The Cthulhu: The Cosmic Abyss soundtrack, composed by Nicolas Garcia, has just won the Crystal Pine Award for Best Original Music for a Video Game at the ISFMF festival in Croatia. This international recognition celebrates a score recorded with cellist Tina Guo and the Budapest Scoring Orchestra, and marks a major milestone for the composer’s first video game project.
Nicolas Garcia
Tina Guo
Budapest Scoring Orchestra
A Score Designed for Cosmic Horror
Bringing H. P. Lovecraft’s universe to life through music was no easy task. Nicolas Garcia had to translate into music the concept of “cosmic horror” so central to the British author’s work: the idea that humanity is merely a speck in the vastness of the universe.
To embody this tension, Nicolas Garcia combined synthetic sounds with real instruments, preserving a human and organic dimension — that of a hero confronted with a horror far beyond his understanding. The score was recorded with the Budapest Scoring Orchestra and its eighty musicians, alongside electric cellist Tina Guo, known for her collaborations with Hans Zimmer on Dune and Top Gun: Maverick. The soundtrack also features more unexpected instruments, such as the carnyx, an ancient Celtic war horn with a powerful and distinctive tone.
An Oppressive and Organic Soundscape
The result perfectly captures the atmosphere of the game: a strange sound palette, both organic and unsettling, that accompanies every moment of the adventure, immersing players in a tension that is as fascinating as it is oppressive. The combination of the symphonic orchestra, electric cello, and instruments from another era gives the music a rare and distinctive identity, difficult to categorize.
Cthulhu: The Cosmic Abyss in a Few Words
Developed by Big Bad Wolf Studio and published by NACON, Cthulhu: The Cosmic Abyss is a first-person investigative adventure game directly inspired by the universe of Lovecraft. Players take on the role of Noah, an agent of a secret division investigating occult phenomena, tasked with uncovering the disappearance of miners in the Pacific Ocean.
His investigation leads him to R’lyeh, a sunken city housing a labyrinthine prison where Cthulhu himself is said to be held captive. Accompanied by the artificial intelligence KEY, Noah must solve puzzles while resisting the mental corruption caused by the presence of the Great Old One.
A Message from Nicolas
“Cthulhu: The Cosmic Abyss was born from a long creative journey, spanning more than a year of musical and artistic exploration. Between intuition and experimentation, each sonic sketch sought to approach the ineffable, that space where music attempts to give form to the unknown, to vastness, and to cosmic horror.
From the first motif written in the silence of the page to the orchestral recording sessions, this soundtrack gradually took shape as a descent into the depths, where human certainties fade before ancient and unfathomable forces.
Collaborating with exceptional artists such as Tina Guo was a profoundly meaningful experience; her performance brought a unique organic an emotional dimension to this universe. In the same spirit, the Carnyx performed by Samuel Méric gave Cthulhu himself a primitive, almost mythological voice, musically embodying his ancestral and monumental presence.
Knowing that you are discovering this soundtrack today brings me immense joy and gives full meaning to this journey. I hope these compositions will continue to live with you beyond the game, like a lingering echo rising from the depths.“
Nicolas Garcia
For Nicolas Garcia, this award holds a very special significance: it is his very first video game score, after several years spent composing music for film and documentaries. A childhood dream brought to life for the composer.
Don’t miss the opportunity to listen to his work now: https://g4f-records.myshopify.com/products/cthulhu-the-cosmic-abyss-vinyl-edition