Mick Gordon on Composing DOOM's Soundtrack 

Mick Gordon is definitely going to be part of those few legendary gaming composers.

after hearing what he did with DOOM, its hilarious to think he started with Destroy All Humans and Nickelodeon games

Checking in from 11/2022. Mick looks so happy here. So sad how all of this turned out.

DOOM 2016 is the only game I've ever increased the music and lowered the SFX.

Funny to hear that Rip & Tear was almost shelved; that is one of the tracks I feel works BEST in the game.

"Remember Mick, no heavy metal."

What a lovely dude, taking a moment at the end to ask you about the progress of your work and commend you like that. Also between this and the extended interview with Hugo Martin, I find it really impressive that you managed to include so much of their interviews while still providing equal time for the other members of the team and on top of that packing in interesting archival and gameplay footage. I'm 100% enamored with this project, and I simply cannot wait to see what you come up with next.

Being a metalhead, the Doom 2016 soundtrack was completely up my street and if it was an album I'd buy it instantly. The BFG Division track is my favourite, just makes me want to slay demons all day long. Seriously hope Mick gets to make music for more projects in other styles of music.

Thank you, Noclip, for existing!

1:47 “The first game I ever worked on was Destroy all humans...” Could you be anymore perfect Mick?

What an insightful composer. A lot of thought, care, and respect for the Doom legacy went into this project and it shows in every last bit of that soundtrack. Kudos to you, Mick. And Kudos to Noclip for sharing this great interview!

noclip, thanks a lot for uploading these interviews, gives good and serious insight of the industry. cheers!

Let me preface this by saying that it’s the first time I’ve ever been compelled to write some sort of thank you note to the creators of the game. DOOM made such a strong impression on me and I’ve been gaming since mid-90s. Main points: 1) All the guys at id Software & Mick Gordon working as a tight unit, almost like a rock band where every musician counts: singer, guitar player, bass player and drummer, all working together to create a complete package where all the parts counts equally. All the people involved in creating this game, programmers, level designers, animators, gameplay mechanics engineers, sound designers and composer created something that in my opinion will surely stand the test of time and in my book is definitely a Game of the Year. In terms of FPS games DOOM is this shining light in the darkness that is third person cover-based console games. Amount of options this game has for PC is mind-blowing, not to mention amazing optimization and visuals. The last but not the least is the fact that id guys played their game relentlessly and it shows. 2) Hugo, love this guy, 80s movie references, love for NIИ and Pearl Jam, such an outspoken guy that is clearly passionate about the game, it seems like you could talk to him just about anything. Pacific Rim (hell yeah!), love this movie and Jeager designs is a big part of that. 3) It’s impossible to separate Mick Gordon’s soundtrack from the game because it’s such an integral part of it yet you could hum the melodies/riffs he created and that’s a testament to the fact that his work is superb. Be sure to check out Mick’s 2-part mini-documentary about creating music for DOOM on his RU-vid channel. Huge props to Mick, very humble guy. 4) Danny, thanks a bunch for creating noclip, this DOOM documentary in particular as well as extended interviews with Hugo Martin and Mick Gordon. Content like this is sorely missed in gaming journalism. After watching those extended interviews with Hugo and Mick I was amazed by how you skillfully managed to incorporate DOOM music snippets, gameplay footage and scenes from Robocop and The Last Boyscout Hugo referenced in all the right places too.

I like how sincere Mick is.

Such a great interview, CANT BELIEVE that Id and Bethesda did so dirty on such a great person like mick, like i can feel the pure passion and hardwork.he does from the way he talks, the way he has been mistreated is so shitty, honestly hope that mick gets his justice and that we can just hope for a better doom eternal ost album 😭

With everything that has happened on the Doom Eternal OST, there needs to be a part 2! 🙏🏻

We don’t deserve mick. He’s way too humble and talented.

MIck Gordon is such a great guy. I personally just finished my first game OST (my 5th album) and I hope I get to work with him one day.

You can't separate Doom from Metal. Doom *IS* Metal.

What always amazes me about the soundtrack to Doom 2016 is how fundamental it is to the game's experience AS background tracks, while also being so incredibly listenable on it's own. I credit this quality Mick's approach, as he describes it in this vid. He gets an emotional feel for the game itself, and then composes music to amplify that feeling. In doing so, he creates tracks that truly resonate with listeners at an emotional level, and not just as an accessory to the game. A true genius of our time. So glad this man is getting the recognition and praise he deserves for his work. I hope other composers and those still learning the craft take Mick Gordon's success as a lesson. When you treat videogames as art and engage your craft with passion, then your creation ends up that much stronger for it.

Is anyone else ABSOLUTELY STOKED about Doom Eternal?

Excellent stuff. Mick does a great job at formulating the work and thought process (and work ethic, wow).

Legends say he still hasn't been paid for his work to this day.

