Cris Velasco is an American composer who has worked on video game franchises including Fortnite, Resident Evil, Overwatch, Assassin’s Creed, Warhammer, Mass Effect and God of War, and television series such as HULU’s Dimension 404 and Freakish. He recently returned to the DARKSIDERS franchise to compose the original score for the third game in the popular series.

In DARKSIDERS III players return to an apocalyptic planet Earth, in a hack-n-slash action-adventure. In the game, players take on the role of FURY, the fiercest of the FOUR HORSEMEN OF THE APOCALYPSE, in her quest to hunt down and dispose of the Seven Deadly Sins. The expansive Darksiders III game world is presented as an open-ended, living, free-form planet Earth, dilapidated by war and decay, and overrun by nature. FURY will traverse back and forth between environments, battling other-worldly creatures and unlocking puzzles while advancing the Darksiders story.

In this episode, composer Cris Velasco talks about returning to the franchise after co-composing the score for the first Darksiders game. He shares how the main theme organically developed through the selection of key lead instruments as well as with the lead vocalist from the band Niyaz, representing the protagonist, Fury. Velasco also also shares: how and why he chose the waltz to form the backbone for a key boss-fight cue, the delicate conversation he had hiring a vocalist to do heavy-breathing for the score without revealing its context, and, for another boss-fight, how, after missing his window to record with a choir, he was still able to instrumentally convey the religious aspects of the confrontation.

ANNOTATED TRACKS

02:39 - "Main Theme" (Darksiders)

04:01 - "Main Theme/ Fury's Theme"

06:40 - "Lust"

10:44 - "Pride"

13:50 - "Maker's Hideout"

OTHER TRACKS

00:05 - "Requiem Aeternaum"

02:12 - "Soul Gathering"

16:52 - "Abraxis"

NOTES

Post-recording, Cris Velasco was able to recall the woodwind instrumentalist he referred to at 14:46. His name is Sandro Friedrich from Switzerland.

SOUNDTRACK

The original score was released with the collectors edition of the game, and a full soundtrack release is eminent.

MORE ABOUT THE COMPOSER

You can find out more about and hear more music by Cris Velasco at his official site crisvelasco.com or follow him on twitter @monarchaudio

ABOUT THE ANNOTATOR

Produced by Christopher Coleman(@ccoleman) and you can Find more episodes at THEANNOTATOR.NET or you can subscribe via iTunes, Stitcher Radio or wherever you find quality podcasts.

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