Sure, it’s not quite the Silent Hill reunion fans might have had in mind, but the collaboration isn’t as bizarre as you’d think either. It has all the eerie atmosphere we’ve come to know, though he was actually asked to rein in the mix a little as the Wargaming team found the track to be just a little too creepy. Yamaoka sets the mood with a dark ambient track for the mode’s hangar. Giger and, of course, Silent Hill, this time-limited mission sees players battle AI-controlled tanks in Mirny, an eerie abandoned town that’s also covered in fog, while visibility deteriorates throughout the match and you’re even pursued by a Pyramid Head-type enemy that can’t be killed. Taking inspiration from Chernobyl, as well as the works of H.R. It’s this partnership that led Yamaoka to reunite with Silent Hill’s original art director, Masahiro Ito, both of whom contributed to World Of Tanks’ spooky Halloween PvE event that’s currently running. But perhaps his most surprising collaboration was in 2017, when he contributed an epic track titled ‘Battle In Japan’ for the free-to-play online multiplayer game, World Of Tanks, and even went out to Wargaming headquarters in Minsk to work closely with the audio team. Yamaoka spent the subsequent decade as the sound director of Grasshopper Manufacture, the developer behind action-adventure hack and slash game, No More Heroes. Artists like Hollie Kenniff, Riverside, Conception and Rosalie Cunningham are just some of the music he’s currently listening to, but Yamaoka reveals he’s also got a soft spot for ‘Say Sayonara’ by JOANovARC from Rock Band. Rock music continues to be hugely influential in his work. “I used to be hesitant about having a specific genre, but now I’m more open to any opportunity that rises,” he says. Featuring fast and upbeat tracks of all genres and styles – including gabba! – that music was a world away from the eerie soundtrack we’re more familiar with. While creating music for Silent Hill, the composer also contributed to Konami’s popular rhythm games, such as Beatmania and Dance Dance Revolution, projects that are often overlooked in Yamaoka’s colourful career. “I wanted that to be my career so I decided to send my demo tapes to video game companies – I was very lucky when Konami offered me a job.” “Deep inside, it’s always been video games and music that have been my passion,” says Yamaoka. He first joined the industry in the early ’90s, composed audio with chiptune for Konami. I was able to diversify my influences to create my own sound in Silent Hill.”īut as much as he is celebrated for his work on Silent Hill – with plenty of fans, including the composer himself, regarding Silent Hill 2 as his masterpiece – Yamaoka also has a widely diverse career in game music. Even in video game music, I’ve always found it strange that when huge monsters appear there’s the orchestra sound and there’s subtle music when in hotels or bedrooms. “I always tried to identify what makes my influences unique, then I figured the best ways to build your own sound was to ignore the status quo. “Great artists know how to balance their influences and originality,” Yamaoka tells NME. The atmospheric dread conjured by Yamaoka’s score was vital in channeling the games’ unique brand of psychological horror, while introducing industrial rock and haunting melodies unheard of before in video games. While the original in-house Team Silent behind the first four games had changed members, Yamaoka was a constant figure so synonymous with the series he was even a producer for the third and fourth entries. But it’s also hard to imagine the Silent Hill franchise without composer Akira Yamaoka. There’s all kinds of reasons why the beloved series has yet to make its comeback, no less down to Konami reducing its involvement in game development. READ MORE: I know I shouldn’t, but I hope that the new ‘Silent Hill’ rumours are true. While there have always been rumours of a revival, apart from a surprise Dead By Daylight DLC earlier this year, the Silent Hillfranchise has remained dormant – save for PT, the critically acclaimed demo for Silent Hills, which was subsequently cancelled after Hideo Kojima’s highly publicised departure from Konami.
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