ESTi

박진배


ESTIMATE Founder, Creative Director, Sound Producer

ESTi
박진배

ESTIMATE Founder, Creative Director, Sound Producer

💬 PRESS


"MARVEL Battle Lines" Original score by ESTi and Benicx

Marvel.com 

Original score by ESTi and Benicx available digitally now!

2019.05.24  │ by Christine Dinh      


True Believers, as we head into the long holiday weekend, let the "MARVEL Battle Lines" Original Soundtrack provide the epic beats!

Marvel Games and Nexon announced the launch of the epic "MARVEL Battle Lines" Original Soundtrack, available for download on iTunes, Google Play and Amazon;  as well as streaming now on Apple Music, Spotify, and other digital music  platforms.

MARVEL Battle Lines Original Soundtrack
MARVEL Battle Lines Original Soundtrack album cover


"MARVEL Battle Lines" Original Soundtrack features original scores from ESTi and Benicx. The original soundtrack album has scores inspired by some of the most epic moments from the strategic battle card game.

"We are proud to introduce MARVEL BATTLE LINES ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACKS to the world," exclaimed Danny Koo, Marvel Games Senior Producer. "Collaborating with the talented ESTi and Benicx was a blast. They put a lot of hard work into the album. The whole idea behind this project is the mash of two iconic genre, new electronica and good old action orchestra. I can only describe with words that it is epic and breathtaking but you have to listen to it yourself. Enjoy the album!!"


MARVEL BATTLE LINES ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK TRACKLIST

  • Marvel Battle Lines (Main Theme)
  • The Aftermath   
  • S.P.I.K.E.   
  • The Battle for Shards   
  • Never Surrender!   
  • Heroic Battle   
  • Gaining Momentum   
  • Imminent Victory   
  • S.H.I.E.L.D.   
  • The Power of Shards   
  • The Power of Evolution   
  • The Power of Discovery   
  • Playing with Powers   
  • The Arrivals   
  • Final Battle Preparation   
  • A Decisive Battle   
  • Heroes Assemble


In strategic battle card game "MARVEL Battle Lines," the Cosmic Cube has been shattered, plunging the Marvel Universe into chaos. Players must join forces with Super Heroes and Villains, including the Avengers, the Guardians of the Galaxy, Spider-Man, and more, to collect the shards and restore the universe. The card battle game gives players more control of the game board itself.

Marvel.com had the opportunity to speak with the composers ESTi and Benicx about the inspiration behind their original scores, the collaboration process and more:


Marvel.com: Walk us through your process in composing for MARVEL Battle Lines. How did you approach each song and what feelings were you trying to evoke through the music?

ESTi: On this project, I partnered with Benicx, an orchestra composer who is part of ESTIMATE. ESTIMATE has a similar style to the Hollywood film score composer duo, Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross, whom I personally am I fan of.

We have previously worked with the development team to produce electronica scores. For this project though, I worked with both the development team and Marvel to create ideas for the themes. I will start creating melody phrases and textures. Benicx would then come in and add his signature orchestra-style composition.

During the initial stages of trying out new things and exploring new motives, Marvel encouraged us to invoke the feeling of big heroic actions and cinematic themes. Benicx would then end up putting in more work!

ESTi and Benicx


Marvel.com: Where did you draw inspiration from when composing for "MARVEL Battle Lines"?

ESTi: With various Super Heroes converging into one universe, I am a fan of Alan Silvestri’s original main theme for Marvel’s "The Avengers." However, we knew we needed to put our own stamp on it, so we deliberately avoided an intro with lone string instruments, and increased the amount of wind instruments to lead all the pieces. The result is super astounding! Marvel kindly provided us with bunch of style and direction references to make our tracks as unique as possible.

Benicx: I am a fan of the Marvel films and I love this project! In order to prepare for this project, I rewatched all the movies from the Marvel Cinematic Universe again. While watching, I felt that main themes from "Iron Man 3" and "Thor: The Dark World" strongly portrayed the identity of each Super Hero. I may have been inspired by Brian Tyler, who was in charge of the music for the aforementioned movies.


