Dark fantasy game Crimson Moon is out now (September 1) and HEALTH have shared their crushingly heavy contribution to the game’s soundtrack exclusively on NME – check it out below.
Crimson Moon is “a gothic high renaissance action-adventure RPG built around intense, replayable missions” from indie studio ProbablyMonsters. Players take on the role of a Nephilim, a ruthless human-angel hybrid forged to defend humanity, before being immersed in “a blood-soaked power fantasy.”
The game’s original soundtrack has been composed by ProbablyMonsters’ Christopher Wilson but he teamed up with some rock legends to create the music for Crimson Moon’s boss fights, with HEALTH, Ice Nine Kills’ Ricky Armellino, Periphery’s Misha Mansoor and metal YouTuber Jared Dines all contributing to the score.
To celebrate the game’s release, you can check out HEALTH’s Crimson Moon anthem ‘Rite Of Desolation’ below which also features contributions from Ice Nine Kills’ guitarist Ricky Armellino.
“Crimson Moon is heavily inspired by metal music of all kinds; you can see it in the art style, the narrative, and of course the score. Much of the project is an homage to classic heavy metal themes and iconography, and we thought it was only proper to bring in some heavy-hitter musicians to round out the score. Not only did they bring additional authenticity and considerable technical talent, but they also added a greater breadth of metal styles,” composer Christopher Wilson told NME.
“Bringing on musicians who are also gamers was also hugely important to the process. It gave us a common understanding of game genres, titles we could reference, and most importantly a real excitement for what we’re building with Crimson Moon because they understand and love the art form.”
According to Johnny Health, the band were inspired by the “aesthetic palette” of Crimson Moon for ‘Rite Of Desolation’ but also took influence from Souls games and boss fights. “We personally love deep grooves during combat dating back to beat ‘em ups such as Streets Of Rage 2 or Golden Axe 2. It’s just very satisfying.”
HEALTH previously contributed songs to Max Payne 3, Cyberpunk 2077 and GTA Online: Arena War. The secret to a great gaming anthem, according to Johnny Health, is emotion. “Gameplay really excites your motor function and immediately makes you fun and interested, so the music can really add that layer of emotion that really deepens the experience.”
Crimson Moon is out now for PC, Xbox Series X/S and PlayStation 5.
In other news, PlayStation is taking legal action to prove that you never owned the games that you paid for.
