Thirty years (and one day!) ago, legendary game studio id Software released Quake – the successor project to possibly the most influential first-person shooter in the world, Doom.
The setting this time was dominated by medieval, gothic imagery and the player had to contend with entities directly referencing H.P. Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos, all set to a dark ambient soundtrack by none other than Trent Reznor’s Nine Inch Nails.
The collaboration between the emerging industrial rock legends and the revolutionary developers id Software emerged from mutual respect rather than cold corporate strategizing to bring them together. Chris Vrenna, percussionist and synth player for NIN between ’88 and ’96 explained in an interview how games of Wolfenstein helped Reznor and bandmates relax whilst recording the “Broken” and “Fixed” EPs and starting work on “The Downward Spiral”.
We just did it because we thought it was fuckin’ cool, and we really loved id! And we were like, man, if we can be friends with the guys that did Wolfenstein and DOOM? That would be rad!
Chris Vrenna
At the same time, “Pretty Hate Machine” was the soundtrack to the legendary programming sessions by programming virtuoso and id Software founder John Carmack and engineer American McGee through the early Nineties. During a tour, an invitation was extended from the band directly to the game studio and the two groups collided over mutual respect. Who knows how the conversation turned to collaboration, but it was McGee as Quake’s leading sound engineer who then travelled to New Orleans where NIN were based, to begin the work of soundtracking their new game.
The result was a powerful piece of unsettling dark ambience that suited the more sombre setting of Quake compared to the bloody futuristic chaos of Doom. Returning to Vrenna’s recollections of making the music, he refers to the Quake soundtrack as “an instrumental, ambient Nine Inch Nails album that was made specifically to be played with this game.” Reznor had already produced soundtracks before, such as for the Oliver Stone 1994 crime thriller “Natural Born Killers”, but this was his first venture into the more complex world of game scoring, and it lends itself more naturally to Reznor’s exploratory sound that he would repeat on albums like “Year Zero”.
Noting Reznor’s ongoing work in the arena of scoring and soundtracking, it would seem likely working on Quake was a landmark moment for him. I’m fascinated by the thought of all these dark-tinged disruptive elements combining to create something revolutionary, aided by nothing more than mutual respect and a shared vision of just how powerful and unnerving music and video games combined could be in the early 90s. Not to mention the personal motivation to be involved that reportedly saw Reznor produced the music for free!
Speaking of unnerving, just a few years later Reznor would be tapped by none other than the mighty David Lynch to soundtrack the mind-bending thriller “Lost Highway”. Although I can’t find any further information, one of my favourite pictures of Reznor and Lynch was presumably taken around this time, with the NIN frontman proudly wearing a Quake-branded shirt alongside the prodigal surrealist director. If anyone knows anymore about where and when this picture was taken, I’d love to hear it!
For the supremely nerdy – and if you’ve read this far, you’re amongst that hallowed cohort – there are Easter Eggs for NIN scattered in the game itself. You can wield a Nailgun as a weapon, and the ammo pickups are branded with a familiar logo. Reznor even has the accolade of voicing the main character, the “Ranger” you navigate around the deadly world – and every time he takes damage or dies, it’s Reznor’s moans in your ears!
A truly unique contribution to one of the most recognizable titles in videogame history – and arguably a huge influence on Reznor’s career thereafter. Other than the game CD-ROM itself, the soundtrack was unavailable until a vinyl issue as late as 2020. I had to listen on YouTube Music, and look forward to some kind of digital edition being made available as well.
The genre of videogame soundtracks, perhaps sneeringly dismissed by entitled critics who regard it as a crass genre, deserves far greater recognition and particularly in light of the fact that the game industry dwarfs that of movies by a wide margin. Accordingly, game studious should and must invest in the finest musicians to produce first-class scores, and expect ever more creativity between goths and gamers in the future!
It’s appropriate to end on a comment from John Romero, another co-founder of id Software, programmer and possible originator of the term “Deathmatch”. In our later years, the resemblance between your humble author and this videogame pioneer have been noted! Reassure your parents – long hair, videogames and being the face of ultimate evil in a videogame are no obstacles to a successful career!
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