The idea of a game having a ‘signature song’ is well established: Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater’s (2004) main theme famously took cues from James Bond themes, Persona 5’s “Last Surprise” (2016) became the subject of multiple viral videos and memes, and in the Nintendo 64 days, Grant Kirkhope’s “DK Rap” was becoming lodged in the minds of people all over the world. For Hades, this song is “In the Blood.” To understand how this song is crafted and how it portrays the narrative, atmosphere, and setting of Hades, this paper will analyze the creative choices that Darren Korb made when composing “In the Blood.” This will take the form of both a harmonic analysis and an investigation into the various musical signifiers that appear in this piece, particularly how they connect “In the Blood” to various genres and subgenres of music, and the broader video game music canon. Korb’s description of Hades’s soundtrack as “Maybe Mediterranean prog-rock Halloween music” reveals an attempt at transcending genre conventions, which links to gaming’s tendency to draw from and compare itself to other mediums. Each word of his description points to a particular musical signifier that carries its own connotations and history of use both inside and outside of video games. These signifiers do not come together as much as they act as established signposts for “In the Blood” to exist between. Such a context helps explain how video game music can exist beyond genre, connecting with listeners who may not ordinarily listen to music of that particular genre, and how diverse fandoms form around these signature songs.
It’s ‘In the Blood’: Hades’s Signature Song and the Transcendence of Genre
Daniel Carpenter is a composer and internationally recognized electric guitarist from Birmingham, UK, currently studying a PhD in composition at the University of Birmingham, focusing on the electric guitar’s place within contemporary classical music and creating new repertoire for the instrument. During his studies, Daniel also gained experience in music analysis, music philosophy, and musicology, which he uses alongside the skills he has developed during his professional career as a guitarist and composer to create new works that fuse and transcend various genres and cultures, aiming to provide a unique viewpoint in his academic writings.
Daniel Carpenter; It’s ‘In the Blood’: Hades’s Signature Song and the Transcendence of Genre. Journal of Sound and Music in Games 1 January 2025; 6 (1): 46–65. doi: https://doi.org/10.1525/jsmg.2025.6.1.46
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