We collaborated with French electronic music legends Justice and SebastiAn to reimagine the former’s song, ‘Heavy Metal’, soundtracking the official announcement trailer for the forthcoming reboot of Bungie’s cult-classic game, Marathon.

Our musical journey kicked off with a few goals in mind. First, Bungie wanted to match the tense, driving, anticipatory energy of the on-screen action -  essentially one giant build that culminated in a ‘reveal moment’:  the ‘Marathon’ title in the end card. 

Secondly, we needed to nod to the game’s “neo-retro-futuristic” art style. In this case, French electro (and specifically, Justice) proved to be the perfect pairing - contemporary electronic production that’s also heavily influenced by the disco, funk and synth-tinged styles of the 70s and 80s. 

Lastly, the film teases somewhat of an origin story for our protagonists - rows of caterpillar-like creatures methodically weaving each character into formation. Bungie wanted to reflect this “meeting of natural and technological worlds” through music, and as such, we dove into a custom rework of the piece, blending the programmed/electronic elements with a range of additional organic instrumentation. We launched off with new live organs from Justice, and built into SebastiAn’s hauntingly beautiful string arrangements and brooding synths. 

Boosted by additional production from the our team and with incredible sound design + mix by industry leaders, Source Sound, the trailer went viral with over 15 million YouTube views in the first 24 hours alone, and saw fans clamoring for a full-length release.