Marvel.com: Can you describe the collaboration process? What was it like working with Marvel on the songs?

ESTi: My composing style tends to go in the opposite direction of what’s obvious or pre-existing, so I gave a few new and unconventional tries, but Marvel did not seem too happy about this. (laughs) There were hardcore Progressive Metal (DJent) styles, Cinematic Dubstep, Electronic, Drum and Bass with hybrid components, but they were all kindly turned down. Finally we settled on a style and direction, so these soundtracks were completed with the film orchestration method but with a fantastic heroic spin to it.

If the game required a wider universe with more volume, those earlier musical exploration could have remained, but I think the end results suit this game better.


Marvel.com: Which track is your personal favorite?

ESTi: I personally like "Heroic Battle." Out of all the tracks with the main theme’s phrase motif, it actually includes a choir section. I like this feeling and it has the ambience of a large-scale, vast outer space. I tend to give importance to the introduction and when the song was selected for the game’s marketing commercial, I got the impression that it represented what we were trying to portray.

Benicx: I am fond of all the tracks! If I were to choose, I like the collective battle theme "S.P.I.K.E." This track needed to have a fast tempo and impact to fit the gameplay and atmosphere, but it was difficult to recreate that with a traditional orchestra! We decided to add synth and produced it as a hybrid orchestra. The theme ended up fitting well with the game, which left me feeling content and joyful.


Marvel.com: Which track was the most challenging to compose?

ESTi: Of course, the first track, MARVEL Battle Lines’ main theme. We tried various innovative elements as I have mentioned, but at the end we took the direction of an epic cinematic action score.

Benicx: Yes, the creation of the main theme was the most difficult. This is the track that creates the foundation for the rest of the tracks. We had to do everything from scratch. The difficulty of the task was one thing, but at the time, epic orchestra arrangements that sound like Marvel action scores were unfamiliar to me. Marvel sent us a bunch of references and directions. We gained so much experience through continuously changing and rearranging the theme and we almost missed the deadline! Thinking about it now, there were some difficulties from working completely from scratch, but the end result made it easy for us to integrate the main theme into the other tracks, so I’m quite proud of that.


Marvel.com: Each song is incredibly strong and tells an essential theme or moment. However, they build a larger narrative as a whole. What is the overall story you were trying to tell with the soundtrack?

ESTi: I’m thankful that various short jingle tracks were included as part of the OST. The composition follows similar mechanism of composing and arranging with film music, but including the tracks created in sync with the brief moments in the game show the identity of the tracks as a game soundtrack.

Specifically, we created themes for being heroic, having appropriate moments according to the choices and results. We also create themes based on certain situations like victory, loss, meeting a new hero, celebrating holidays etc., all in the style of Marvel!


Marvel.com: Did any of the gameplay contribute to your approach in composing the music?

Benicx: We looked around the game menu to find sounds that would suit the overall visual and sound effects, and we applied various music while engaging in duels to determine the track’s tempo. I continued to play MARVEL Battle Lines during the latter part of the music production and I remember being immersed in the game while heading towards the end of the Campaign. Its contents and effects were a great help in deciding the track’s direction and atmosphere. Various aspects of the game like its contents, battle tactics, and the original stories contributed to music composition.

ESTi: The modern design of the game’s user interface influenced the overall theme. I was also inspired by mixing various futuristic sounds rather than a standard classic orchestra, so I was glad that this project involved working with the graphic design of the game’s interface.

Listen to "MARVEL Battle Lines" Original Soundtrack now! Available for download on iTunes, Google Play and Amazon;  as well as streaming now on Apple Music, Spotify, and other digital music  platforms.




Marvel Battle Lines can be downloaded on the App Store® for iPhone and iPad and on Google Play™ for Android devices. For more information on MARVEL Battle Lines, players can visit marvelbattlelines.com and visit the official Twitter and Facebook pages.

In this article: Marvel Battle Lines


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