Disbond

Two brothers, one very loud project

Disbond is a multiplayer zombie shooter my brother Galin is developing in Unreal Engine 5. I’m composing the music for the game and its trailer, which makes this a particularly personal project: he builds the world, and I help give it a sound.

We go back and forth as the game takes shape, sharing ideas, listening, and working out what feels right. There is plenty of blood and sweat in the process, but also amazing vibes. Getting to make something together, with room for both of our ideas, is a big part of why I love it.

A shooter with room to explore

The game takes its cues from Unreal Tournament, Doom, Quake, and Counter-Strike 1.6/Source. The idea is to bring back the speed, freedom, and playful chaos of those multiplayer shooters. Humans and zombies each have their own classes, skills, and abilities, giving both sides different ways to approach a match.

Exploration is part of the action. Maps have hidden routes, secret rooms, and places you can reach through unusual movement, props, or teamwork. Dark Souls inspired the interconnected, vertical level design: a city can open up into streets, buildings, rooftops, and sewers, with shortcuts linking them together.

There is a little bit of home in it, too. The Final Stand draws on the landscapes of Bulgaria’s Balkan Mountains. Pixelmedia’s feature goes into more detail about the game and its influences.

Finding the sound

I wanted the music to evoke the weight and energy of Mick Gordon’s work on Doom, the industrial edge of Quake II, and the rhythms and ambition of Meshuggah and Dream Theater. The darker atmosphere of Metro and S.T.A.L.K.E.R. is another part of that inspiration.

The aim is a soundtrack that can hit hard while still leaving room for tension: heavy guitars, driving drums, and the feeling that something is waiting around the next corner. Those influences give us a starting point as we find a sound that belongs to Disbond.

Guitars, drums, and a lot of REAPER

My Ibanez RG8 eight-string and PRS SVN are at the heart of the setup. I record through a Behringer U-PHORIA 202 interface, use Neural DSP Nolly for the guitar tones and SSD Drums for the drums, and bring everything together in REAPER.

The gear is only part of it. The rest is playing, listening, revisiting ideas, and sending them back and forth with my brother until the music feels at home in the game.

A few familiar voices

The game’s voices are a group effort, too. My brother, a few friends, and I recorded the zombie and human voices, while a friend recorded the narrator’s announcements: “Double kill!”, “Triple kill!”, “Humans win!”, and more. Alongside the soundtrack, I’ve also worked on those voice recordings and announcements.