No, it is not a heavy metal group and no its not something the normal person wouldn’t listen to. This is maybe the group that almost most of the earth’s population has listened to without even knowing , Thomas Bergersen and Nick Phoenix are the only two founders and composers  behind the music of Two Steps From Hell.

If someone never watched a Harry Potter or any Marvel movie or never played Mass effect or kill zone, then they are still counted as one of many that listened to this group without knowing because their music was played during the opening of the London Olympics  2012.

The reason this group is so known yet unknown is that their music was present in almost the best and the most watched movie productions, usually their music are always used in movie trailers. In a sense this kind of  music is always what makes the movie look more exciting than it actually is.

Two Steps From Hell has been doing trailer music for several of biggest movies in the past few years, such as ‘Avatar’, ‘Up’, ‘Beauty & The Beast’, ‘Super 8′, ‘The Avengers’, ‘Tintin’, ‘The Amazing Spider Man’ and many more.

The group was formed back in 2006 by Thomas Bergersen and Nick Phoenix who combined their  musical abilities to write a book full of original music that in only six years has achieved great success and 22 album releases.

To explain the formation and the process of  Two Steps From Hell. The music is composed and written by Bergersen and Phoenix, and is then played and recorded by an orchestrated group conducted and by a conductor. Their official conductor is Petr Pololáník, he is an orchestrator and music producer. Petr studied both violin, piano and conducting and now he is working with Bergersen and Phoenix.

Many would categorize this brilliant music under its own genre, as it has a new form and new musical structure that has a blend of tastes from the classical and epic music era to the rough and solid heavy rock music, that gives a motion picture its real motion. Almost any fictional or adventure motion picture trailer or a thrilling scene would not be the same without this music, yet their music without the motion picture will still definitely give the image and the message without seeing it, and that is the unique element of their music. It is music that tells a story and takes the listener to new lands.

The artistic album arts are done by the artist and graphic designer, Steven R. Steven, who is well known in the film community where he has worked on the graphic campaigns for movies like ‘Lord Of The Rings’, ‘Dark Knight’, ’300′, and ‘Watchmen’. Steven is the mastermind behind all of the Two Steps From Hell album covers.

Two Steps From Hell are in a sense a musical group that has changed the  musical world of the movie theater and in a sense boosted the view counts of many overrated movies.

Image Courtesy of  Two Steps From Hell

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Sam Hulick is a BAFTA award-nominated and multiple award-winning composer, best known for creating the signature music for BioWare’s epic sci-fi franchise “Mass Effect.”

Sam composed the iconic “Mass Effect Theme” as well as “Uncharted Worlds,” “From the Wreckage,” “Sovereign’s Theme,” “Victory,” “Uplink” and many other compositions for the original “Mass Effect.”

The ’80s inspired electronic score was lauded by critics as “One of the most memorable and unique soundtracks in gaming,” (Game Informer) and won Best Original Score awards from IGN, GameSpy and GameSpot.

For “Mass Effect 2,” Sam was again tapped for his adept skill of inventive blending of analog synths with orchestral instrumentation. The soundtrack features a suitably darker and more cinematic musical experience to complement the sequel’s heavier subject matter. “Mass Effect 2″ received British Academy (BAFTA) and Spike TV VGA nominations for Best Original Score.

The only composer to have worked on all three games in BioWare’s blockbuster sci-fi trilogy, Hulick’s compositions for “Mass Effect 3″ include “Mars,” several key emotional scenes in the game (“I Was Lost Without You,” “I’m Proud of You”) and the epic finale (“An End, Once And For All”). Hulick also recently provided the new original score for “Mass Effect 3: Extended Cut”.

The DLC includes new and extended cinematics that feature more of the emotionally impactful material Hulick was responsible for in Mass Effect 3.

Sam Hulick is currently scoring music for “Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition.”

For more information on the PAX Prime panel “Behind the Music of Blockbuster Video Games” visit http://prime.paxsite.com/schedule/panel/behind-the-music-of-blockbuster-video-games

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Dark Horse Digital reaches a new landmark, turning one year old this Friday. To thank our loyal fans, Dark Horse announces an anniversary appreciation discount.

This weekend, Dark Horse Digital is offering 10% off all titles in the web store, with an additional coupon to newsletter subscribers and new subscribers who have signed up by this Thursday. And yes, the coupon stacks with an even greater discount off your order!

The sale starts this Friday (April 27) and ends Sunday (April 29) at midnight PST—so head over to Dark Horse Digital and sign up for the Digital Newsletter to maximize your discount on some incredible comics.

Dark Horse Comics launched its standalone comic-reader app and digital store on April 27, 2011 and has received incredible support from the continuously growing digital-comics fan base.

Since then, Dark Horse Digital has grown significantly in numbers and readership featuring it’s most popular, best selling titles including Star Wars, Buffy, Serenity, Hellboy, Conan and Mass Effect as well as exclusive digital only comics such as Falling Skies, Prototype 2 & Dragon Age. Dark Horse Digital also provides sales and discounts for its reader base on a weekly basis. We currently offer thousands of comics and are continuing to increase the digital availability of the Dark Horse back catalog.

Dark Horse Digital is available through all modern web browsers and features cloud storage in both the Android (beta) and iOS apps.

In the meantime, the creator of The Escapist’s Zero Punctuation Reviews (TM) and author of 2010’s runaway hit novel Mogworld is back with his hilarious follow-up. Jam takes the prophecies of the Mayans and turns them on their ear, with a twist on the apocalypse that no one could have expected. The first chapter will run in the newly released digital edition of Mogworld, available today for Nook and Kobo eReaders.

Since 2007, Croshaw’s animated Zero Punctuation reviews have packaged prescient criticism with frenetic animation, off-color humor, and rapid-fire delivery, making him a household name in the gaming community. Mogworld was his first foray into published fiction and has sold through multiple printings! Now, the debut novel finally makes it’s way to tablet readers, marking the beginning of Dark Horse’s foray into digital prose!

Additionally, readers will have a chance to get their first look at Jam, which is set for release later this year. Jam, a dark comedy pitting a handful of twenty-something slackers against a singularly sticky apocalypse, which is set for release later this year.

“You asked for it – by Christ have you been asking for it – and it’s finally here, the Mogworld eBook” said writer, Yahtzee Croshaw. “Now I just have to stop procrastinating on the audiobook version.”

Mogworld is available today for both Barnes & Noble’s NOOK™, as well as the Kobo Vox eReader.

Jam arrives on sale on October 10, in print as well as digitally.

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