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Akira Yamaoka

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Akira Yamaoka
山岡 晃
Yamaoka in March 2010
Born (1968-02-06) February 6, 1968 (age 58)
Niigata, Japan
Occupations
  • Composer
  • producer
  • sound designer
  • guitarist
Years active1991–present
SpouseTamu Murata
Musical career
Genres
InstrumentGuitar
Websiteakirayamaoka.jp

Akira Yamaoka (山岡 晃, Yamaoka Akira; born February 6, 1968) is a Japanese composer, producer and sound designer. He is known for scoring every installment of Konami's horror video game series Silent Hill (1999–present), with the exception of Downpour and Book of Memories, though he still played guitar on the latter. He has also produced many of the games and composed the soundtracks of the Silent Hill film franchise (2006–2025).

Outside of Silent Hill, Yamaoka has been the sound director at Grasshopper Manufacture since 2010, and serves a director and sound designer at Supertrick Games since 2018.

Early life

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Akira Yamaoka was born in Niigata on February 6, 1968. He sought to become a designer, but instead became a musician whilst studying product design and interior design at Tokyo Art College.[1][2]

Career

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Yamaoka joined Konami on September 21, 1993.[3][better source needed] He immediately began to work on the games Contra: Hard Corps, Sparkster, and Sparkster: Rocket Knight Adventures 2. Shortly thereafter, he worked on the music for the PC Engine and Sega CD versions of Snatcher.

When Konami began searching for a musician to compose the score for Silent Hill, Yamaoka volunteered because he thought he was the only one capable of making the soundtrack.[1] Although initially hired as a composer, he soon became involved in the game's overall sound design.[4] His later named Silent Hill 2 as his favorite of his own soundtracks.[5]

On December 2, 2009, it was announced that Yamaoka was leaving Konami.[6][7] On February 3, 2010, he joined Grasshopper Manufacture and began working with Goichi Suda and Shinji Mikami on their action game Shadows of the Damned.[8] He was first appointed to the role of chief sound officer at Grasshopper, but became involved in aspects of game production as well.[9]

On August 10, 2012, Yamaoka announced he would be releasing a second solo album in late 2012 that would be "different from the usual Silent Hill music".[10] On October 31, he announced that the new three-track Spanish-language EP Revolución would premiere at V-CON during a live performance.[11] In 2014, he expressed interest in returning as a composer for Silent Hills, although the project was later cancelled.[4]

From late October to early November 2015, Yamaoka and his band travelled to the United Kingdom for their Silent Hill Live tour, during which they performed songs from the Silent Hill series at venues in Brighton, Bristol, Cardiff, Glasgow, London, Manchester, and Southampton.[12][13] In July 2016, he performed live at the BitSummit 4th indie game festival in Kyoto.[14]

Style and influences

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Yamaoka has named Suda51 as his favorite game creator and No More Heroes (2007) as his favorite video game.[15] He has also named Dario Argento's Suspiria (1977) as his favorite film.[16]

In July 2010, Yamaoka was invited by the website Nintendo Life to curate a short playlist for a new series exploring "the musical tastes of notable video game creators and figures".[17] His playlist consisted of "Moon Over Moscow" by Visage, "Der Mussolini" by Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft, "Amber" by Craig Armstrong, "Moments in Love" by Art of Noise, and "The Ecstasy of Gold" by Ennio Morricone.[17] He further cited "Moon Over Moscow" as the earliest song that made him want to pursue music,[1] and revealed that he wanted "The Ecstasy of Gold" to be played at his funeral.[17]

When asked in February 2014 which other artists influenced him, Yamaoka cited Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails as his "main inspiration, both performing and in music style".[10] He later said that his work on Silent Hill was directly influenced by Reznor, composer Angelo Badalamenti's work with filmmaker David Lynch (especially Twin Peaks), and the more atmospheric songs by Depeche Mode and Metallica.[1]

On the topic of whether his studies at Tokyo Art College helped him in his musical career, Yamaoka explained, "At that time, Mick Karn of Japan, Steve Strange of Visage, and a lot of other musicians combined the notions of art and music with their own new style. I got really influenced by that. Therefore, every time I write songs, I try to combine art and music."[1] He has also stated that he derives much of his influence from baroque styles common throughout the 18th century.[1]

Personal life

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Yamaoka is married to fellow musician Ai "Tamu" Murata, best known as the drummer of the heavy metal band Nemophila. They have two daughters together.[18]

In March 2011, Yamaoka auctioned off some of his musical instruments to raise funds for charity after the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami.[5]

