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Who Da Man? 'Horizon Zero Dawn' Composer Joris De Man Isn't Well Known, But His Music Is

For years, Dutch composer Joris de Man has offered up some of the most aurally arresting soundtracks in gaming.

By Dustin MurphyPublished 6 years ago 2 min read
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While Horizon Zero Dawn has been highly praised for its graphics, gameplay, story, and character design, there's one element that seems to have been neglected thus far — the music. For years, Dutch composer Joris de Man has offered up some of the most aurally arresting soundtracks in gaming, yet few people think to ask the simple question: Who is the person behind the creativity?

From Killzone 3's opening violin refrain that made our bones quiver, to the softer moments punctuated by lilting hymns in #HorizonZeroDawn, to the synth-charged action of the Velocity titles, while many gamers are familiar with his work, they have perhaps never heard the name Joris de Man.

Soundtracks That Pluck At The Heartstrings

Fans of the Killzone series know that war is the theme of this first-person shooter, and it's a war that looks to claim all of humanity. While narrative and art served to drive the game, the music it what really propels the emotion.

A fine example of de Man's work is the music that opens #Killzone3, bringing the game to life. It's a piece of music that penetrates your mind as you imagine ISA troops sitting on the rubble after a battle, nursing their wounds as they recover from their losses.

He's Also Worked On Indie Titles

While de Man has received an Ivor Novello Award for Best Original Video Game Score for Killzone 2, he also spends much of his time as a freelance composer for smaller projects, including N+ and Heavy Metal. Indie developers FuturLab eventually released its Velocity series across multiple platforms, allowing a wider audience to enjoy de Man's emotionally stirring tunes.

[Image: Guerrilla Games]

Where Will He Go Now?

It wouldn't be surprising to see de Man work on some of #Sony's upcoming titles and shorts. With franchises such as God of War preparing for sequels (and so we hope with Killzone), it would literally be music to our ears if he ended up working on a project of that magnitute. And having lent his talents to TV shorts including Codehunters and Snowtime, it would be truly magnificent to hear de Man partner up with Sony.

And what about a musical team-up with the likes of Interstellar's Hans Zimmer or The Martian's Harry Gregson-Williams? That would surely be a thing of beauty.

Even though this is just wishful thinking, let's just be happy in the knowledge that de Man is working behind the scenes in the gaming community, creating inspirational art for us to enjoy. While many people might not know his name, Joris de Man is a masterful and skilled musician who may go down in history as one of the best of his generation.

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About the Creator

Dustin Murphy

A video games journalist and Content Creator. He has been featured on sites such as AppTrigger and MoviePilot. He's the president and editor-in-chief of the independent news publisher Blast Away the Game Review.

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