Doom has always had a close relationship with metal music. Hearing one quick burst of any Doom soundtrack, or even just catching a quick glance at the series’ persistent demonic imagery, will tell you this.
Its customary pile-up of flames, skulls, and devilish creatures is not far from what you’d see adorning any Iron Maiden stage, past or present.
This relationship with the heavier side of music has progressed in step with the series’ gameplay, with both elements having reinvented themselves several times over the 30-plus-year journey of Doom.
From its thrash beginnings, Doom has explored multiple metal sub-genres across the decades, progressing all the way to the present day with Doom: The Dark Ages and its crunching metalcore hammer blows.Back in 1993, the original Doom’s driving soundtrack was influenced by the big metal bands of the late 80s and early 90s.
Co-creator John Romero has freely discussed how the likes of Pantera and Alice in Chains were major influences, and this can be heard clearly across the score. “Untitled”, for instance, the track used for the E3M1: Hell Keep level, features a riff that’s nearly identical to that heard in Pantera’s “Mouth of War."The wider Doom score borrows aspects of the thrash subgenre, recreating in digital form the likes of Metallica and Anthrax.