Works

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Video games

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Year Title Notes
1991 Smart Ball with Yasuhiko Fukuda and Manabu Saito
1994 Contra: Hard Corps with several others
Sparkster with several others
Sparkster: Rocket Knight Adventures 2 with Michiru Yamane
Snatcher PC Engine version, Sega CD version, PlayStation version, Sega Saturn version
1996 Gradius Deluxe Pack with Miki Higashino, Kiyohiko Yamane, and Motoaki Furukawa
Ganbare Goemon: Uchū Kaizoku Akogingu with several others
Road Rage/Speed King PlayStation version
Lightning Legend: Daigo no Daibouken "Spring's Undersea Walking Hurricane (Rankerk Hatred)"
1997 Moon: Remix RPG Adventure "Tears of Machine" and "TILT"
International Superstar Soccer Pro 98 with several others
Nagano Winter Olympics '98 with Soshiro Hokkai and Keiko Fukami
1998 Poy Poy 2
NBA In The Zone '98 with Yuichi Asami, Ryuichi Inoue, and Nobuhiko Matsufuji
Kensei: Sacred Fist with Kyoran Suzuki and Norikazu Miura
1999 Silent Hill
ISS Pro Evolution with Shinji Enomoto, Kosuke Soeda, and Hideki Kasai
1999–2012 Bemani series
2000 Gradius III and IV
ESPN MLS GameNight with Shinji Enomoto, Kosuke Soeda, and Hideki Kasai
2001 Silent Hill 2[19]
2002 Contra: Shattered Soldier with Sota Fujimori
2003 Silent Hill 3[19]
2004 Rumble Roses with several others
Silent Hill 4: The Room[19]
2006 Rumble Roses XX with several others
2007 Silent Hill: The Arcade with Masayuki Maruyama and Jun Ito
Silent Hill: Origins[20]
Silent Hill: The Escape
2008 Silent Hill: Homecoming
Otomedius Gorgeous! arrangements
2009 Silent Hill: Shattered Memories[21]
2010 No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle with several others
2011 Shadows of the Damned
Rebuild of Evangelion: Sound Impact arrangements
2012 Sine Mora
Liberation Maiden
Lollipop Chainsaw music director
Silent Hill: Book of Memories guitarist on "Love Psalm (Book of Memories)"
Black Knight Sword
2013 Rotolla
Killer Is Dead music director
2014 Ranko Tsukigime's Longest Day
Murasaki Baby "Neeko"
2015 Persona 4: Dancing All Night "Time To Make History" remix
2016 Puzzle & Dragons X[22] with Kenji Ito, Yuzo Koshiro, and Keigo Ozaki
The Silver Case[23] arrangements, "WHITEOUT"
Let It Die music director
2017 Astro Boy: Edge of Time[24]
World of Tanks "Battle in Japan" with Andrius Klimka[25]
2018 The 25th Ward: The Silver Case[26] with Baiyon, Erika Ito, and Masafumi Takada
2020 Dead by Daylight Chapter XVI: Silent Hill[27]
Ninjala with several others
World of Tanks "Mirny-13 – Hangar Theme" with Aleksandr Khilko and Aleksey Vanchuk[28]
2021 The Medium with Arkadiusz Reikowski[29]
2022 Deathverse: Let It Die[30]
2023 Decarnation[31]
Stray Souls[32]
2024 Silent Hill: The Short Message
Silent Hill 2 Remake
Slitterhead[33]
2025 Silent Hill f with Kensuke Inage, Dai, and Koichi "Xaki" Sakita
Let It Die: Inferno[34] Sound Director
Total Chaos[35] with several others; theme and end credits
2026 Pathologic 3 composer of an original track[36]

Films

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Year Title Notes
2006 Silent Hill with Jeff Danna, also executive producer
2011 Julia X "Julia's Wish"
2012 Silent Hill: Revelation with Jeff Danna
2014 Patema Inverted sound director
2017 Kuso[37] with Flying Lotus, Aphex Twin, Thundercat, and various others
2026 Return to Silent Hill[38]

Anime/television

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Year Title Notes
2022 Cyberpunk: Edgerunners Anime series based on Cyberpunk 2077[39]

Other

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Year Title Notes
2006 iFuturelist
2011 "Ex Animo" by Play for Japan: The Album with various others
Sdatcher An episodic radio drama prequel of Sdatcher
2012 Revolución[citation needed]
"Rinkaku (Eternal Slumber Mix)" by Dir En Grey[citation needed]
2013 "Rose Cat" by World 1-2 with various others
2014 "Sustain the Untruth (Remix)" by Dir En Grey[citation needed]
2016 Enn Mo Takenawa "Yuigon Zakura"

