A new era of Warframe is almost here! Warframe: 1999 is coming this December, dropping you into the streets of Höllvania at the end of the twentieth century. Fight alongside The Hex, a misfit cadre of enhanced soldiers who may remind you of some classic Warframes...

We spoke to Warframe Audio Lead Erich Preston and Audio Director George Spanos about bringing the Warframe: 1999 soundtrack to life. We're also excited to give you an exclusive preview of this amazing Warframe: 1999 track!

What was the audio team most looking forward to when the concept for Warframe: 1999 was presented?

Preston: Having the opportunity to create sound and music for a cityscape grounded in an iconic time period was very inspiring for the team. We often create sound scapes for a world that is in the future—so going back to the year 1999 allowed us to explore new ideas. We recorded and used a lot of audio sources that we’ve been interested in playing with for a long time and brought them into the game in a way that still feels like Warframe.

Where does the team begin when creating a soundtrack for a major Warframe update?

Preston: We have a lot of discussions about the feelings that we want to bring to each update. Warframe allows us to explore so many interesting themes and we want to make sure that each release sounds distinct. Ensuring that the whole audio team is on the same page is crucial, so we share a lot of source material and musical ideas in the early days of production. Because the 90’s had such a wide range of different musical styles, we decided to focus on a handful of them for the final soundtrack—keeping most of the music on the grittier side to reflect the moody environments and characters.

Spanos: We like to make sure that the music for an update relates to the story in more than one way as well. It should fit musically (instrumentation-wise), thematically, and in the case of 1999, also lyrically. We like to get our hands on the script as early as possible to get ideas of what we can do with the music and how it can all relate. We try to find threads of story to weave the music into.

How has creating this soundtrack differed from your work on past expansions?

Preston: Early on in production we made the decision to try a new concept for 1999: what if the entire score for the update were songs on a 1999-era mixed CD? This idea led to a fairly drastic departure from our usual style of ambient and combat tracks. Most of the music in 1999 consists of full songs with lead vocals, choruses, and melodic hooks. Matthew Chalmers took on this challenge and we were able to produce some tracks that are uniquely 1999, but also support our gameplay and quests organically. We spent a lot of time figuring out in-game implementation as well, having songs weave in and out of the mix was something that needed to be massaged quite a bit.

Spanos: Warframe is known for its musical diversity but we’ve never gone this far! We like to have the music reflect a Faction or idea whenever we start thinking about it. In the past, we’ve touched on grittier elements, but have never really explored that side lyrically. We’ve done orchestral, electronic, and even tracks that feel like they could be in a musical; each time we wonder if we’ve gone too far. But if it relates to the story and helps to drive the narrative along, then we do it!

Musically, what has inspired your work on Warframe: 1999?

Preston: Matthew Chalmers really got to practice his guitar skills for 1999! Electric guitar was definitely the instrument of choice for a lot of the music and Matt played with all sorts of different approaches. From acoustic guitars, to fuzz, to harsh distortion, we explored as many iconic '90s guitar tones as we could. Matt sings on many of the tracks and was a bit of a vocal chameleon—we also featured other talented vocalists to give the score variety and color.

We were heavily inspired by many of our favorite bands of the era like Slipknot, Radiohead, Tool, Nine Inch Nails and Alice In Chains. Warframe music is also known for its use of synths—which we tried to weave in whenever we could to bridge the gap between the 90’s and the distant future of the Warframe universe.

How does the team explore the different tones found in Warframe: 1999 (i.e. the musical pop of On-lyne or the militaristic vibes of Scaldra)?

Preston: Embracing the juxtaposition was key in creating a cohesive sonic product for 1999. We took some risks in the name of exploring the themes and feelings of the era, but tried to do so in a way that respects Warframe’s roots. You’ll hear a lot of motifs from Warframe’s past, along with production techniques from throughout our musical history. The '90s is a treasure trove of incredible music and I think we came out the other side with a great score for the 1999 update that is uniquely Warframe.

On the other side of the in-game score is On-lyne, and bringing their music to life was a great experience. Keith Power and Matthew Chalmers were able to channel the sound of that era so well and ended up creating something truly special to add to the list of Warframe’s iconic tracks.

Spanos: Here again is a great example of a musical genre that we never thought we would do in Warframe: '90s boy bands! It was a great learning experience. We studied a lot of Backstreet Boys, *NSYNC, and others in order to get at the core of what makes that music so catchy.

It’s funny, but I remember a lot of that music from the late '90s/early 2000s and it still holds up today. There were some great songwriters behind those massive hits and it goes to show that a good song will always be a good song. So we tried to distill the essence of that sound and infuse it into the On-lyne tracks. As Erich mentioned, Keith Power and Matthew Chalmers were the songwriting brains behind the On-lyne tracks and we think they really nailed them.