I'm not into heavy metal at all, but the Doom soundtrack was absolutely perfect. One of the best soundtracks ever.

I never realized until now that I never heard Mick Gordon speak, glad he sounds how he looks, awesome

He's so humble about the quality of the music, meanwhile he's made one of the best soundtracks of all time...what a cool guy.

Needs a documentary about the DOOM Eternal OST as well. Because holy crap has that turned into a crapshow xP

Mick Gordon rules. I have an email exchange with him that I will forever save. We even exchanged musical influences... Dude's so humble.

Noclip. A late 2016 nominee for my favorite new channel of the year. The uncut Hugo interview was very awesome. I'm the biggest Doom fan, so I'm nerdgasming all over the place.

I'm glad they kept Rip and Tear after almost throwing it out, i listen to it almost every day.

Killer Instinct?! Dudes got my respect. I love that OST

I just finished watching the other interview and now I have another one to watch!

Excellent! I'm a huge Mick Gordon fan from Wolfenstein and Killer Instinct, and his work on Doom is incredible. It's interesting and inspiring to get this kind of perspective on music, and to hear how he approaches a project to get to a final piece of art. I agree that in a lot of games today, music has been put on the back burner. I can still hum original Killer Instinct melodies and themes to this day, and I haven't played any of the classic KI games in about 16 years! Mick brought that back to the point where I have the KI season 1 and 2 soundtracks and actually listen to them like I listen to albums from my favorite bands.

I was interested in the Hugo Martin interview and have yet to watch it, but when I saw the Mick Gordon one, I knew I had to watch it right away! This man is such a great guy - really humble and respectful of everything and everyone he's working with, and he did such a wonderful job!

Nice to hear that he enjoyed BFG Division, I think it really is the best representation of what this game is all about. It's my favorite track from the soundtrack and I wish more of the soundtrack would include those demonic-screeching-like-elements.

I like how all the examples of 90's game music he mentions are Rare games. The old Rare games, especially from the SNES era, are simply some of the best soundtracks ever done in gaming.

These video's are great noclip, thank's for uploading today.

This guy worked on Destroy all Humans?? Sick!

I gotta say, Killer Instinct is Micks best work. Every time a new character came out, I could only anticipate the upcoming character theme.

Great Christmas present! Thankyou, all at Noclip!!! xxx

Mick was almost axed from Eternal........ If He aint in the next Doom game I aint fucking buying it. I refuse to even imagine a Doom game without Mick now..... He made Doom's sound into what it is today. Doom without Mick? LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL fuck that!

That part about him calling his work schedule balanced is kinda nuts if you do the math. He's effectively spending 13 hours a day on work and calling it balance.

i loved the conversation between you and mick about what you guys are doing with noclip. these extended interviews are actually my favourite part of your projects.

Mick's personnality is just as awesome as his music. Dude is so genuine and awesome!

I fucking love Mick. I also fucking love these videos. Keep up the great work! c:

Your work is phenomenal, more people need to know about you

For someone that worked on 18 months on Doom, really didn't expect Mick to be this really cute ands he sounds so nice to talk to.

so glad you are doing this man. been a fan since your start/select days and NoClip is such a good project

Their performance at the game awards was honestly one of the only highlights of this years show. It was honestly hilarious how bad they outclassed every other performance,and I'm a fan of Killer Mike,but Run the Jewels looked amateurish compared to Mick and the boys. Incredible work Danny,TY for sharing this and Merry Christmas!

No Clip has easily turned into the best video game documentaries! Serious insight, taking games seriously, asking the right questions, exclusive content... keep it up!

this channel is so so so amazing, like, it's so insightful, thanks NoClip!!

So damn glad you put this up man. Keep going! You're already a success!

other games boss music: I'm scared DOOM boss music: Its time

This was a great chat! And I'm glad to see Danny's anti-static wrist strap made an appearance, haha.

Gosh, these are great! Thank you so much, you bring the light in this realm of darkness that is game journalism.

Didn't play Doom, though I had the pleasure of playing Wolfenstein, where I was amazed by the soundtrack. The guitar sound was just spot on, so heavy, holy shit. Just found out he made it for Doom and I kinda wanna play it just for that.

man, I am so inspired by your interviews!

It's nice to hear Mick in the interview. He sounds so excited and there's that childlike twinkle in his tone.

Mick has so much expression when he speaks, I can't stop watching.

This channel and the videos that your making is exactly what I want from games media, Thank you so much Danny. I fucking love no clip, I can't wait to see whats next.

Agree with Mick on the point that such videos are really needed in the game industry. Very interesting to watch how they pull out such hits as DOOM. What is the thought process what kind of challenges and troubles they had and how they were able to have fun in the middle of those etc. Thanks for the full interview and Merry Christmas!

really enjoyed the part about time management, balance and routine to stay in shape creatively. awesome interview, learned a lot. thanks mick and noclip

one of the best interviews i have seen.

