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BlizzCon 2011: Our Annual Interview With Russell Brower

October 25, 2011 | Jayson Napolitano | 2 Comments Share this

BlizzCon 2011 took place this past weekend, and while the biggest announcement coming out of the two-day event was the World of Warcraft expansion titled Mists of Pandaria, Diablo III and StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm were also on hand for attendees. There was the annual audio panel where the audio team shared their experience and a couple performances related to Diablo III, and of course we were able to sit down with audio director Russell Brower to discuss some of their upcoming projects.

Hit the jump for updates on all three of Blizzard Entertainment’s upcoming titles. (more…)
Game Music, Miscellaneous

David Arkenstone Live: A Winter Solstice Concert Report

December 23, 2010 | Jayson Napolitano | 1 Comment Share this

Yes, a big surprise. I was turned on to Arkenstone’s unusual foray into the world of chillout music with Christmas Lounge after his performance in San Diego on Saturday, December 18, and we’re now getting around to telling you about the concert itself. While there was a piece from Christmas Lounge performed at the concert, the set list was much more varied in terms of style and genre.

For those who missed out, David Arkenstone and his friends traveled to two different Southern California cities this past weekend: San Diego on Saturday, and Thousand Oaks on Sunday. This “Winter Solstice Concert” featured classic Christmas songs and carols alongside Arkenstone’s original compositions, which actually complemented one another quite nicely.

Hit the jump to find out what David Arkenstone had up his sleeve at the San Diego stop of his mini-tour… did he play music from World of Warcraft? (more…)
Game Music, Reviews

Your Ears, Torn Asunder: World of Warcraft Cataclysm Soundtrack (Review)

December 13, 2010 | Jayson Napolitano | 3 Comments Share this

The day more than 10 million people around the world have been waiting for is finally here. While there has been a lot of excitement about what the Cataclysm expansion pack would mean to the World of Warcraft experience, players were finally able to dig in last week to re-explore new areas, discover new ones, and enjoy over 8 hours of new music that was added to the game.

Included with the Collector’s Edition version of Cataclysm was a soundtrack album, and you probably know from our past reviews of these limited edition pack-ins as well as the BlizzCon exclusive albums that we’re huge fans of the music from the game. Cataclysm has a lot to live up to, not only in terms of being the newest addition to the franchise, but also in that it revisits several themes from the past.

Does the Blizzard Entertainment sound team live up to the challenge? Find out in our review after the jump. (more…)
Game Music, Reviews

BlizzCon 2010: Fall of the Lich King Soundtrack (Review)

October 25, 2010 | Jayson Napolitano | 4 Comments Share this

Another year at BlizzCon, another exclusive soundtrack CD. While there wasn’t much in the way of news regarding Blizzard Entertainment’s upcoming projects at this year’s event, there were at least many memorable musical moments to be had. I’ll be sharing some of these in the coming days, but will first delve into the BlizzCon 2010 exclusive Fall of the Lich King Soundtrack.

The disc’s title may sound similar to Wrath of the Lich King, and I think you’ll find the content of the album to be similarly dark. What we have here is the approximately 35 minutes of music that were added to the game with the 3.3 patch update, Fall of the Lich King, including the popular theme, “Invincible.” The music comes courtesy of Russell Brower and Derek Duke, and as always, it’s of the highest quality, so join us after the jump in our review of the Fall of the Lich King Soundtrack.

Hit the jump for more! (more…)
Game Music

World of Warcraft Raid Bosses Make For Killer Techno Remixes?

January 14, 2010 | Jayson Napolitano | Comments Off on World of Warcraft Raid Bosses Make For Killer Techno Remixes? Share this

I’ll come right out and say I’ve never played World of Warcraft, and likely never will. It’s not that I have anything against the game, it’s more that I know I’ll quickly become addicted and sink all my time into it. So when former OSV contributor Dan Carew sent over an email to our tips line that he’d been working on some World of Warcraft remixes, I wasn’t sure what to expect.

What he’s done here, however, is taken vocal snippets from raid bosses in Wrath of the Lich King and created some impressive electronic backings for them. I have to say that the one above is probably my favorite of the bunch, as I really dig the chillout track in the background, and of all his videos, the vocals in this one are the least obnoxious. He’s garnered quite a following on YouTube and has even been featured on Blizzard’s official WoW Twitter feed, so feel free to check out his other videos on his YouTube channel.

Are any of you playing much World of Warcraft these days? Have you faced the raid boss that’s featured in the above video?
Game Music, Reviews

Another Blizzard Soundtrack You’ll Never Own: World of Warcraft Mosaic Soundtrack (Review)

September 4, 2009 | Jayson Napolitano | 2 Comments Share this

BlizzCon just wouldn’t be complete without some super-rare CD release to leave all of you who couldn’t attend jealous, right? This year it was the World of Warcraft: Mosaic Soundtrack which we briefly discussed in our interview with Russell Brower at BlizzCon. As he stated, the album contains tracks from the various free updates that occurred between expansions, and were selected by the team as well as by the fans through polls on the Blizzard forums.

So, is it any good? It’s actually quite good (unsurprisingly), with some great production values that put it up there with the Collector’s Edition releases that we’ve seen in the past. Similar to those releases, the tracks here all flow into one another, creating a flowing musical journey that takes you through mostly tense territory. I admit I don’t play the game, but titles like “Black Temple” and “Fury of the Sunwell” definitely jump out at me as I know they were sizable updates.

Hit the jump for our review of the BlizzCon 2009 exclusive World of Warcraft: Mosaic Soundtrack. (more…)
Game Music

BlizzCon 2009: Audio Director Russell Brower Digs Deep With StarCraft II Details and Career History

August 24, 2009 | Jayson Napolitano | Comments Off on BlizzCon 2009: Audio Director Russell Brower Digs Deep With StarCraft II Details and Career History Share this

A trip to BlizzCon wouldn’t be complete without a chat with Russell Brower, the Director of Audio at Blizzard Entertainment. We checked in with him to get an update on the progress of all the titles that are currently being developed at Blizzard, and he has some interesting information regarding the score for StarCraft II in particular.

Later in the interview, we touch on his background, digging into his history at Disney and how his work there was helpful in working on World of Warcraft. We also find out what his favorite Disney ride is as well as his favorite track that he’s created for Blizzard Entertainment over the years.

It’s definitely an interesting discussion with lots of juicy details, so join us for our interview after the jump. (more…)