Mick Gordon, the legendary composer for 2016’s DOOM and 2020’s DOOM Eternal, may not be returning for another game in the franchise after controversy surrounding Eternal’s soundtrack has come to light. The soundtrack was recently released for owners of the collector’s edition and many fans have begun to critique the poor mixing, sparking Gordon to reply about his lack of influence on the soundtrack’s final release.

The controversy first began when one of Gordon’s pieces for DOOM Eternal was covered by a fan on Youtube, which Gordon replied with: “Fun Fact: All those stupid "time signature changes" are a result of someone from marketing piecing this track together without any musical knowledge. Rad cover though.”

This was an odd comment from the composer at the time, as it happened 2 months ago, but after everything else that has recently been revealed this now makes a lot of sense. After the soundtrack for Eternal was finally released recently, a user on Twitter decided to look into the actually audio files to determine what was going on here, revealing that the new mixing lacks some audio dynamic range:

What it’s trying to highlight here is that the lefthand track has much more dynamic range than the most recent one on the right. The range between the quietest part and the loudest part of an audio piece is known as dynamic range, and is what helps to keep each instrument separate as well as giving each feature a bit more breathing room. The less dynamic range there is (or, the more condensed together the track is), the more the instruments and layers begin to clash with each other, resulting in a poor mix.

Mick Gordon’s response on Twitter to this was: “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...)”

So it seems like Gordon was left in the dark for the actual mixing of the official soundtrack, only contributing to a handful of songs. Whether this was due to Bethesda or id Software is unclear, but when a fan asked Gordon if he would return for another installment in the DOOM franchise, he only had this to say:

So it looks like Mick Gordon was and is still unhappy with the way in which his soundtrack was handled for release. If he does decide to not return to the franchise, not only will it be interesting to see who will take over and what kind of music they will compose, but it will also be a dark day for all fans of the recent DOOM titles’ incredible music.

What do you guys think? Have you listened to the new soundtrack? Did you notice the mixing at all? What happened between Mick Gordon and Bethesda/id Software? Let us know your thoughts!