UNYIELDER News

The third composer is Hazel Ho, a musician from Singapore, who graduated Summa Cum Laude in Contemporary Writing and Production from the prestigious Berklee College of Music in 2023. The heart of her art lies in live instruments, with rather avant-garde jazz inspirations.



For UNYIELDER and TrueWorld Studios, she stepped away from her usual genre to draw inspirations from rock, metal, and distorted, glitchy production techniques, perhaps marking a new era for Hazel Ho. She handled the themes for SKINNER and PRETENDER. She drew from the roots of Andalusian music to bring her melody: “I was diving into the flamenco genre for SKINNER's theme, so the first few iterations were very flamenco-driven. Imagine: Cajon, castanets, flamenco Guitar, orchestral elements, with Andalusian cadences. No rock or metal elements yet. The reactions were hilarious - the meeting room burst into laughter over this direction for SKINNER (in a good way!), and people were even starting to think about adding cactuses in the arena. I later on added those rock/metal elements to up the aggressiveness! PRETENDER's track has a touch of a bassline in 5/8 in one section that I love! Can't help myself with odd meters sometimes! Also, this entire track is a big step into the production realm for me personally!”

And that’s all from our maestros of chaos! Stay tuned for our next instalment as we speak to the sound designers of Pitstop - the ones who created the satisfying rat-at-tats of the guns!

MIX Spring Game Showcase livestream

Enter Hohenheim, the mysterious, the demon, a veteran of the industry. His hypnotic sounds, heart-beat-like percussions, his entire universe gives a sense of urgency, relentless, a powerful macabre dance that eventually becomes one with EREBUS. In the language of demons, there is no word for “restraint”.
That’s probably why TrueWorld gave the MARAETH to Hohenheim, a faction best known for its zealousness and mania. If you listen closely, you can hear the MARAETH’s sea of voices chanting, like an infernal siren song. For most, that’s terrifying. For a demon, a lullaby.



And when asked about his inspirations, Hohenheim responds: “Oh, you want me to write a theme for a tortured god caged in a child’s body? How? Crank that orchestra until your skull buzzes. That's how. And that’s why yours truly recommends one of the late bosses’ tracks as well as the track for when you first meet the MARAETH. For the late boss, I started composing it sweet - like really sweet. Smooth and dramatic strings, a whole romantic era composition that stands well on its own. But then - oh, yes, that’s when I spiked the drink. Ripped it apart. Let mechanical shrieks tear into that orchestra, warp that melody with the “Kzzzzzrrch!” of a cyborg's temper tantrum. Full audio meltdown, baby. Why? Surely us humans love nothing more than to overload the brain. Find that sweet spot between licking a battery and chugging a bottle of spiked cough syrup. Devour that mania, let it pour down your throat, set your synapses ablaze. Makes you feel what it's like to be the late boss, methinks. And suddenly, boom, you just made the soundtrack.

As for MARAETH… want to really feel how far the organic can twist until it’s shredded into its mechanical parts? Only to brute force it back into shape again until you’re left with something so mangled it stops making sense – but still pulses like it’s alive? Hell, do I have something for you then. Look no further than their main theme. It’s basically all cello and no synth, baby. Here’s to your all too familiar, friendly, classy instrument played with claws, not fingers. The melodies and motifs are still kind of there, though, but eroded and in scraps, as if they were once whole but replayed so often that little of the original tape remains intact. It’s that sweet madness creeping in, the sense that something big and wrong is about to happen. You know you shouldn’t welcome it. Hope you’re ready for the ride!”

If you made it here alive and not entirely mesmerized by Hohenheim… Don’t miss our next portrait!

If chaos is part of EREBUS's DNA, traversing its devastated corridors and facing its untamed inhabitants wouldn't be complete without the unique themes and music written for UNYIELDER.
Three composers lent their talents to give a unique character to the bosses, characters, and overall atmosphere of UNYIELDER, bringing EREBUS and its dangers to life. Each composer brings their expertise, peculiarities, and vision to the ravaged universe of UNYIELDER.



Let’s meet Karu - whose real name is Carl Abelgas, a 23-year-old composer from the Philippines, celebrates his first milestone in the video game world. "I wanted each of the bosses or factions to have their own distinct themes through differing motifs and instrumentations. The TENNULI, for example, being a rather militaristic and war-hungry faction, I took a more aggressive approach but with substantial scale, such as the use of heavy brass, and snare drums layered with electric guitars. Furthermore, I had some chants added to emulate battle cries. With the IMPERIUM, I aimed to make it sound more regal, but with a touch of unpredictability. The instrumentation leaned more towards a traditional symphonic orchestra, but as the battle progresses, the scale and key keep changing."

The music in UNYIELDER not only dresses the environment and battles but also accompanies the player in their quest for power, changing as they delve deeper into their torment. “I didn’t want this to be purely a theme for the boss and characters, but I wanted to consider the player as they fought them. As the battle progresses, the composition changes slightly to make the player feel more of a badass, adding impact and that “oomf” to the gameplay. I won’t spoil too much on this front, but you’ll be able to feel it yourself when the game comes out! I'd reckon RAIN's Theme and one of the later bosses is a lot of fun too right now!”


That’s it for now. Don’t miss our next musical encounter, a very special one, an encounter that only EREBUS can hold.

UNYIELDER is an intense Single-Player Boss-rush Movement FPS in the form of an absurd and exploitable Rogue-Looter. Assemble your Arsenal of Destruction, Smash your way through Antarctica, Face your own Final Boss.