No One Matters More In Gaming Music Than Darren Korb

Darren FREAKING Korb. Besides having maybe the best name you’ve ever heard in your life (say it out loud, you’ll feel powerful), he’s an absolute powerhouse of creativity, hard work, and dare we say… inspiration. You’ve definitely heard his tasty riffs. Whether it be in your favorite game from Supergiant Games, sampled in a game of the year promo for the stunning indie hit Hades, or simply from an ad promoting one of the great games he’s worked on, Korb’s music instantly catches your attention. 

He’s been the longtime composer for all of the projects from Supergiant Games, the indie studio behind Bastion, Transistor, Pyre, and Hades. He is a versatile musician whose music informs gameplay and sets the pace for that speedrun you know is gonna impress your friends. Composing for a game or movie is no easy feat, but Korb goes out of his way to create an atmosphere that suits the storytelling. 

As he says in this Nintendo Minute interview, he used instruments not often found in Western cultures to create the sound of the Hades soundtrack. He wanted to transport listeners and definitely succeeded. He also revealed he sampled sounds from his dogs to get the voice of Cerberus, which is straight up charming.

The attention to detail, shepherding the sound of the game from nascent idea to full bloom, really paid off. Hades won numerous game of the year awards and accrued a slew of accolades from institutions large and small. The game was almost as brutal as the real ancient Greece.

Korb inhabits an aural world. He swims in the waters of sound the way mere mortals swim in a backyard pool. Not only was he the composer and voice over director for Hades, he also voiced the main character Zagreus. AND was the singing voice of Orpheus. Yes, you read that right, the man can do it all. 

This man of many hats is a beacon for a future generation of game composers. Now, this might seem like too much for one person to pull off. We don’t want our precious Korb suffering from crunch now do we? Supergiant Games is seemingly one of the only studios in the industry that actually treats their workers like human beings. They’re noted for being one of the good ones. Just like our beloved Korb. Keep rocking Darren, keep rocking. We can't wait to see what's next.