I'm not even a musician, but I can watch Mick talking about the creative process behind game music any time. The man has a true gift for music, but most importantly, for inspiring creativity.

I'd be interested in seeing more content based on this guy and his career Danny....there's something magical about this guy and everyone keeps mentioning the killer instinct soundtrack....would be nice to see his studio and hear some of the tracks he's done for other games. Don't know what it is but this guy is special...could listen to him talk for hours...he's actually got intelligence! :)

What an incredible interviewer. Such engaging questions, keep it up!

danny, those videos are awesome - keep the good work up!

the editing in this interview is amazing

subbed. wicked quality, great topics, can't wait to see what's next

this Interview was great!

I love the description of the compositional hierarchy, it's such a simple concept but I've never considered doing it like that. Inspired

this OST is so amazing. thanks for getting this interview

This is just wonderful! Hell, both of ya are wonderful, a really nice conversation guys, bless ya!

You are ultra awesome mate!keeping the good works !

This guy is so kind and humble! Absolutely love Mick and you guys from NoClip for everything you're doing for us

As someone who does a lot of modding for video games and some basic game work in engines like Unity, I absolutely love this stuff. I'm almost a senior in HS, and for my school I have to do a huge project for my final year, and of course I want to do something relating to game design, so this has honestly inspired me a lot in that regard, thank you for creating this channel Danny, It's not common to see this kind of insight in the AAA game industry.

Really pleasant conversation, loved it.

Wonderful interview. So much interesting information that it's really impressive that you managed to cram everything in 1 and a half hours on the main doc. Phenomenal. Thank you for this

This man needs to take a vacation lol. Great interview as always Danny. As someone who is both a metal fan and a video game music fan, this interview was incredibly enlightening. I hope Mick Gordon continues creating soundtracks for many more years.

Fantastic interview, very interesting and informative. Mick really crushed it with his work on the game.

Great documentary Danny! It gave me an opportunity to learn a lot about DOOM. Keep the good work going Danny.

What an amazingly inspiring man.It's a joy to listen to him speak.As much as listening to his songs.

Mick's presentation at GDC about composing the DOOM soundtrack was really interesting to watch...it's amazing how much thought went into the music.

well made noclip! if i had the money i would suport you more!! hopefuly you publish all interviews with the idteam course these vids till now are fun for hours! merry xmas!!

Wow, this guy is a great interview subject. Super well spoken, full of information. This was awesome!

Great interview, very eloquent interviewee too so the distance didn't really matter. Keep up the good work!

Noclip, you are doing God's work. I am more than glad I was able to catch wind of your channel and everything else. The way everything was laid out really gave me a new perspective on this one game I love so much. I'd love to know what other games you plan on covering after all this.

This series is incredible! Doom was no doubt my GOTY and these videos are such an amazing companion to my love of the game. I enjoyed your previous work (and Giantbomb appearances!) but this series is unreal! Great work!

Thank you for the upload. Reflecting back on his experience on the Doom project. I like how he explained the process in detail. Great questions.. on point

Warning! Keep this guy away from your wife. Damn, he's got swagger! Haha. Very interesting stuff.

This was a great interview, do another one of these with Mick (like you did Hugo on your podcast!) for Eternal!

Can't wait for the next documentary. I love these videos. It's why I subbed to Ahoy. And now I'm subbed to you. Keep it up man.

Super late to the game that is researching Mick's work. I really enjoyed the music from Killer Instinct, Wolfenstein, and Doom but never played the games. Makes sense that he made music for all three of those. His distinct style is super addicting. And the way he talks about his process is enthusiastic. I'd really like to hear him teach a class or do a seminar.

heya mick, mad respect from a big fan & fellow aussie. youre a huge inspiration & influence, very genuine & humble dude. i hope to hear plenty more from you in the future :)

This is a really great thing you people are doing. Knowing about what went into making of a game you love is always interesting and fun. Keep doing the great job :)

What a nice, talented person! Danny, your videos are a pleasure. I've been following you since your time on GameSpot and I now think you're one of the best videogame RU-vidrs out there. I think Mick put it precisely when he said this is desperately needed in the industry. Thank you so much for putting all this up, it's fascinating stuff and really easy to watch. Keep it up Danny, you're the man.

I think Doom eternal might be the first game that I want the OST for as much as the game itself.

This is absolutely great! So many advice gems and bits of useful knowledge. Thoroughly entertaining as well. Thank you both! I find the DOOM soundtrack to be intensely enjoyable. As a professional musician, high level gamer, and competitive DOOM player, I really appreciate this talk.

Truly fascinating stuff, watching this while taking a break from Doom Eternal while under quarantine.

Something about the way Mick Gordon speaks and communicates his thoughts reminds me of Matt Mercer in the best of ways