On December 8, video game lovers everywhere will rejoice when the highly anticipated “Halo: Infinite” hits shelves just in time for the holidays. Little do most people know, they’ll be listening to a soundtrack recorded right here in the Dallas area.
Alex Bhore operates Elmwood Recording studio in Oak Cliff and is also the composer for Halo’s multiplayer mode. Bhore’s connection to the project was by chance, although he has played in the post-rock band, This Will Destroy You, and has worked on multiple film productions.
Bhore has had no previous video game experience. One of his clients happened to put him in touch with 343 Industries, the video game developer that created Halo.
Bhore connected with 343 Industries a few years ago when he put together a sample collection of music for them almost on a whim. The developers immediately liked what they heard from Bhore’s submission and decided to bring him on as a lead composer for one of the biggest video game franchises in the world.
In April 2020, during the early stage of the pandemic, Bhore started working on the music, producing tracks of ambient instrumentals. He completed the project last November, almost exactly a year ago.
The music he composed for Halo’s multiplayer mode will be included in everything from the in-game and postgame sounds to the main menus and loading screens in between.
Even though fans aren’t expecting the full release of “Halo: Infinite” until December 8, the multiplayer mode dropped on Monday.
“It’s been positive,” said Bhore when asked about the initial reaction to the music. “My whole thing with this is I knew it was going to be so much polarizing. I knew it had to be important. Doing something that is somewhat challenging, that was the goal. We had to take some sort of a swing.”
Bhore said he doesn’t know what his next video project will be if any at all.
“I do feel lucky to be in that type of position, to be doing stuff in a lowkey way but still affecting people,” he said. “Dallas represent.”
