveal. "That high-pitched, squeaky tone you get as a kid? We recorded a bunch of variations, then threw them into a granular sampler, where we could stretch tiny fragments, load them up with effects, and twist them into something totally unrecognizable."

The result, they tell me, sounds like "a demon from the fifth layer of hell screaming for its life." Forget about making a mountain out of a molehill, we're making mancubi out of meadows now, and it's metal as fuck. Finishing Move hasn't shared where exactly you'll be able to hear the swardy sample, but that just means you'll need to keep an ear out next time you're bumping the OST - perhaps while ripping and tearing up the halfpipe as the Slayer in Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3+4.

It's not only the outlandish instruments that are notable, however. Another group favorite tone comes in the form of the primal thud of a custom elk skin drum, commissioned from artisans in the Quebec mountains especially for the OST, that introduces the rip-roaring Unchained Predator. "It has this deep, earthy, almost prehistoric sound to it," the group says. "We used it to give a sense of something massive and inevitable approaching, like hearing an army coming over the hills in the distance."

The lengths to which Finishing Move has scoured the earthly realm for otherworldly references are impressive, and are a testament to the creativity of a group that has scored a broad gaming spectrum, including Borderlands 3, Halo Wars 2, and Microsoft Flight Sim. The Dark Ages may be its heaviest project yet, but that's not to say it's dabbling in musical tourism. Most, if not all, of the members grew up playing Doom on DOS (you know, the thing people used to play it on before they got it working on lawnmowers and RGB fans). They all picked up the guitar as kids, where they formed a deep connection to dropped tunings and meaty riffs. To Finishing Move, working on Doom "felt like coming home."

As Finishing Move channeled its musical heritage, so too did it pay respects to the rich tapestry of historical references across the iconic series when scoring the likes of Argent D'Nur and Hell. But when it came to The Dark Ages' brand new eldritch environ, the Cosmic Realm, the quartet found itself in uncharted waters. Enthused by The Dark Ages game director Hugo Martin's "infectious" energy for the region, the team knew they had to go hard or go home, so they "leaned into the unknown."

"We drew inspiration from the feeling of cosmic horror," Finishing Move explains. The black water, the infinite void, that sense of staring into something ancient and unexplainable. The goal was to capture the emotional weight of that dread, not just through harmony or instrumentation, but through texture and sound design.

"We built a lot of the palette from scratch, using field recordings and creature sounds that we mangled with synthesis. The result was something watery, organic, and unsettling. At the same time, we also brought in elements of modern progressive metal to reflect the shift in tone. Those tracks were meant to feel like a rupture in the world of Doom, where everything becomes more surreal and existential." The fruits of this process materialize best in Into the Void, its blend of chug and squelch making it one of my favorites on the tracklist.

When thinking about the musical hallmarks of the rebooted Doom trilogy, 'innovation' would be Mick Gordon's. To me, 'expansion' is Finishing Move's. Right from the beginning, the group knew "no one could do Mick better than Mick," opting instead to channel Doom's essence, that all-consuming power fantasy, in a way that remained authentic to the group's roots. The Dark Ages' OST is far more cinematic, building out and away from Gordon's signature sound.

Innovation and expansion are critical elements of Doom that have remained consistent throughout its various iterations. Exemplifying this are the Romero horseshoes of old that have progressively given way to larger, more modern sandboxes. Bigger, but not to say better, depending on who you ask. Doom's music is symbiotic with its gameplay, and while Gordon forms one strand of its DNA, Finishing Move has maintained that alignment, albeit through another. Regardless of your stance on The Dark Ages' score, the sheer amount of effort and artistry that has gone into it categorically deserves your respect.