Michael Wandmacher's been a fan of the epically difficult Dark Souls games by the studio From Software for years, so he was thrilled when he was asked to contribute music for Bloodborne, by the same studio. As in the earlier Dark Souls games, the player wanders throughout a ruined landscape in search of redemption, with many tortured bosses to defeat. Michael told me he devised a unique way to create music that corresponded to each of the battles' three acts.

Kate's conversation with Michael

In all, the soundtrack was the work of six composers, with producers and music editors and performers spread over three continents. The overall feel for Bloodborne was a fantasy late Victorian Gothic. Michael says it was fantastic to be able to use a palette that included a mighty orchestra of low strings and winds, as well as a huge chorus and pianos to get the desired dramatic scale of his music for the bosses whose battles he scored.

Michael's credits also include the recent films Voice from the Stone and Underworld: Blood Wars. He says he loves the freedom that writing for horror gives him, and returns time and time again to a beat-up old piano carcass that's still in his studio for some really otherworldly sounds.

Episode tracklist

All tracks by Michael Wandmacher

Bloodborne: Of the Pthumerian Line; Micolash; The Witch of Hemwick

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Thanks to Jordan von Netzer, Impact 24 PR