Notes

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f "Interview with Akira Yamaoka". spelmusik.net. July 2002. Archived from the original on June 29, 2007. Retrieved July 16, 2007.
  2. ^ "Interview with Akira Yamaoka (Spelmusik.net) - Silent Hill Memories". www.silenthillmemories.net. Retrieved February 2, 2023.
  3. ^ "Akira Yamaoka – Sound Director". Anony.ws. Archived from the original on November 23, 2015. Retrieved August 21, 2014.
  4. ^ a b "Interview: Silent Hill composer Akira Yamaoka". October 29, 2015.
  5. ^ a b "Akira Yamaoka (Person)". Giant Bomb. Retrieved August 21, 2014.
  6. ^ Remo, Chris (December 2, 2009). "Report: Silent Hill Composer Yamaoka Leaves Konami". Gamasutra. Archived from the original on December 4, 2009. Retrieved December 2, 2009.
  7. ^ "Rumor: Silent Hill composer leaves Konami". Destructoid. December 1, 2009. Retrieved February 2, 2023.
  8. ^ "Silent Hill composer Yamaoka joins Suda 51's 'video game band'". Archived from the original on February 5, 2010. Retrieved February 3, 2010.
  9. ^ Sheffield, Brandon (June 13, 2011). "Surprises In Store: Akira Yamaoka's New Direction". Game Developer. Retrieved February 2, 2023.
  10. ^ a b "AKIRA YAMAOKA – Interview in Spain at Play Fest". Music Japan Plus. Archived from the original on February 22, 2014. Retrieved March 31, 2025.
  11. ^ "AKIRA YAMAOKA – New Single Premieres at V-CON". Facebook.
  12. ^ Priestman, Chris (September 9, 2015). "Silent Hill Composer To Perform The Soundtracks Live This Halloween". Siliconera. Retrieved September 19, 2015.
  13. ^ Blake, Vikki (September 23, 2015). "New Dates Confirmed for Silent Hill's Akira Yamaoka UK Tour". IGN. Retrieved December 9, 2015.
  14. ^ Greening, Chris (June 26, 2016). "Akira Yamaoka headlines BitSummit 4th lineup". Retrieved June 29, 2016.
  15. ^ Nintendo Power, Volume 248
  16. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on November 20, 2015. Retrieved November 22, 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  17. ^ a b c Wahlgren, Jon (July 9, 2010). "Playlist: Grasshopper Manufacture's Akira Yamaoka". Nintendo Life. Retrieved April 8, 2015.
  18. ^ "むらたたむ". Twitter. Retrieved January 28, 2023.
  19. ^ a b c "Akira Yamaoka "Would Love" to Return to Silent Hill". November 5, 2020.
  20. ^ "Silent Hill: Origins – Akira Yamaoka | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic". AllMusic.
  21. ^ "Interview: Silent Hill composer Akira Yamaoka". October 29, 2015.
  22. ^ Greening, Chris (January 5, 2017). "Ito, Koshiro, Yamaoka join forces for latest Puzzle & Dragons soundtrack". Video Game Music Online. Retrieved January 12, 2017.
  23. ^ Greening, Chris (September 17, 2016). "Akira Yamaoka's latest soundtrack to release next month". Video Game Music Online. Retrieved September 19, 2016.
  24. ^ Sackenheim, Shawn. "Akira Yamaoka scores the new Astro Boy Card Battler". originalsoundversion.com. Retrieved June 25, 2017.
  25. ^ Fuller, Garrett (October 19, 2017). "Interview with World of Tanks Composer Akira Yamaoka". mmorpg.com. Retrieved June 29, 2020.
  26. ^ "The 25th Ward: The Silver Case – Coming 2018". nisamerica.com.
  27. ^ McWhertor, Michael (May 26, 2020). "Silent Hill's Pyramid Head comes to Dead by Daylight". Polygon. Retrieved June 25, 2020.
  28. ^ "Official soundtrack published to YouTube". youtube.com. October 23, 2020. Archived from the original on December 22, 2021. Retrieved November 5, 2020.
  29. ^ Takahashi, Dean (May 7, 2020). "The Medium is a next-gen psychological horror game from Blair Witch maker Bloober". GamesBeat. Retrieved May 10, 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  30. ^ Romano, Sal (April 27, 2022). "Deathverse: Let It Die second developer diary features composer Akira Yamaoka". Gematsu. Retrieved April 28, 2022.
  31. ^ Romano, Sal (May 11, 2023). "Decarnation launches May 31, features music by Akira Yamaoka". Gematsu. Retrieved May 12, 2023.
  32. ^ Romano, Sal (July 11, 2023). "Stray Souls adds Akira Yamaoka as composer". Gematsu. Retrieved July 12, 2023.
  33. ^ Lada, Jenni (December 10, 2021). "Bokeh Game Studio's Slitterhead Features Akira Yamaoka Music". Siliconera. Retrieved December 10, 2021.
  34. ^ https://www.4gamer.net/games/948/G094802/20250905052/
  35. ^ Cripe, Michael (November 20, 2025). "Total Chaos Surprise Launch Brings Psychological Horror to PC and Consoles Today". IGN. Retrieved November 21, 2025.
  36. ^ IcePickLodge (January 7, 2026). Pathologic 3 | Akira Yamaoka × IcePickLodge Trailer. Retrieved January 8, 2026 – via YouTube.
  37. ^ Bein, Kat. "Help Flying Lotus Make His First Movie 'Kuso'". Billboard. Retrieved January 20, 2017.
  38. ^ Wilson, Mike (May 31, 2024). "Silent Hill Transmission Details Silent Hill 2 Remake, Christophe Gans' Return to Silent Hill [Video]". Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved May 31, 2024.
  39. ^ Skrebels, Joe (June 25, 2020). "Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, a Cyberpunk 2077 Anime Announced". IGN. Retrieved June 25, 2020.
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