Hello everyone! Some of you may have noticed that I've been absent from this site for quite a while now. Shortly after the Aleksandar Dimitrijevic interview some things happened, and I had to step away from this site for a time, until a couple weeks ago. As for the past two weeks, well, er.. I've just been incredibly busy. I apologize for the absence, as I know some of the things I was working on were left unfinished. I hope to finalize those things over the next few days, so I can move on and help contribute to this site with bigger and better things.

I noticed that there was a poll below, asking who you'd like us to interview next.  Well, I have some updates on that.

First, I contacted Thomas Bergersen a month or two ago about doing a video interview with him and Nick Phoenix, similar to the interviews I've done in the past with Immediate Music, and Ninja Tracks (Full Tilt). Sadly, a video interview will not be possible, but he mentioned it might be possible to do a short text based one at the end of the year. He said they were far too busy at the moment. I know that's a disappointment, but at least there might be something to look forward to at the end of the year.

Second, I've been in touch with Armen Hambar of Future World Music, with the hope of setting up a video interview sometime. He said that he would be unable to take part in the near future, due to an injury, but perhaps something could happen in September. Hopefully, he has a smooth recovery, and while I can't make any guarantees, this is something that may happen in the next few months.

Finally, I plan to get in touch with some other composers, with the hopes of doing video interviews. Since I'm leaving California for the month of August, I won't be able to actually film anything during that time. Rest assured, there will more video interviews this year. Of course, we will continue to pursue text interviews, which are much easier to set up.

I suppose that's all I have time to say right now. I expect I'll be posting another article tomorrow, that will tie up some loose ends. I'll have to read up on what I missed. I just want to say that I'm back, and I will once again be dedicating myself to this site and its readers.

...of Darkness, yeah, it is finally on ExtremeMusic, after several weeks of waiting. Someone did not want this album to be put on this site since PoD is out for weeks now. However, we are happy it is out now. Probably the most epic album by TSFH, contains 32 tracks. Whats your favourite?

Finally Invincible has arrived to Amazon and iTunes as well. However strange to say there are several differencies in the pricing... In contrast to CDBaby (17.99 $) , iTunes release costs 9.99 $ 11.99 $ , Amazon release costs 8.99 $. In addition you can buy there separate tracks for 0.99 $.

If you have any idea about the reason of different pricing, do not hesitate to share it with us..

East West/Quantum Leap posted full versions of Thomas Bergersen's two new demo tracks for their latest sample instrument library, Hollywood Strings. You may have heard parts of these in the video intro, but you can now hear them in their completion.

You can go to the product page to check out the demos, or we have the direct links below:

Allegro Agitato (mp3) (wav)

Love Suspended (mp3) (wav)

Both tracks are great, but I have to say I'm more partial to Allegro Agitato. It's 5 whole minutes of Bergersen epicness.

East West/Quantum Leap's newest string library is a big deal in the professional composing world. Listening to the demos I'm extremely impressed with the realism of the strings. As a learning composer myself, I look forward to the day when I can afford this. While nothing beats a live orchestra, this is certainly going to come close.

In other news, Thomas wrote that he has been sick for a week now with H1N1. We wish him the best, and hope he gets better!

Hoy, hoy! There are many lists all around the net so why would be trailer music an exception. Let's start with five things we like about Thomas Bergersen's music. Credit goes to TMN's crew, friends and family.

• Unpredictable: You never know what will you hear in the next moment. When you think a song has reached its climax, nitro, and it reaches a new level. For example "Merchant Prince" @1.44, "Army of Justice" @0.44, or "Promise" @1.58.
• Innovative: In most trailer music the same old fashioned 'O Fortuna' style of choir can be heard. Thomas, on the other hand, has used Bulgarian folk choir, which is very different not only in language, but also in style from the typical choir. It fits into the structure of trailer music very well. For example: "Starvation".
• Uses Epic Lead Vocals. His songs featuring leading vocals are outstanding pieces as well, and offer some relaxing tune for our ears after 24hr of listening to epic choir music. For example: "Friendship to Last", and "Enigmatic Soul".
• Wide-ranging. Even if we depart from epic/action style Thomas excels. Just think of the horror compositions of Ashes or the song "Professor Pumplestickle" which is a great comedy track.
• Publicity. "Do you know what Nemesis [2] means?"

Thomas Bergersen just posted the official album cover art for Two Steps From Hell's yet to be released Power of Darkness.

Here it is, in all it's glory:

I expect we'll see some more information appearing on Two Steps From Hell's official site soon when it's officially released in February. I wonder what exactly this is a picture of... any guesses? [Edit: It's a horse, er... obviously. It's dark! What can I say? Thanks greg]

According to Thomas, "Many of the tracks from this release will be featured on our first public CD, "Genesis", scheduled for release later this year."  That is definitely something we are looking forward to.

Via, Two Steps From Hell's Facebook

The biggest and the most versatile virtual string library is available for pre-order at Soundsonline by Doug Rogers, Nick Phoenix, Thomas Bergersen and Shawn Murphy. I do not want to list the details (price , features, etc...) here because you can check it at the website. The reason of this article is to draw your attention to the fact you do not have to download the video introduction of Hollywood Strings, but you can watch it streamed at TMN. Enjoy, it contains some nice samples at the beginning and at the end.  The end features a full orchestral piece composed by Bergersen, and it's definitely worth a listen.

Click here for the video