If you loved Doom (2016) and Doom Eternal's music, which of course you did, then there is some bad news for you. Doom Eternal Executive Producer Marty Stratton confirmed via an Open Letter that Mick Gordon, composer of the soundtrack for both games, will not be returning for the upcoming DLCs. If you haven’t been keeping track then here is a rundown for you.
Here's a comparison between the original BFG Division from Doom 2016's official soundtrack (left) vs. the BFG 2020 remix on Eternal's soundtrack from today (right).
— Doominal Crossing Remastered (@DoominalCross) April 19, 2020
Notice how the wavelengths in BFG 2020 form a nearly perfectly straight bar vs. the original with more definition pic.twitter.com/TCJRdOe1Yf
Recently it was revealed that the OST for Doom Eternal wasn’t as high quality as it should have been. The mixing of audio was compressed, which resulted in an inferior product. This was confirmed by thatACDCguy on Twitter. You can read the entire thread over here.
I didn't mix those and wouldn't have done that. You'll be able to spot the small handful of tracks I mixed (Meathook, Command and Control, etc...)
— Mick Gordon (@Mick_Gordon) April 19, 2020
After the backlash, Mick Gordan replied to the same thread and explained that he didn’t mix most of the tracks and only a handful of them were done by him. He also said that he might not return to work on the sequel.
This forced Stratton to come to Reddit and explain the whole situation to the fans. He explained that Gordon missed the deadline, which was set in early March, and was given an extension. Id Software really needed those songs finished as a copy of the soundtrack was bonus items for the Collector’s Edition, which had already been delayed once.
The official game soundtrack for DOOM Eternal is not yet complete, so it won't be available on the game's launch of 03.20.20. We’ll let everyone, including those who purchased the CE, know when it’s ready. For more details, please read our full statement: https://t.co/LY9bEFUUnM
— Bethesda (@bethesda) March 11, 2020
"As we hit April, we grew increasingly concerned about Mick delivering the OST to us on time. I personally asked our Lead Audio Designer at id, Chad [Mossholder], to begin work on id versions of the tracks—a back-up plan should Mick not be able to deliver on time," Stratton wrote in the letter. "To complete this, Chad would need to take all of the music as Mick had delivered for the game, edit the pieces together into tracks, and arrange those tracks into a comprehensive OST."
Gordon sent a total of two records to Id and the rest were from Mossholder. Mossholder was also given the credit of ‘contributing artist' so that fans weren't misled.
Tons of fans blamed Id and Bethesda for messing up the soundtrack and for not allowing Gordon complete control. However, this new revelation has shown that it was not the developer or publisher's fault. They had to mix the tracks themselves in order to meet the deadline. It was Gordon who didn’t meet the deadlines.
We hope Gordon and Id kiss and makeup, because Doom without Gordon's music just doesn’t feel right. It’s a match made in Hell (see, what I did there).
