Raison Varner

• Featured, Game Music, Reviews

  Radio Pandora – Borderlands 2 OST (Review)

  October 15, 2012 | Brenna Wilkes | Comments Off on Radio Pandora – Borderlands 2 OST (Review) Share this Radio Pandora – Borderlands 2 OST (Review)

  

  Like sci-fi? Like westerns? (No, this won’t become a discussion about Cowboys vs. Aliens – lower your torches) If you said yes to any of that, then chances are you played Borderlands. If you didn’t, get off your duff, go buy it, and play through. Go on, I’ll wait.

  No I won’t.

  Created in 2009, Borderlands was most commonly known as “Futuristic Spaghetti Western meets first-person shooter meets Diablo” for its aforementioned setting, game style and leveling system. Its soundtrack was placed in the responsible hands of Cris Velasco (Clive Barker’s Jericho, Prototype) along with his recently-established partner in melodic mischief Sascha Dikiciyan, along with the established Danish composer Jesper Kyd (Assassin’s Creed, Unreal Tournament 3) and sound designer Raison Varner. This rag-tag team created an atmospheric musical accompaniment to the underground hit that helped shape the soul of the game.

  So yeah, guess who’s back for another romp on Pandora? (more…)

• Game Music

  Borderlands Interview with Gearbox Audio Lead Raison Varner

  February 16, 2010 | Jayson Napolitano | 2 Comments Share this Borderlands Interview with Gearbox Audio Lead Raison Varner

  

  After loving the hell out of the Borderlands soundtrack, we had to check in with Gearbox audio lead Raison Varner to learn more about his inspirations for the score and how they managed creating such a cohesive sound with so many composers involved. The game not only featured Varner’s dark ambient contributions, but also the dreamy soundscapes of Jesper Kyd as well as gritty electronic tracks from Cris Velasco and Sascha Dikiciyan.

  In our interview, Varner tells us about his background in music, how he came to work on Borderlands, what a typical day working on Borderlands consisted of, and how the team decided on such a drastic shift in direction for the second DLC pack, Mad Moxxi’s Underdome. We also discuss some specific tracks from the game, and plans for an iTunes release of the material music from the game’s DLC.

  All of this and more in our interview after the jump! (more…)

• Game Music, Reviews

  Borderlands Soundtrack: As Dark As They Come (Review)

  February 3, 2010 | Jayson Napolitano | 2 Comments Share this Borderlands Soundtrack: As Dark As They Come (Review)

  

  From the minute Borderlands was announced, I was immediately drawn to its highly-stylized graphics. Since it was released, it’s received numerous positive reviews, and has sold exceptionally well, leading me to believe that it doesn’t only look pretty, but is also a great game. Of course it’s difficult to have an all around well polished project without having things settled in the audio department, however.

  The Borderlands soundtrack is just about as unique as the game’s visual style and setting. This is dark ambient music to the core, interestingly combining both acoustic and electronic elements to create a style all of its own. With contributions from Jesper Kyd, Cris Velasco, Sascha Dikiciyan, Tim Larkin, and audio lead Raison Varner, the Borderlands audio team is not only a display of some of the top talent from the West, but also proof that under a single unifying vision, too many chefs in the kitchen can actually work, leading to this coherent and effective body of work.

  Let me tell you how in our review of the Borderlands soundtrack after the jump. (more…)

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