E3 2010: Akira Yamaoka Not Composing Next Silent Hill

Yes, you read that correctly. Despite the fact that Akira Yamaoka said he’d be willing to work on future Silent Hill titles if asked by Konami in our interview with him at GDC 2010, it appears as though the development team has moved on and picked another high profile composer to carry the torch forward. Konami’s E3 press conference was this afternoon, and while they talked about a number of titles that we’ll be telling you about in the coming days, we did want to let you know who’s taking the reigns of the Silent Hill series and what we heard during the conference.

Hit the jump for details.

When the trailer began, we heard ethereal guitar notes coming through a creepy howling pad which later built into a more robust guitar piece that actually reminded me a whole lot of the original Zelda dungeon theme.  I know it doesn’t sound at all appropriate in writing, but it actually worked, and I honestly thought the material could pass for Yamaoka’s work. As I was sitting there wondering if it was indeed Yamaoka I was hearing, the title’s producers came to the stage and specifically spoke about the music among other things.

They noted that we were hearing music from their new composer, Dan Licht, known for his work on the hit TV series Dexter along with horror films such as Hellraiser and Children of the Corn. With credits like these, it seems like he’d be right at home in the Silent Hill series, and that’s apparently what each of us in the room heard.  I’m kind of surprised that they mentioned the music, but am glad they saved me from having to ask them the question.

You can likely find the “Silent Hill” (they haven’t stated wheter or not this is the game’s final title) trailer online, and I encourage you to check it out and let us know what you think.  Is Dan Licht an appropriate replacement for Akira Yamaoka, and will you be looking forward to hearing more of what he’ll be cooking up for the game?